Balance

Relief prints with Gamblin Inks

5"x7"

Been a bit out of balance lately.  Too heavy on the work side and too many hours in front of the computer.  Craving time in my home and garden, time to be out and about in my city, time to prepare a good meal, time to relax with family and friends.  Easing off (just a bit) on my self-imposed pressure to produce art.  Remembering that there are only so many hours in a day and one can't do it all.   Looking forward to being outside; walking on streets strewn with freshly fallen horse chestnuts, inhaling the crisp air and feasting on the glorious colors of the autumn foliage.

Cheers!

Water and Sky.....Paintings by Catherine Freshley

Willapa Bay Field

30" x 40"

Float Plane on Lake Coeur d'Alene

24" x 30"

Lost Lake

18" x 24"

We had a chance to catch up with our daughter, Catherine, last weekend.  She continues to paint landscapes and she had a large work -in-progress in tow.  She is focused and disciplined, and somehow managed to add a couple of layers of paint during a very busy weekend.  If you're in the Spokane area, you can see her work at The Elk through mid-September.

I managed to spend a little time doing relief printing on Saturday.  I was working with a very limited palette again -- this time pthalo green and sepia -- and I used various bits of vegetation.  I imagine some of the prints will eventually find their way to this blog after I go back into them with additional colors and mediums.  Printmaking is so satisfying.  Always so many surprises along the way.  Alchemy, perhaps. 

Hope your week is off to a good start!

Thanks for your visit  :)

 

Wonderfully Distracted

Relief print on painted paper

17" x 23"

(The optics of this print really play havoc on one's eyes -- even online. )

I'm distractedly trying to work on my small collages today.   I've read many blogs, emailed an artist, purchased  a moleskin journal with a lovely hand-printed linen cover from Lotta of inleaf, talked on the phone far too long, and googled my own blog -- just because it's a responsible thing to do. :)  I'm glad I did, too, because I discovered  Jane Cabrera's delightful children's illustrations in the process and her flickr site with links to many other wonderful designers and artists' flickr sites. 

 

Relief print on painted paper

17" x 23"

Haven't forgotten about posting about the Portland artist.  Planning to post it very soon.  But now, I simply must go tear some Arches paper for my collage "supports."

Happy Saturday!!!

Betsy Best Spadaro -- Maker of Vibrant, Masterful Relief Prints

"Mish Mash" by Betsy Best Spadaro

36" x 36"

Layered lino-cuts on Japanese papers

Betsy Best Spadaro is one of those artists that is able to totally "nail" gestural poses with a minimum of drawn lines. And since her primary art medium happens to be relief printing, she has developed the ability to masterfully cut away or incise those drawn lines with the same precision. Add to that ability a wonderful sense of color, an eye for composition, an interesting take on roles and relationships, and a sense of humor, and the result is amazing, vibrant art. The above piece, from Betsy's "Housecleaning" series, was done several years ago to use up leftover bits of printed papers. The piece below, from her "What the Water Told Me" series, is one of twenty prints viewable on her website with below-the-surface imagery in beautiful combinations of colors.

"Swimmer II" by Betsy Best Spadaro

9" x 6"

Wood and linoleum relief print

"Circus Mom XI - Egg Balance" by Betsy Best Spadaro

10" x 6"

Linoleum relief print

The above image is one of a series that speaks to the many directions women are pulled in and surely resonates with moms everywhere. And the accordian book, below, provides a gallery of beautiful prints all in one compact format.

"Balance - Picture Book" by Betsy Best Spadaro

5.5" x 77"

Linoleum relief prints

In 2009, Betsy was extremely fortunate to have participated in three residencies in rapid succession. You'll find posts about her time in coastal Washington, in Italy and in Japan, as well as images of her most recent works on her blog. Be sure to visit her website, too, so you can see the depth of each of her series. So inspiring! Oh, and if all of the above isn't reason enough to go to her blog this instant, you simply must go to see the glorious photos of clouds she posted a few days ago. Cheers!

An Apple Heart and a Relief Print

8" x 11 "

Here is an "apple heart" that I painted with acrylics on cardstock a few years ago.

Approx. 8" x 10"

And here is another print from last week-end.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Printing on Herringbone and Forcing Quince

While the east coast is buried in snow, the Pacific Northwest is running ahead of schedule as far as spring is concerned. So much so, that the quince in our yard bloomed simultaneously with prunings from the bush that I had brought inside a week ago. But the color of the inside blooms is significantly paler than those on the bush -- almost like apple blossoms (closer to the color in the second photo). Very lovely.

Oh, and by the way: mystery solved! The bush with the beautiful yellow--and very fragrant, I might add--blossoms is called "Edgeworthia." The name was supplied by Lesley, who lives in the UK and has the very interesting and fun blog, Printed Material , which I was delighted to discover via her comment on the mystery plant.



Well, Lotta (of wonderful Inleaf) who is a relief printer extraordinaire and a wonderful textile artist, requested photos of my weekend efforts on fabric. So here are a couple from my experiment on a warm grey and black herringbone weave. Between the design and the fabric, I think they feel quite contemporary.

Indian Silks on Paper

Mixed media - Acrylic and gold guache on paper 18" x 24"
Relief printing and painting

Over the past couple of days, I've been transported to India via beautiful travelogues now in progress at maya*made and Lavender and Limes. Among photos of varied subject matter on both blogs, are gorgeous photos of Indian textiles, architecture, and crafts. A definite feast for the eyes! The decorative painting, above, was one of a several I did over a weekend -- all the while thinking of Indian silks. The cropped image below, is from a similarly painted and relief-printed decorative paper. (I posted a photo of an earlier state of this piece as well as a digitially altered scan of it a few months back.)

Mixed media - Acrylic and gold guache on paper

Relief printing and painting

Cropped from original 18" x 24"

The weekend is coming and I'm heading into it inspired to create. Also looking forward to seeing what others are creating. Please leave a comment so that I can discover the wonderful things you are making.

Mixed media on fabric