THINGS BREAK

So I worked a 13 hour day today in a showroom and at hour 12:45 as the group of us were hanging the last of 30+ massive frames I heard this crazy loud crashing sound. It caught me of guard but I wasn't that surprised as anyone who's worked in windows or showrooms setting up display elements knows that things break. The bizarre thing was that this 8 foot tall/4 foot wide mirror attached to a wall had absolutely nothing to do with anything we were doing today and for whatever reason, It decided to detach itself from the wall and shatter into thousands of pieces. One of my friends was about 4 feet away from it when it hit the ground, but everyone survived without injury.

THINKING OF FLORIDA

The other night I discovered a linoleum piece that I had drawn on to while I was in Ft. Lauderdale for my birthday this past September. It's a small piece and apparently very easy to misplace in the pigsty that is my desk/work area because up until this week I had forgotten that it even existed. I've had another crazy work week outside of the studio which usually translates to being frustrated about not doing enough artwork, so it was the perfect project to do late night after a day of work. Cutting out an already drawn image is a bit like going into a Zen state for me. I can sit there and cut out a little piece like this in about 1 - 1 1/2 hours and feel like I've been there for 10 minutes. The printing part takes a little more focus, especially when doing it with this technique, called Chine-Cole, (not sure if that's the correct spelling). This process involves inking the linoleum first, strategically placing pieces of paper on to the inked lino. Depending on the opacity of the papers, by overlapping different color you can get all kinds of variations in colors. You have to glue any overlapping pieces so that they'll stick together and then put a layer of glue on all of the paper still exposed. You then move it to the press, place the base paper you're printing over it and run it through the press. A lot of variables here = Many disasters possible. The Gods were smiling on me last night as I printed up 5 different variations of this piece without a hitch. The nice part about this print is that I can picture myself at the exact time I was drawing the image and immediately be transported to the time, place, temperature, and mood that was involved in the initial drawing. Being that it's Winter here in NYC, it was a great reminder of a warm and wonderful vacation. If anyone is interested in purchasing a piece, let me know.

RECYCLED HORSE PARTS

I made this horse a few years ago when I was obsessed with using recycled materials and over the years I've added various accessories. Most recently I did my research and essentially constructed a "working" saddle for him. He also has a winners wreath that usually doubles as a holiday wreath so he proudly displays it for a few weeks around the holidays.

MONARCH BUTTERFLY

When I was asked to prototype the screen butterflies for a new job, I was reminded how just a few years ago I had constructed this Monarch Butterfly for the first of a trilogy of short films I collaborated on with choreographer Scott Rink. It was used in one of the most magical dance sequences of the film. It's constructed of a 2-color linocut printed on fabric and then hand-stitched on to a wire frame. I had never done anything like it at the time and it still remains one of my favorite pieces.

BUTTERFLIES

I'm prototyping some butterflies for a job, they're cut out of window screening.

WORK THAT RUNWAY - BRYANT PARK

BERUBE-BUGS COVER - FINAL (NO, REALLY)

I printed up the 3-piece Berube-Bugs cover as a single image last night and decided that I liked how the purple ink in the very first printing looked so I used it for the final image as well.

Now I have to figure out how to sew the little carrying pouches together since I also printed the image on to fabric.

BERUBE-BUGS COVER - FINAL 3-COLOR (NIGHTMARE)

So last night after dinner I decided to give it a go and finish up my attempt at the 3-color version of the Berube-Bugs cover in hopes that by some miracle it was all going to work out. Poor disillusioned me. It was exactly the nightmare I had anticipated from the beginning. By the end of the printing, I think I may have ended up with one print that has the registration of all 3 parts close to being acceptable. (I'm being generous) I'll figure out some other way to chop up the final printed mistakes and do something else with them but it really was a washout.

I've posted one of the prints with the screwed up registration so that you understand what I'm talking abt. and I also posted one of the prints that I played around with in photoshop to line things up a bit so that you could get a better idea of what the image would look like if I hadn't screwed it up. Still hate the colors, but here you go.

I'll be printing up the 1-color complete image probably later today when I get back from the other job.

BERUBE-BUGS COVER - COLOR 2 (KIND OF)

The reason why I've hesitated on printing this image as long as I have is because I knew it was going to be difficult, (alright, next to impossible), to get the registration to line up with the segmented pieces of linoleum cut the way that they are. Regardless, not one to give up very easily, I thought I would make a go at it. Let's just say, after deciding that the color I had chosen for the second section wasn't working for me, going through the whole process of mixing it, inking the linoleum, printing a test and printing one actual piece on the good paper, I cleaned the linoleum off, got rid of the offending ink and fell back on my favorite printing color, BLACK.

Ironically, the 3 pieces I printed on to fabric, (i'm making pouches for the stitched editions), ended up printing better than the paper prints.

Being a glutton for punishment, I have decided to print up the last section in a 3rd color, yes an actual color, not black, and save a few of the pieces that don't appear to be complete screw ups. I'll tape the 3 pieces of lino back together the way that they were when I cut them out and print it up as a one color print... And smile knowing that I tried.

MOON / SUNSET

As the sun set this evening, the moon was already making it's appearance. (It's a little easier to spot if you click on the pic). Full moon on Tuesday!!!

BERUBE-BUGS 2007 COVER / COLOR 1

So I finally got my act together and printed the first part, the first color of the Berube-Bugs cover. The technique is a little different this time around as I've chosen to print this image up in 3 colors, printing the 3 different sections of the actual image separately. Getting the registration of the 3 separate sections to line up perfectly is just as tricky as if I were printing the typical reduction style of printmaking with 2 or more colors and 1 piece of linoleum.

I'll be printing the second color later today and posting it tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed.

INSPIRATION IN THE DETAILS

I'm a big fan of repeat patterns, highly decorative patterns, and well let's just say patterns in general. Anyone who takes the time to look up in this city will know that much of the architecture here offers some of the most amazing detailed work of anywhere in this country. Even after being here for 11 years, I'm still spotting things and going to parts of Manhattan that I've never been to before. I discovered this pattern work on the base of the 59th Street , (Queensboro), Bridge yesterday while on a little outing. I'm only showing you the detail because, well, I love patterns, but the actual piece had to be a good 20 feet tall. What can I say, it just caught my eye.

NEW BERUBE-BUG - STAMP LICKER

When I decided to start a mailart call last May, I figured it would be fun to incorporate an image onto the back of the return postcards that I send out to each person who sends me a submission. It seemed like the logical solution was to create a creature that looked like it was holding the stamp in place while also leaving enough room for the mail to and return address as well room for a quick note.
This guy is the 4th in the series of "stamp-lickers", I'm thinking that the name "SLIMER" fits really well.

BANANAS - NYC

MODERN ART - NYC

BERUBE-BUGS 2007 SAMPLER

The BERUBE-BUGS 2007 sampler I created is over 6 feet long when unfolded and completely hand-stitched page to page in the order that the prints were originally made. Having said that, I tried like hell to get decent pics of the sections and then spliced them together in order to give you an idea what the sampler looks like in it's entirety. The last part is a bit blurry, my apologies.

BERUBE-BUGS 2007 COVER (Finished Cut Piece)

I just finished cutting out the image, planning on starting the printing process tomorrow.

BERUBE-BUGS 2007 COVER (The Beginning)

I've been hand stitching a fold out booklet of all of the Berube-Bugs that I printed up during 2007 and decided that I should make a cover image to be printed on fabric that would eventually be sewn into some sort of a pouch to store the book in. In my ongoing desire to use left-over pieces of linoleum instead of just tossing them out I taped together 3 separate pieces of linoleum and drew an image onto the combined pieces. I was quickly reminded that the older the piece of linoleum, the more likely it is that my carving tool will slide across the linoleum, (because it dries out and becomes more brittle), in addition to carving it. It is with a bandaged thumb that I write this blog entry. Not just one gauging, but 3 different times in one night I stuck myself with the tool. Despite that, I'm forging ahead and intend on finishing this cover piece using the demon linoleum. The pic below is the partially cut out linoleum, and a little Berube dna in the lower left-hand corner.

BERUBE-BUG 2008

I finished the latest Berube Bug late last night right before midnight in celebration of letting go of 2007. This one is titled, "Out with the old, In with the new". I'm looking forward to bigger and better goals and achievements this year as well as a clearer view of the direction I should be going in and I wish the same to all of you!!!

Peace
David