A Little Bit of This, a Little Bit of That…

The problem with having a blog about art is sometimes you have to actually make the art, leaving no time to write about it. So today’s entry will try to catch up with three weeks or so of frantic activity. Not in chronological order:

Roadworks Steamroller Street Fair
Last Sunday, Sept. 19, I loaded up the car with prints and drove up to San Francisco to take part in the 7th annual Roadworks Steamroller Street Fair, hosted by the San Francisco Center for the Book.

I love this event! It’s tons of fun to watch the prints come out after being run over by the steamroller, and it attracts a crowd that’s already really interested in books, prints, paper items, ephemera, etc. I had a good day, and lots of good conversations.
Here’s a vendor’s eye view of my table:
A vendor's eye view of the crowd.

Etching Class
I’m taking the etching and aquatint class at Cabrillo College again. I really, really enjoyed the class last spring, and since the college doesn’t offer an intermediate class (darn California budget cuts, grrr) one can take the beginner’s class twice. I’ve already finished one print, am almost done with a second, and am in the midst of the third, which is actually a set of four related prints combining lino and etching. Whew! All in four weeks. Here I am burnishing some open bites:
Burnishing an etching plate

Sparring With Beatnik Ghosts
Lots of good things can come out of shows in public buildings. I got a call a few weeks ago from a man who had seen my prints at the Santa Cruz County Government building, and wondered if I might be interested in designing a logo and poster for his next event. Daniel Yaryan is the founding genius behind Sparring With Beatnik Ghosts. As he describes it on the SWBG website:

The idea was to channel the spirits of the deceased Beats through back-to-back poems and songs that seemed to flow continuously and colorfully like the spontaneous thoughts of Jack Kerouac being typed upon his scroll of teletype paper.

The event is the Triple Spar, 3 consecutive nights of poetry in 3 northern California cities: San Francisco, Berkeley, and Santa Cruz. Of course I said yes, and here is the poster:
Sparring with Beatnik Ghosts Triple Spar

You should attend one of these, or two, or all three. It will be great.

Santa Cruz Open Studios
Today was the opening reception for the preview show for this year’s Santa Cruz Open Studios. The preview is at the Santa Cruz Art League, and will be on view through October 17. Open Studios themselves take place the first three weekends in October; my studio will be open October 9, 10, 16, and 17, from 10am to 5pm.
There was a big crowd at the reception:
Reception for the preview exhibit of the 2010 Santa Cruz Open Studios

There was a marimba band, and of course, this being Santa Cruz, random people dancing along with hula hoops and other accoutrements.
Dancing at the reception

My contribution to the show is “St Christina the Astonishing.”
Art lover looking at my print

We were asked to bring a food item of some sort to the reception. And, being totally insane, I usually bake something that matches my art. Here are my “St Christina’s Astonishing Vegan Hermits”:
St Christina's Hermits

Get it? Saint? Hermits?
With that, I’ll call it a day. More news to come soon, I promise!

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