Melissa West

The problem with big prints, for me, is how to hang them in a show. Custom frames cost an arm and a leg, and I need to keep mine, thank you just the same. So for my upcoming solo show at the Napa County Library, I decided to print La Penitente on cloth and hang her like a banner.

Sarah-Hope had purchased a large hunk of white muslin for curtains, but we decided against them, so that’s what I used for my prints. Here’s something rarely seen: me ironing.

While the studio is mostly set up and ready for me to work, it still has miscellaneous boxes and debris sitting around, so for large-scale inking I set up work tables in the driveway.

I’ve been thinking about doing some prints on fabric for a while now, along the lines of prayer flags, and had done some test prints back in the old house. I am surprised how easy it is to print on fabric; the ink comes out nice and clear, and you don’t have to worry about too much embossing. Here is the first print done and pulled back from the block.

The block just barely fits on the press – that is the rollers just reach head to toe on her. To make sure the top and bottom came out clearly, I did some hand-rubbing with my apothecary’s pestle. If you look closely you can see the block below the fabric.

A close-up of the embossment around the face.

I like how the texture of the fabric comes through, and, as seen here, how it complements the texture of La Penitente’s wrap.

One small problem: I haven’t set up my drying system yet. I ended up draping the prints around the house.

After a few days letting the prints dry, I will try to persuade Sarah-Hope to sew hems and loops for hanging with dowels. And then off to the library we go!

My work will be on display at the main branch of the Napa County Library from May 31 through June 28. The library is located at 580 Coombs Street in downtown Napa. There will be a reception and artist’s talk on Friday, June 13, 6 – 7:30 pm.

I feel like Victor Frankenstein: “It’s ALIVE!!!” — at least that’s what I can finally say in regard to my art studio.

As you might have guessed by my utter lack of recent blog posts, I’ve been busy with other things than art. As in buying a house. As in moving. As in remodeling, and as in digging up the garden.

Here we are in front of our new house. We love it.

Owning a house is exciting. And see that garage door? That is the door to my studio. The garage is mine, all mine, and I am well on the way to making it a working space.

It hasn’t been easy. I have way too much stuff, all of it absolutely vitally essential. And much of it in the way. I still can’t circumnavigate the press, but at least now I can roll the wheel to make a print.

Here is the press still partially wrapped from the move.

Having finally set up my drafting table so I can carve, today I reached the point where I had a block that I needed to proof. Yay! Here I am taking the last bit of bubble wrap off the press wheel.

I also finally cleared off the workbench. First dab of ink at the new house!

And printing the first proof.

And here is the result. I need to do a bit more carving, but I’m pleased with this.

I am also so pleased to finally do some printing. It’s been a long time!

It’s always exciting to start a new print, or to finish one.

I just printed the first ‘good’ print of my dungbeetle image. The moment of truth….

And the print. It’s good! Now I can start pulling the edition. And deciding on the final title of the print.

In the meantime, I’m also carving several other prints. This one is tentatively called “Landscape with Drones.” You can see all sorts of experiments and notes for other projects scattered around the worksurface.

I’m also taking an advanced intaglio class at Cabrillo College, which is great fun. Right now we’re working on alternative resist methods, which means ways to transfer or make an image on the copper before pouring the ground; the resist is than removed to reveal the copper, which will then be exposed to ferric acid.

On the left, I’ve transferred rubbings of sand dollars and one of my linoleum blocks.
On the right, I’ve transferred a rubbing of a mop head, and also transferred the image of inked feathers onto the copper by running them through a press.
I also want to try dripping wax on a plate, and transferring an image via carbon paper. It’s fun to get crazy!

After a busy year of making art and flitting off for a month’s printmaking in Spain, I realized it was time to pay the piper and make a little money to pay for it all, and so decided to apply for several art fairs that will take place locally this summer. And then I realized: after all these years of setting up and taking down my tent for Open Studios, I had nonetheless managed to have NEVER taken an official photo of my booth.

I needed a booth photo. I had one day. No, actually, I had one afternoon.

Off I went, after my usual morning shift working at Peet’s, to my storage place to pick up everything I would need. Tent, side walls, giant metal grids for hanging framed work, fabric covers for said grids, banner, print bins, and greeting card spinner.

Load car, drive home, unload car.

(An aside: I can only do local shows since the combination of small van and large metal grids leaves very little room in the car for the artwork itself, let alone gear for spending any time away from home. Next round of wild and crazy spending might just include foldable wall sections.)

The first order of the day, once all was unloaded and dragged to the back yard, was finding a level piece of ground – no small task, considering the energetic digging of our local team of gophers – that would have a natural-looking background, so one could imagine the final photo was taken, perhaps, at some park, during some festival.

Then came the putting up of the tent. The marketing for art pop-up tents seems to always maintain that it can easily be done by one person. Perhaps this is true, if the person happens to be Superman. For the rest of us mortals, “easily” is not the word that comes to mind.

(Photo is of the tent in progress, not the Denver airport.)

Tent up, including the back wall, I could then hang up my banner.

Next, the grids were tied together with computer zip ties and precariously balanced upright, then covered with fabric drapes.

Maggie and Bob helped direct. Maggie says, Follow me! Put it over here! Bob approves of the banner.

A moment of realization: my plastic white table is lovely to carry, delightful to set up, but looks like heck without a tablecloth. I often use my garish rainbow sarong for a playful booth tablecloth, but this is for a jury deciding if I look professional enough to participate in their festival. Some might like playful, some might not. A quick walk to the local fabric shop was now on the agenda. What luck! As I wandered the aisles, searching for the right fabric, I overheard a man telling a clerk that he found a nice roll of black jersey that he wanted to use for a tablecloth for a display table, and best yet, it cost only $1.99 a yard. The man and clerk looked a bit alarmed as I ran after them, but we all thought it was funny when I explained that I was looking for the exact same thing. And, luckily, there was enough on the roll for both of us.

While out, I picked up lunch, walked home, ate quickly (Bob the cat helped), and set up the table with its new tablecloth.

OK! The basic set-up was finally complete. Now, before adding any art, I did some clean-up. No art fair includes a pile of leaves; time to rake!

Insert framed art, insert prints in bins, insert cards in card spinner, insert business cards and postcards in appropriate display doodads. The final results are at the top of this post, and here:

In an ideal world, I would have started earlier in the day (darn day job!), had a swarm of helpers (darn other peoples’ day jobs!), thought more about what the angle of the sun would be after several hours of setting up, had a floor covering, had perhaps some flower pots or other ‘nice’ touch in front, had more daylight – but all in all, I’m pleased with the results.

The tent in the yard reminded me of the movies or a theater set. The final tent looks lovely, but it’s fun to step back and see all the production setup as well. Bob was hoping I’d leave the tent up permanently as a pavilion for him to relax in, but I am a mean mother and took it all down again. Last night I loaded it all back into the car, and this morning, it all went back into storage.

Next stop: applications.

Nobody ever said art was easy. Or if they did, they were wrong.

Look what I just got in the mail: five giant linoleum blocks! Each block is 18″ x 24″ – that’s a whole lot of carving coming up. You can see in the picture that I’ve placed one of my ‘saint’ blocks on top of the stack for comparison. Most of my prints to date have been in the range of 4″ to 8″ on any one side, and now I suddenly feel like going BIG. This will be fun.

And as an aside, hooray for good packaging. Last year I ordered some blocks from another online art supplier, and the blocks came damaged, having been thrown loosely into a box that was much too large. These new blocks came carefully wrapped in kraft paper, and then the bundle of blocks was taped into the lovely large flat outer box (which I will save and re-use; I confess to being a box hoarder), and padded with crumpled newsprint. (The arrows point to the tape holding the bundle in place.)

The other items I’ve been gathering this month are x-rays. I put a request on my local Freecycle, and a woman responded and gave me stacks of them: full body scans, head scans, chest scans, MRIs – wow. I have some solar plates stowed away in my stash, and will try some experimental etchings incorporating the x-rays.

And next month, I will begin taking an Intermediate Intaglio class at Cabrillo College. I’ve taken the introductory class – twice – and really enjoy the work and the instructor. I’m looking forward to this very much!

So lots of ideas brewing, and new techniques, and new challenges. I think 2013 is shaping up to be an excellent year.

Linoleum block workshop
Would you like to learn how to make linoleum block prints? Here’s your chance! I’m leading a weekend workshop, February 2 & 3, which will teach you all you need to know to get started. Click here for more information and to sign up!