This Saturday night: Farm to Fork (to Fabulous!)

Opening reception Saturday, March 16, 7-10pm.

Showing with my friend and fellow artist Alicia Rheal in our From Farm to Fork (to Fabulous!) exhibit. The opening reception is a gala celebration and benefit for the Walls of Wittenberg. More info, and the poster, below. Highlight? Why Nueske’s Applewood Smoked Meats of course.

This is going to be a really fun (and delicious) opening reception! (Click on poster to enlarge) And, if you drive up early, you can visit Nueske’s Company Store in Wittenberg (Sat. hours: 8-4).

The WowSpace is located at 114 Vinal St – Wittenberg, WI. Easy to find…Just look for the 8ft hanging hog carcasses and the giant pull-toy pig (cuts) in the front windows along the main street of downtown Wittenberg!

And here’s more info about the Walls of Wittenberg ongoing mural project.

One section of the wall installed for now….

Installing…. That’s an 18ft long Hampshire stud boar on right (the model, Pioneer is owned by Monson Show Pigs in Richland Center). And that’s an 8ft pull-toy pig in front window.

Kitten Likes Blood

At last check, this was the only print of mine from the “Small Works” show at Artisan Gallery that hasn’t sold. I wonder why?

Kitten Likes Blood
hand-colored lithograph
12in x 12in

This scene was from ¡¡Real Life!! Kitten–runt of the litter–joined in with the other animals to share in the spoils of a deer being processed in Pat’s front yard. She was very protective of her space/spoils, thumping her tiny little paw ferociously down on the ground to warn anyone away. Cute gross tiny ferocious yum.

Radioactive, by Lauren Redniss

Radioactive, by Lauren Redniss

Currently The Big Read at the UW-Madison this semester, this book is just phenomenal. The author/artist is a genius–writing, illustrating, and creating her own font for this book–Lauren Redniss is a god! I’m so inspired by her work.

Radioactive is about the life of Marie Curry, and along with being a gorgeously illustrated graphic novel, it’s incredibly-researched, historically accurate, full of drama, intrigue, love and death, it reads like a novel! Very hard to put down.

Oh! And the cover (hard-cover version at least) glows in the dark–how cool is that??!!

I can’t say enough about this book, nor can I say it well, so here’s a link to a terrific review of the book by journalist, writer, and current UW-Madison grad student, Emily Eggleston:
A Radioactive Treat.

Check out Lauren Redniss online and Radioactive itself. At her site you can also check out her wonderful “Op-art” pieces for the NYT. Oh, and this book (that I have to have) Century Girl is also there. Check it out! Genius. Seriously.

And here’s a video of Lauren talking about the making of Radioactive at a TED Talk (yep, she’s also young and beautiful–she’s got it all):

Sausage making!

This is turning into an annual event…. Making sausages with Bryan (and Alicia). This year we made 3 kinds: a Longuiza one, a southwestern (hot) one, and a mild apple/herb one.

Made them this past weekend so that they could “rest” and the flavors meld (in the fridge, and now in freezer) for a “Handmade” gathering this upcoming weekend. This pork is from last year’s (2011) hogs.

Here’s the hot one:

Porkert brand sausage maker

 

This year’s hogs are still in the pasture. Butcher date coming up in September

Why the sad face? Because this year’s pigs-now-hogs are super-cute and friendly–always talking and happy to see you (and your food gifts)….

But, I guess that means happy meat too.

We used Bryan’s Porkert sausage maker, from the Czech Republic (here’s a link to what looks like the all-metal version). I want one!

The Tunnel of Mortality

The Tunnel of Mortality, a life-size tunnel-book installation at Artisan Gallery, has been extended to September 9th, 2012! The next reception is Friday, July 27, 2012, 5-9pm at Artisan Gallery.

Here’s some shots (click any image to enlarge):

“Come in.” said the spider to the fly….

Once you step in the door, you are in a floor-to-ceiling, darkly wallpapered, little anteroom, about 8ft x 8ft.

Back wall and right corner of anteroom

Chairs are upholstered in the same, matching, printed fabric as the walls.

The richly detailed wallpaper is actually a 10in x 10in linocut pattern printed black onto burgundy duckcloth. About 480 times. If you look closely at one of the “tiles” you will see the underlying theme of the show:

If you look behind you to your right, the outside light looks blinding compared to the dramatic low lighting surrounding you.

Taxidermy chicken NOT for sale.

As you step through the door, into the anteroom, The Tunnel of Mortality is that big framed piece on the right-hand wall. It looks like any other of the framed woodcuts, except as you walk towards or by it, it changes (since it’s a 3-dimensional space, not a flat piece). If you’re not paying attention though, it doesn’t “read” as an interior space, but rather a mirror…or something. A number of visitors were looking behind and above them to figure out where the projector was. Most think it’s a mirror, but can’t figure out how come they don’t see their reflection.

Matching tablecloth and upholstery! This is really the only time I’ve gotten into “interior decorating” (in our real house, nothing matches. I mean, who has time when it takes this long to make pretend rooms?).

Walk into the center of the room, turn to your right, and there’s the tunnel.

The Tunnel of Mortality, framed.

I’m not going to try to explain how this looks in real life, since you really have to go experience it to get it. Suffice it to say, that it’s confusing at first since you can’t quite tell what you’re looking at. Some have said it feels like a mirror.

And here’s a cropped panorama of the center section:

All woodcut or linocut prints on fabric or Tyvek.

Reception is this Friday, 5-9pm at Artisan Gallery (directions).
And the show is up through September 9th.

So, come check it out!
Experience the tunnel!
Sign the camouflaged guestbook!
Read some of the entries in the guestbook here.

The “Tunnel” guestbook

At the Tunnel of Mortality show, I made this matching guestbook and left it on the table in the anteroom, with a sign “comments welcome” (the anteroom’s wallpaper, upholstery, tablecloth, etc all used the “bones and offal” linocut pattern on burgundy cloth).

Here are a few of the comments (favorites), below…

Love this one:

Artwork that makes you think! Yeah!! Nice processing:

Cracks me up:

Wait, what?…

Girl after my own ♥:

Hog hides arrived!

They made it. Finally! These are hog hides (and one buckskin) from last fall, 2011 (when I took them into a tannery in Milwaukee, WI). They’ve all been tanned and dyed to specific colors…

Clockwise from top: Buckskin dyed brown, Hog hide–natural, hog hide–tan, hog hide–brown, hog–black. Can’t wait to make book covers with these, but have deadlines that need to be finished first. Eyes on the prize!

BTW, anybody know how to soften hides? The hog skins are really stiff. It’s not a real problem (I dampen the hide before using it for binding, so it’ll be soft to work with), but it would be nice to know how to do it in case I need them softer when they’re dry….

Tunnel of Mortality (and much more) Friday night!

(Day 3 of the install)

Artisan Gallery 25th Anniversary Exhibition
June 8th – July 22nd, 2012
Opening Reception Friday June 8th 5-9p.m.

Group Show: 25th anniversary — We are excited to celebrate our 25th year in Paoli, the anniversary show will feature favorite work from many of our gallery artists.

In the Cooler: S.V. Medaris “The Tunnel of Mortality” — Printmaking from birth to slaughter and everything in-between. One season of life on the farm (in life-size tunnel book form), as told by S.V. Medaris of Market Weight Press.

Nick Wroblewski: Color Reduction Woodcuts — Wroblewski’s woodcuts entice the viewer through the use of vivid colors and hold their attention through his variety of distinct mark making. This exhibit will have many prints which showcase his unique style of reduction woodcuts.

More info at Artisan’s Facebook page and
Artisan Gallery website

More linos…

Listening to rebroadcast of the Cluck: From Jungle Fowl to City Chicks interview on Larry Meiller’s show (archives) that Susan Troller and I did earlier in the year, meanwhile drawing carcass for segment of Tunnel of Mortality that is upcoming solo show in June atArtisan Gallery.

Oh yeah, and my first reduction tees! (hint to you tee printing folks: if the lino is cut out in a shape, you can just line up color #2 by matching the outside contours of the block shape to the outside edges of the print shape) Just did 2 prototypes (pink thermal shown) to see if it would work…. It did!

Plucked lino measures about 30in. high. “Wallpaper” in background is lino on canvas duck cloth about 8ft wide, pigs are reductions on drill cloth, included in panels for ‘Tunnel’ installation

Busy morning

Finished designing the week’s story at the Why Files (day job), did chores, and shot a rabid (or sick with something, staggering stiff-legged around the dogyard) raccoon. All before 10am. Feeling a little Annie Oakley right now. Although if I were trully amazing, I would have done all of this before daybreak.

And if I was really Annie Oakley I wouldn’t have needed instruction.

It was all very 21st century here’s-how-you-shoot-a-raccoon gun-learnin’ experience. I’m sure it looked very funny (well not to the raccoon) as I get guidance from husband J on my cell: “Check that none of the bullets in the barrel are dented…ok take that one out…Red button means safety off!….Line up the bump with the groove…call me when you’re done.” Click.

OK, big swig of diet Coke…no shaking allowed you a tuff bitch now…put him out of his misery quick…ear protection in place (god how nerdy I look I’m sure)…focus…wait till he’s backed up to fence and still —swaying only slightly with sickness…kneel…aim…squeeze-don’t-pull…and (muffled) bam-echo…and he’s down, twitching. Did it.

Dogs safe to let out into dogyard now. Heading out to carve some (woodcut) blocks.

-Later y’all…