This weekend I am going to be featured on the Huffington Post in Kimberly Brooks‘ weekly art column called First Person Artist. Here is the link to the article. If you visit, please leave me a comment. 🙂
Art & Process
Oooh Baby
The other day I got to visit artist Baby Smith in her lovely home studio. I was blown away at seeing all the goooorgeeeeous groupings of her collages all under one (or 2) roofs. It was like being in a candy shoppe, or chocolate factory, just some kind of heaven. To put it simply, her work rocks! She is such a sweetie pie too. So pretty, and sweet. You’d think I”d has me a little crush. You’d be right. 🙂
“shift no. 22,” 2008 by Baby Smith. Found objects on board, 27″x27″x4″Â
Out of Reach
My new prints are here! I finished signing them this past weekend while hanging out with Gina Stepaniuk, who was there at SHG working on her first acetates. Her print is going to be soooo amazing. I just know it. She brought in the original painting, which I’ve seen before, but it reminded me of what an incredible painter she is. She is right now working on her MFA at Claremont and it doesn’t sound fun to me, but she is one strong cookie.
So here is not the greatest picture of my print entitled, “Out of Reach.” It is a 7-color, 22 x 26 inch screen print. The edition is 75:
Upon signing and pulling my prints, I found out that the 10-artist suite is going into some pretty prominent collections, like LACMA and the Mexican Museum in Chicago. Neither me or Gina are Latina so it’s a little bit strange, but I’ll take it where I can get it. Each woman also gets the whole suite too, so that is the icing on the cake, I’ll tell ya. There is going to be a big kick-off show of the prints at Self Help Graphics sometime in June, and possibly elsewhere that Yolanda will cook up. I am still just so grateful for this fabulous opportunity.
The prints can’t be sold until June, but I am taking pre-sale orders if you’re interested.
Coincidentally, I finally got my Blogger Killings print completed. It took a long time to get them to look right, but they look amazing and maybe even better than the originals. It’s a smaller edition at the same price as the silk screen, as they are high quality, archival digital prints. Those are for sale now, so order one for your office and scare your co-workers:
I just packed up all the work for the “Bookish” show in Seattle and FedExed it on out of here. I’m still thinking if I will be going to the opening. It might be an expense I can’t do this month, but if you are in Seattle, the opening is Thursday, April 10th from 5:00 to 8:00 PM.
I Heart Chicken Dog
I had a dream that we had a chicken dog as well as my real dog Buddy. The chicken dog was part rooster and part Border Collie. He had only 2 feet, like chicken legs, but with fur, and he also had the rooster’s weird, wobbly red stuff on his head and under his chin. It was the weirdest thing you ever saw, but I loved him. He was running around the neighborhood, unloved and laughed at. People were afraid to go near him, so he lived like a homeless person, finding refuge and places to sleep in hidden areas of people’s yards and behind restaurants and bars. We wanted him to sleep in the house with us, but like a chicken, he was very hard to catch. I was finally able to catch him as he was running through the front yards on my block. He was very sweet and cuddly, so we took him into our family, and people thought we were super strange.
Meanwhile, in another dream, my mother finally left my father and became roommates with my friend and artist Jennifer Celio in a downtown loft apartment. My mother called me complaining about the smell of turpentine and varnish (both in which Jennifer doesn’t even use in real life). She said that Jen played her music too loud and wished there was something she could do about the situation. So I had to pep talk her into actually saying something about it – very similar to a conversation we would really have. At some point in time (in real life) my mom stopped saying what she thought and instead sat on it silently, racking up resentment and anger, much of it towards herself for not being strong enough to say anything, which then lead to more depression and self-deprecation. …Oh, like mother, like daughter.
Dreams are fucking weird.
In real life, I had the spinal tap that I was putting off for 8 years. That is a long-ass time. I was so scared of it, you have no idea! But I got through it. I feel pretty sore today and I have the infamous headache they speak about. Laying down flat is the only cure, and tons of caffeine, which makes it so I don’t want to lay down at all! So instead, I built this new blog for Picklebird. I guess I heart Picklebird and Chickendog.
Also, the new Coagula is now out, so please pick up a copy at your local gallery and read the review I wrote about Rochelle Botello.
Last Printing Day at SHG
Well today was the last day of printing during my all-too-short residency at Self Help Graphics. I am one of 10 women chosen by SHG and Yolanda Gonzalez for the 2008 Maestra’s Atelier. Here is Master Printer Jose Alpuche hard at work on my print, with Assistant Printer and son, Ivan Alpuche. We had a lot of fun taking breaks and being smart-asses, but mostly I am overflowing with gratitude that I was able to learn the art of screen printing with such a talented printer as Joe. I’m already thinking about my next print!
Staring at the same image for the last 2 weeks has driven me absolutely batty. My fingers seem to be permanently stained with rapidograph ink from working on the 7 different acetates. It takes rubbing alcohol to erase your mistakes or make any changes, but once the acetate is shot and exposed onto the screen, you kind of have to live with the result, so you have to be sure. Since I’m not sure about most things, I had to rely mostly on the guidance of the Master Printer. If he says to make your lines darker, you better listen, or else you’re one stupid culo.
Next week I will go in and sign and number my prints and take a good picture of how it turned out. I think it looks pretty cool, but like I said, I’ve been staring at it too long. A few SHG peeps came in and they liked it a lot. It was definitely something a little different than what’s usually printed there. The colors are very subtle. I’ll show it at you next weekend, but for now it’s relaxing time.
Self Help Graphics in the heart of East LA has been an important part of Los Angeles and the Chicano Movement since the early 1970s. They have earned national acclaim for their programs and services. Their amazing building on Caesar Chavez Ave. is surrounded by a local population of over two million Chicanos/Mexicanos. They are a vital community resource for the creation and presentation of art and culture. I am honored to be welcomed into their home.
I was also given a great gift from artist Peter Tovar. It is a little monoprint he was working on in the Etching Studio today. I’m just lucky all over.
And I will be getting a new print by Vincent Valdez since he is willing to make a trade. His new print is AMAZING! I can’t wait to have it in my home and show it off on my blog.