More Lichens

Lately I have been thinking a lot about lichens. They aren't really something I know much about, but I am so curious about them. I'm kind of just letting ideas roll around my head right now, in the hopes of one day starting a project on them. One thing I love about my working process is how it enables me to research and learn about whatever it is I am interested in at that time. It tends to work seasonally too, so I move between subjects season by season, year by year. One think I love about lichens is the idea of them affecting their surroundings at such a slow rate and on both a micro and amazingly macro scale. I feel like my thoughts are starting to crystalise to the point where I could begin something. It might be something about the Autumn colours that inspires me about Lichens this time of year. Autumn just kind of inspires me on all levels though.

Final Push

My October exhibition for the IGCA is just around the corner and I am busily trying to complete 6 pieces in preparation for it. Frames have arrived, glass needs to be ordered and the works need to be finished. It's getting kind of stressful, but not quite reached panic levels....yet.

I Lichen Lichen

I really do.

New work

So, I have a show coming up in October at the IGCA in Anchorage, I'm a bit behind on creating my work for it, but I now feel like I have something solid in the works. I'm not going to go into much about them, since my ideas and approach constantly evolve through my process, but here is an image to be going on with. It's laborious, as all of my pieces seem to be, but there's always some gratification in that for me.

Hunter Gathering

It was a beautiful sunny day here and I took my little friend Moses out for a wander at Bird Point. Here are some cool things I found there that I will stash away in my head to simmer over time.

Rock Collages

I worked a day a the GCVA on Saturday and got to working on a few very small collages exploring the idea of rocks being fluid forms, rather than solid. It's not like I came up with anything to settle on just yet, but it was fun and it was good to get something down on paper that has been in my head for a while.

I used photos of rocks I have had for a while. I like something about these and I'm not quite sure quite what yet. One part is how quick and free they are. 

VOW 2013

I am currently spending my time trying to write and hone my applications for this years Voices of the Wilderness artist residency.  I applied last year but was not accepted so I am trying again this year. It seems to me that these residencies are far too good to give up on. I would just LOVE to get one of these. They are right up my street. You get to go to a wonderful remote location here in Alaska, accompanying some rangers and helping them out with their tasks, while making some art on the side. So here' hoping. I'll just keep plugging away and it, and keeping my fingers crossed.

Animal Masks

Something I also came up with just before the holidays was these masks. I am hoping to expand my selection of animal choices in the future too. I have these up at the GCVA along with my prints so we will see if anyone is interested in them.
These are a bit of a shout out to my 9 year old self - a true nature nerd who was always nerding out on animal facts and watching documentaries.

Each mask is hand screen printed, with some additional inkjet printing for the text. There are some instructions of how to cut these out and attach some elastic to form the masks as well as a few short facts about each wonderful Alaskan creature.

Future ideas include Arctic foxed (in both summer and winter), a brown bear and some more birds.

Girdwood Center for Visual Arts

So, I recently joined the GCVA - the Girdwood Center for Visual Arts. It is a small artist co-op here in Girdwood, Alaska that takes it's form as a small gallery up at the top of the valley. It is a non profit that is supported by our membership fees and a percentage of the sales prices for any of the pieces sold there. I thought I ought to share a little of what I have on offer there. The pieces are really a break from the abstract work that I consider my personal work, but, hey, a girl's got to eat! I've been having fun coming up with ideas that could be more marketable there and that are not as intricate and labour intensive as the work I do for myself.

Some of this work was also on show at Jack Sprats over the holidays.

These are all linoleum block prints of places in and around Girdwood and Turnagain Arm. They are just small little guys - around 2 by 3 inches.

I also have some small wood block prints in the gallery also.