proof of tetra print on left and
proof of chine collé below
(definitions will come later)
After years of making my life simple, why is my return to printmaking delighting me so? There are many print methods and all but one of them require precision and processes that must be done in a certain order with specific equipment and tools.
I have to admit once in a while I fall back on mono-prints (the one exception) which retains spontaneity and potential for "Happy" accidents. I can hand print these images which is another bonus for when I'm working at home.
Mostly I am working on tetra plates, The cartons that shelf stable liquids come in. Just cut them open so they lay flat and use dry point tools to inscribe the design on their silvery insides. They need to be printed with the press to get a clear image. Hand Printing just doesn't have enough pressure.
I've been wondering too if my delight with printing comes from a long ago incident when I was enrolled in the printmaking class at UCLA. (I need to go back a step and explain that when in high school my 'advisor' encouraging me to go to college asked if I wanted to be a nurse or a teacher. My emphatic reply just flew out, surprising both of us, I'm going to be an artist.) After doing the basics of the fine art program I signed up for print shop with John Paul Jones (1924-1999), but when it came time to review my portfolio he would not look at my artwork. He looked me in the eye and said, "you are taking up space a man should have."
Well I'm enjoying that space. Men can not keep all the good things for themselves…
My other enjoyment of course is reading and when I started making a list of books I'd like to recommend it got way too long. I've settled on a few and will try to keep this brief:
The forgotten teachers-how Nature wrote the story of life by Brian Isett and illustrated by Claudia Biçen. Starting out with a forward about DNA, the teachers, a chapter each, are: ocean, air, Theia, sun, plant, symbionts. Quote from the book: "Despite earth being our only home, and despite the story of life we share, connecting all of us, we seem to have forgotten how to tell stories with wonder, awe, and a sense of mystery. It's time for us remember."
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans: low-key, yet high drama novel told through letters with young and old, famous and not.
The Whistler by Ann Patchet. The narrator of this novel is middle-aged woman reunited with an ex- stepfather. Complex family relationships. A side story, about them being in an auto accident and the repercussions, threaded through the novel, and the telling of it finally at the end pulled everything together.
What we can Know by Ian McEwan
novel about literary historian in 2119, his area of research is poetry 1990 through 2030. He is researching a lost poem, a corona of 15 stanzas, written by famous poet as a gift to his wife. Acknowledgement given Stuart Brand and the Long now foundation - deep thinking about what we owe the future.
..
.
not a robot
I am a human
with feelings and pride
not willing to be
certified by an orb that
I am not a robot
I may be wearing a mask
and perhaps I was type-cast
playing out my DNA assigned part
in an ongoing drama/comedy/mystery
but I am not a robot
***
They Called it a Pro-Human Summit -
Won't historians of the future find that quaint
It has been noted
computers can only give
answers
Only humans are capable of
standing in wonder to ask questions
of the mysteries surrounding us
What if AI was instructed to assist
humans in what they are already doing,
but make it easier, quicker?
Their data sets would clearly show
humans are trying to kill themselves:
Polluting earth air water,
engaging in endless warfare / hot and cold
restricting health and medical assistance
limiting access to education / free speech
rewriting history
Perhaps AI can make it happen quicker
and cleaner - skipping all the absurd and corrupt politics
leaving the Earth free to rebalance itself
This is the optimistic scenario
holding the assumption that without humans
AI cannot continue on its own
***
I also need to recommend two on-line sites that continually feed me with challenging thoughts and brilliant minds to stimulate my creativity. Zocalo Square out of LA and The Marginalia by Maria Popova out of Brooklyn. Please check them out.
And with a note of optimism I saw three nene today (Hawaiian geese, my mother would have loved seeing them)
"Art is about making something out of nothing and selling it." -- Frank Zappa
