ROB IN THE SPACELAB

Rob standing in the Spacelab after his opening. The beard and the wall compliment each other.

A drawing created directly on the wall of the Spacelab.

One of Rob's newest pieces that combines mixed media and silkscreen.

Another example of new work combining both a painter's and printmaker's sensibility.

The Fuel Injectors from a previous installation Rob had in the hallway have now incorparated the space into the work.

Rob opened in the Spacelab yesterday with a group of works that transformed the 'lab' into a gallery. He did everything (sans cookies) from creating a lighting system to heating the space (a welcomed comfort). It's an interesting group of works that he's testing in preparation for his thesis exhibition that will be opening in the Barr gallery on Thursday, April 8. Well done, Rob.

Exchange Portfolio: Reconciliation

This is the colophon page of the exchange portfolio created during the fall semester 2009. What will the spring 2010 colophon look like?

As in almost every previous semester, we will be undertaking a group portfolio exchange project this semester. Discussion of the project will be March 1 to decide on the theme, media, paper and image size, and edition number. Last semester there were 17 participants, each creating an edition of 11 impressions based on the theme “Reconciliation”, each print was on 9” x 12” paper with an image size of 5” x 7”. At the end of the semester, each participant received a portfolio of 10 randomly selected prints, while the shop received one complete portfolio of 17 impressions. The decision to not create editions of 18 was primarily cost related. 17 people printing editions of 18 impressions would require a lot of paper and a lot of ink.

The theme for the project is very open, but unlike the current 200 level intaglio project, this portfolio theme will be pursued by everyone rather than having several themes going at once. This allows for a collaborative strengthening of ideational fluency, taking an idea and interpreting it through each of the 17 unique sets of experiences, perceptions, and mediums. The media is also open and will ultimately be decided by each participant. At the moment, we have a few working in lithography, a few in silk screen, a lot of intaglio, and soon many more in relief. An exchange portfolio that explores all of these processes creates a more intriguing collection of prints than a portfolio that explores only one process.

So be thinking about a theme, and take a look at some of the past portfolio projects for inspiration.

Exhibit Opportunity

Anyone have some work they want to enter in a show in Jeffersonville? Go to:

www.springintoart.org

I'll be serving as the awards judge, don't know how it'll be juried, but it would be fun to see some work from IUS.

Monotypes, Phase I

Shawn created this image that is not particularly characteristic of the usual resulting palette of bold intense colors. I think he's still going to run another layer or two over this to push the atmospheric perspective even more.

Pako's confident drawing style that embraces illustrative rendering blended well with the separation process that resulted in a wide range of colors and values and a sense of animation.

Miranda explored an idea of image stereotypes that pushed the palette into interesting and expressive directions with bold colors and composition.

Mel looked at the abstraction of text, shape, and color to create the complexity of camouflaging pattern .

Greg looked at various travel images for inspiration and created this brightly colored sea/land scape.

Danny shows one of his influences in this pseudo-diabolical portrait that has an interesting contrast of colors carrying the content to other unexpected places.

Aberlyn's self-portrait has a strong sense of the dramatic created through her drawing/design skills and the resulting palette, belying the contemplative expression on the face.

These and many more prints represent a big batch of monotypes in my office that are fresh off the press. So fresh, in fact, the fragrance is filling the room with the sweet aroma of the printshop. Several of you have been down this path before, but there are about twelve who explored this method for the first time. I think the veterans showed obvious signs of growth from their last efforts with the three color separation process, and those exploring for the first time did some pretty competent things as well.

Learning a new process, or expanding on a process that clearly still possesses an element of surprise is always fun and challenging. Sometimes, though, the challenges can present themselves as barriers depending on how much or how little we tap into that side that is the creative part of who we are. Try not to let the those challenges of process become a barrier to your creative development, rather, embrace the challenge so you can express your visions, and be open to allowing the vision to take a different direction depending on the challenge. Printmaking, as you all know, and as we've discussed, is about deferred gratification. The thought process can be very convoluted at times, but the discoveries can be vastly rewarding.

I posted the images above because of their finished, resolved quality, and how they utilized the color separation process. Also how they resolved visual issues through that process without resorting to solutions outside of the process. Many of the pieces can be resolved by becoming mixed media, maybe even becoming stronger as such, but confronting creative problems that still have the potential for strong resolutions can be very satisfying, and edifying.