Poppies, Lupines and Printmaking Too!

Many years ago in graduate school, I was introduced to a form of printmaking called monoprinting, or sometimes, monotype. I'm a person not well suited to the long and meticulous craft of printmaking. But I did so love the notion of placing paper onto plate, applying pressure and seeing the creation of a whole new piece. It appeals to the alchemist in me.

Through the years I've experimented with different kinds of plates: glass, plexiglass, even the plastic surfaces of cutting boards, but I couldn't find a decent, printable surface that worked without the aid of a press. Then, one day several years ago, I visited an open studio event of a friend. She gave me a tour, and there, in one of the other artist's spaces, it's colorful package glinting in the sun, was a gelli plate.

As I touched its soft yielding surface (much like a batch of jello), I considered the possibilities. My friend offered to show me how it worked and we had several weekend workshops including other interested artists. I was hooked. Now several years and a number of plates later, I'm still experimenting, trying to push the limits of what the plate can do.

Next month, I'll be teaching a gelli printing workshop at our local Pence Gallery: Saturday, May 14 from 10- 3. There are still a few spots left, so whether you're new to gelli printing, or you'd like to stretch your printmaking  boundaries, I'd love to have you. I'm super excited about the planning--and look forward to sharing what I've learned about the simple beauty of this process.

Anatomy of an Exhibit

I decided to piece out all the steps (that I could think of) that are included in creating art work for an exhibit. Step one, a sine qua none; Inspiration. Most of the inspiration for the Bloom 2 exhibit at the Pence came from visits to the San Francisco Botanical Gardens.

Step 2, Experiments. When I started making the prints, eager to see how they might look together, there were lots of false starts.

Step 3, Hmm. Prints that were good in themselves, but didn't quite fit into the 9 piece format I wanted.

Step 4, Coalescence. After a couple of months and lots of future collage fodder, I saw possibilities. When this happens, I've reached a certain way of seeing, and mostly, thrown caution to the winds. Solutions come spontaneously, rather than through a forced march.

Step 5, Documentation and Photographs. If you take good ones yourself, wonderful. I found a most excellent photographer in the artist, Diana Jahns. She finds the best angles, the best light and works until she gets what I want (as well as many options I never considered).

Step 6, Framing. Am I going to do it myself with pre-made frames or pay to have them housed in a nice shadow boxes with precise measurements? What's my investment as a whole? I opted for a framer and they turned out wonderfully.

Step 7. Getting the word out; time to hit social media.

Step 8, Delivery! (and Deliverance).

Step 9, The Opening.

Bloom 2 Opening this Friday!

Bloom II, Pence Gallery

212 D St., Davis, CA March 8-April 19 Opening Reception: March 11, 6-9 pm

Bloom 2 is up and 2nd Friday is around the corner! With an abundance of gallery spots in Davis, there's something for everyone to see. Of course, I'd love to see you at the Pence, where we'll be celebrating the Bloom 2 show. I'll have several of my multiple monoprint works on display including Folia, pictured here.

Come and enjoy a glass of wine, some fresh art chat and lots of gorgeous art for sale!

Reality and Resolutions--#2012

At this time of year, people talk a lot about resolutions, goals or even words they want to live by. My question though is "How are you going to do it?" Fortunately, you also hear about the scaffolding--the underpinning of the resolutions. Scaffolding answers the question of how do you get from point A to point B? Last year I set myself the goal of creating a new website. I've had two websites designed in the past, and naively, I assumed that the work was in getting the site up and running. It didn't occur to me to factor in the cost of keeping the site up to date.

The Second Story Studio, my second site

Some years older now and wiser, I realized that I needed to create a site I could update myself. That meant keeping it simple without the bells and whistles attached--the really cool things that web designers come up with.No funky fonts, dark backgrounds with white type--just the straight stuff, in other words, "Gallery Minimal."

My first site: hkhunterarts

I decided to go with WordPress, a blog format that allows me to have multiple pages and, like this Blogger site, make changes and updates to my heart's content.

I hired an artist friend Chris Beers who does IT and design for our local gallery, the Pence, and together we figured out a way to create a clean site where the colors of my pieces sparkle. We even included two tutoring sessions so that I could learn to do it myself.

So there I was with my squeaky clean site and a host of new jpegs to load on. The only thing is, that between the time when I learned the tools (before the holidays,) and when I was ready to employ them (after the holidays ), I simply forgot how.

I remembered my secret weapon--a book Chris had recommended: Teach Yourself Visually: WordPress. I picked it up and decided to have a go at it. I dreaded the thought. Me and instructions...hmmm...kind of like my ninth grade Algebra course--never know where I'm going to end up...

Using an old study trick, I looked at my watch and decided to read for half an hour with studio time as a break. I kvetched inwardly. Oi vey, the terms: trackbacks and feedbacks and permalinks! The funny thing was, fifteen minutes later, I was swimming with the permalinks. I even got into it so much, I brought it along to a doctor's appointment with me.

So, I'm learning to load on the jpegs and pretty soon, I'll be able to launch my site...As Billy Crystal noted in Analyze This, "It's a process."

Welcome to my home away from home: an online studio where you can see my artwork, find inspiration and read about my double life as an artist and art therapist.

The new kid on the block: hannahklaushunterarts.com

                         Copyright 2012, Hannah Klaus Hunter.  All rights reserved.  All artwork & material on this site is copyrighted by the artist.