Afternoon Conversations

Right now I am really happy. This is because in the past couple weeks I made my first two sales on my etsy shop (one of which happened tonight!) So, in the name of celebration, I decided it was time to post more prints on my etsy shop, and at the same time post one of those prints on here. All the while I will be drinking a white russian in celebratory form (well, it's not really a white russian, as there is no half and half in the house right now, so I substituted almond milk in place of cream: delicious!)

Below is a letterpress print I made for a show of work by me and my talented co-workers at the Book Arts Program, which showed at Signed & Numbered in 2009. The title is "Afternoon Conversations." It is of a giraffe and crocodile conversing. Conversing about what, I can't say. They might be talking about the current state of the jungle, the weather, or how fond they are of their mutual friend, Gerald. I often like to depict two animals that wouldn't normally interact in the "real world" in order to create a sort of whimsical land in which these animals might reside and interact in a way unfamiliar to us. It's an unusual image for me, in that it's nearly completely lacking any color. The only color used (other than black and white) is a very subtle tan used in the sun and a bit in the animals. I put it in the animals to represent a common life force shared with the sun. The size of the animals, and how they are rendered was inspired by an old book cover I found at the J. Willard Marriott Library. Unfortunately, I cannot remember the name of the book, and I'm very sorry for that, as I'd like to give it credit here. It's additionally unfortunate that I may not be able to find the book again, because I returned it, and because I check out so many weird books from the Marriott Library keeping track of them would be near impossible (or boring, requiring work-like charts and tables.)

 

Mystère et boule de gomme

It's that time of year again: the 12th annual Miniprint sale! Prints made by students, faculty and alumni (that's me!) from the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Utah. All sales go to assisting printmaking students attend the Southern Graphics Council National Printmaking Conference in St. Louis, MO. The prints will be on sale at the Gittins Gallery from Dec. 7 through Dec. 9th, from 10 am to 6 pm. This was my contribution to the cause. The blue I used for the words is quite subtle, but it's even more subtle photographed. So, I guess you gotta see it in person for reals.

 

Card Pack

As I said in my previous post I made a small letterpress version of my wolf pack drawings. I printed them in florescent yellow ink! Bam! Bright! And then cut them all down and rounded the corners. Each card is rather small, 2.5" x 3.5," that way you can carry them around in your shirt pocket and always have a wolf pack with you. Should you be interested in carrying them around in your shirt pocket, I've got them for sale on my etsy shop.

Wolf Pack

On October gallery stroll I had a show at Copper Palate Press. I depicted my wolf pack of seven. I, surprisingly, titled the show, "Wolf Pack." It consisted of the below pieces (media: graphite, colored pencil, watercolor) and also smaller simplified letterpress versions of these, made into a card pack.

 

 

 

My boyfriend, Alexander, wonderfully helped me put up the show (the arrow was his idea.) Here are some shots of the set-up. One picture with lights on showing token empty PBR cans (and snack bag,) one with me looking goofy holding semi-full PBR can, and one with lights off with glowing PBR cans in foreground. I apologize for the terrible quality of these photos (I should buy a better camera.) I'll post pictures of the card pack in a later post.

Artist's Statement:

The meaning behind the show title, Wolf Pack, is not of a literal pack of wolves, but of a pack of individuals who look out for each other just as wolves do within a wolf pack. My wolf pack is seven strong, comprised of individuals all significant to me. Most of those within the pack relate to events that have happened in my life over this past summer, making them significant to who I am right now.

Claire Elizabeth: is myself, Claire Taylor.

Alexandre: is my old friend and boyfriend of 6 years, Alexander Pratt. Alexandre is the French spelling of Alexander, paying homage to his heritage. Alexandre is depicted naked so as to show his kinship with animals and the wild.

Cindy Night: is the endangered and mysterious California Condor. While on a camping trip in Zion National Park, I was near the top of Angels Landing where I saw a California Condor cleaning itself. I watched her for a long time. Once I turned my back to the bird, to complete the hike, she took flight and flew in the direction I had turned to face. She had an enormous wingspan; it was a great and powerful sight. Her name is partly inspired by my mother's name, Camille. Though, Camille did not seem to be the right name for this bird, I instead chose her a name starting with the letter “C.”

Johnny Quick Shoes: is the wise and clever fox. Though this depicts a red fox, it was inspired by a grey fox I saw in Zion on this same camping trip. I saw him at night in our campground walking ahead of me on the path from the bathroom. Once I got to the edge of my campsite he turned to sit and looked at me for awhile, until I left him.

Wolfe: is the fierce cat. This cat is inspired by the many cats I see within the city. Many of these cats I interact with, petting them. Often, they will run up to me and my boyfriend, Alexander, meowing to be pet. They always leave an impression on us.

William: is a fictionalized version of the actor, Bill Murray. I have always loved Bill Murray, often depicting him in my art. I've come to realize that the Bill Murray that I depict is not the real Bill Murray, but something he simbolizes to me.

Katherine Wise: is inspired by the many small owls I have seen over this past summer. These owls have flown near me and landed close and stared and chirped at me. Katherine Wise is also named after my sister, Katherine who also saw many owls this past summer.

Thanks to members of my real life wolf pack. Thanks to Camille Biexei, Katherine Allred, and Alexander Pratt all of whom had many good thoughts and ideas. Thanks to Laura Decker and Max Kelly who helped me come up with the name, Wolf Pack.

Do You Remember September?

In September I entered two prints into a juried print show put on by Saltgrass Printmakers and the University of Utah Art Department. It showed at the Gittins Gallery. The grand prize was awarded to my good friend, Amber Heaton, for her mysterious jellyfish prints. Here are my pieces that were in the show. Both were printed on the letterpress. The first one, Pony and Pondwater, I originally made for a print exchange, A La Carte, put on by Leia Bell, which showed at Signed & Numbered in 2009. It was also featured in the Summer 2010 edition of the Graphic Impressions quarterly newsletter. I made it from type, cintra, and photopolymer made from hand drawn scribe coat negatives. Scribe coat is a coated plastic originally used for map making. The coated side can be scratched into with sharp objects, making a negative image, which can then be used as a negative to expose photopolymer plates. Oh, the joys of printmaking. The second one, Cat Talk, was made from a pressure print (a process where a matrix made from cut paper is used,) linocuts, and photopolymer made from hand drawn scribe coat negatives. A somewhat exciting fact: Cat Talk is double-sided. The backside is a series of triangles in blue. I was originally going to make the print on that side (this is the image the pressure print made) but decided I liked the opposite side, where the pressure print made an indentation of the triangles into the paper.

Cat Talk is a print version of a drawing, which I made for the Kayo Gallery members show last year.

Traveling Right Now

A couple of my friends (including the great Laura Decker) and I were asked to participant in a traveling show Saltgrass Printmakers was doing with the Utah Arts Council Traveling Exhibition Program. I believe the show is going to 3 high schools and universities, so I think it's supposed to be educational. We were asked to write a description of the concept for one of the pieces, so folks could learn about the artistic process. I wrote one for the piece below, which I originally made for a print exchange organized by my sister, Camilla Taylor, that showed at Kayo Gallery this last summer.

Media: Photopolymer made from hand-drawn negative, lino cut on letterpress
Description of concept for "Middle Ground": This piece was done in response to a print exchange with the theme of liminality. Liminality means to be in an intermediate state, or at a threshold. The image is of an arctic fox with a small bird. The arctic fox is in a state of losing his winter coat, transforming into his summer coat. The colors I chose are more related to fire than to arctic ice, relating to the fox's changing state of mind. The space between the fox and the bird, a relation not seen in the wild, is a representation of a threshold between their two different worlds. I often use patterns of triangles in my work, as shown in the fox's summer coat. The triangles usually represent a group consciousness in my work. In this piece I used it to portray the fox's connectivity to the world around him, and the group consciousness therein.

The two pieces below are also in the show.

"Bill" was originally made for a print exchange organized by Signed & Numbered where the theme was "notorious."

"Not Widely Known" or "Razzle" was made for a print exchange, with the theme of "secret" also organized by my sister, Camilla, and it showed at Kayo Gallery, a couple years ago.

For Your Eyes

In an effort to stay active I submitted two pieces to the Division of Arts & Museums Statewide Annual Competition and Exhibition: Mixed Media and Works on Paper. And, I was surprised to find they both got in. Oh Joy! The exhibition is at the Rio Gallery in Salt Lake City, and will be up through November 24. And funny thing: my high school art teacher, Mr. Rees, was also in the show and won an award. Oh Joy, Again!

I would like to call this: Progress

Now that my show at Copper Palate Press is over (pictures of that to come later) and I got a couple of days of laziness following its opening, reality has set in. I've got a show coming up at Art Access in June 2011, and so it's time to get back to work! Last night I pulled out three drawings I had started before I started on my stuff for Copper Palate Press. Should I finish them or scrap them?

 

I decided not to think about it and started on a new drawing:

Old Stuff for a New Blog

I've never had a blog before. To start it off, I'm going to post some old stuff. Two drawings from a show I was part of at Kayo Gallery last year: