getting back in the swing of things...

After a few weeks of being lazy (blog-wise, not life-wise), I'm going to try to post more consistently. I've just been working on so many projects lately, I haven't been on my laptop as much. However, more of the upcoming work I have involves technology, so posts will be much easier to fit into my schedule.

I have a few photos to share that I've been holding off on sharing because the content was supposed to be somewhat of a surprise...but they got the package yesterday, so I can share them now.

I've been trying to get back into printmaking, screen printing specifically (as I mentioned in my post last night) and my good friends in Sparrow + the Ghost are looking to get shirts printed...so, I decided to print one for them and see if they possibly wanted me to do them instead of having to order them through a print shop...especially since they're wanting to print some of them on vintage/thrift store finds as well as with different color inks. Here's what came of it!

Design in the screen before I added the screen filler...I did this the "down-&-dirty" way...didn't mess with emulsion or anything like that...just drawing fluid & screen filler. Maybe once I have more room to work, I can try the emulsion...I have it with the rest of my printing supplies, waiting to be used.

Annnnnnd...the finished shirt.

The photos turned out a little yellow...sorry about that. I just did a quick edit of them. I've been pricing better mesh, screens, ink, etc...the screen I have now is working fine, but I'm afraid it may not hold up depending on the number of prints I'll be making.

I've been working on re-branding myself...and I may have come up with a separate name for this printing endeavor...I'll share more when I have it all finished. I'm pretty excited about it.

Have a good Wednesday, everyone!

oh how i need...

A real studio space. My goodness. I've got so many projects that I want to get going and all I really need to make them happen is room. I love our house (which I am excited to share photos of once I can get it in order) but I would love it so much more if my art/craft supplies weren't everywhere. It's a good thing that most of my friends are the creative type and understand how it is to try to work & create in your living space.


I've been doing a good bit of soul-searching lately (dramatic, I know) and I think I've come to a realization...as much as I love photography, I don't want it to be my main focus anymore. I mean, I really, REALLY love it...and would probably fall back in love with it if I could get in a darkroom again, but shooting digital is a little too hands-off for me. Lately, I've been re-igniting my love with printmaking. I only got to take one printmaking class when I was in school, and in all honesty, I should've probably changed my concentration to it...or done a BFA in graphic design AND printmaking. I would absolutely love to have a print shop. Maybe it's something I can work towards...maybe I can run one out of the Art Hive when we get the building open.


Speaking of the Art Hive and the building...Olivia and I met up with our friend Tyler earlier. He's going to help us with a lot of the construction/renovations. I gave him our supplies list so we could go through and take measurements to get a rough estimate of all the supplies we need. The task of renovating the building seems so daunting right now, but meeting/talking to him earlier made me feel a bit better. He said there are a lot of things that we can get done right now just from spending a little money. We have leaks to fix, old wiring to pull out, things to sand & prep for later work, etc. The list of things to do to our building seems never-ending, but having an experienced person look at what needs to be done and be able to organize & prioritize that list was so helpful. I've got to get our paperwork done so we can apply for non-profit grants and such.


Sorry for the tangent...back to printmaking. I plan on working on some art prints soon...I'd like to screen print those to have to sell at First Fridays and on Etsy. I need a bit of a refresher course on screen printing (and printmaking in general) so I've been searching Amazon for some books...these are the ones that are catching my eye so far:

DEFINITELY want that last one...it'll probably be the first one I order. I really want The Printmaking Bible as well. I feel motivated...and I've felt more motivated for a while now. It's nice to feel like I'm figuring out what I really want/need to be doing. I'll still be shooting a good bit, but I definitely want to focus more energy on printmaking and possibly experimenting more on illustration too. 


I'm met with a friend earlier today about doing some product shots for her and she asked me to do a logo for her as well! I'm pretty excited about it. I'm meeting with someone else to discuss a photo shoot tomorrow.


Also, I mentioned something about possibly exciting news last week...heard more from them today, but I still won't know anything til the beginning of August. Fingers crossed.