On my 500th blog post + giveaway/prize

I started this blog tentatively at the end of 2009, initially posting only a couple of times a week, not sure how long I would continue with it. From February 2010 on, I’ve been posting daily, and trying to make the blog mainly a mixture of news about what I am doing in my studio, together with what other artists are doing. It’s quite a commitment, especially adding in the weekly desire to post a video web-talk, but those who know me can vouch for the fact that I tend to work hard at things once I decide to do them. However, I didn’t expect to get to the 500^th post this quickly.

To celebrate, I am giving away one of my UNIQUE, ONE-OF-A-KIND ARTIST’S BOOKS.

Let me try that again:

A UNIQUE, ONE-OF-A-KIND ARTIST’S BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's an accordion book of paper-litho transfers on BFK Rives paper, a printed line of text, and a cover of bookboards bound in blue linen. Size: 4" x 3", unfolding to 4" x 18". Some images of it:

To win this book, here’s all you have to do:

Become a Follower of this blog.

How?

If you’re on Facebook (and who isn’t?), click on the Follow this blog button in the Networked Blogs box in the right-hand column.

Or click on the Google Follow button (which gives you a choice of apps to connect from).

Use these options rather than the ‘Subscribe’ buttons so that I can see your name in the list of Followers displayed on the right.

Next week, I will randomly draw a name out of a hat, and the UNIQUE, ONE-OF-A-KIND ARTIST’S BOOK will be mailed directly to you (once I obtain your mailing address)—wherever you live!

To name some of the countries where I know people are reading this blog, that means I will send the book to the winner whether they live in the USA, New Zealand, China, Vietnam, South Korea, Brazil, the Ukraine—anywhere on the planet.

I look forward to seeing who you are and where you’re from.

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How to etch a linoleum block

Linoleum as a material for printmaking has been used for nearly a hundred years now. Normally, you cut an image out using special gouges similar to woodcut tools, cutting away the lino around the image you want to print. This is called relief printmaking, because if you look at the block from the side, the material that remains stands up in relief from the backing material. You then roll ink with a brayer over the surface of the block, place paper over it, and either print by hand or run it through a press. You can do complex things this way (for example, reduction linocuts), but the beauty of the process is that it is quick, simple, and direct.

A few years ago, I saw some prints that were classified as coming from etched linoleum blocks, and I loved the textures I saw in them. In the last few months, I've been trying to use this technique in my own studio, learning about it as one does these days from websites and YouTube videos. I've also had email exchanges with several pr…

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Soft Ground Etching with Baldwin Intaglio Ground

This is another post where I talk about my own research into how to obtain the best results from non-toxic etching materials -- specifically, the Baldwin Intaglio Ground. This is a form of etching resist developed by printmaker Andrew Baldwin, from the UK, as a non-toxic alternative to the nasty chemicals contained in traditional hard ground and soft ground resists. It comes in a tube, and when you squeeze some out onto an inking slab it looks like etching ink. You roll it onto the copper plate with a brayer, as if you were inking a relief block, in contrast to the traditional hard grounds, which are either melted onto the plate or poured on as a liquid hard ground. Applying the BIG to make a hard ground is relatively easy. Using it as a soft ground can be quite tricky, and it has taken me many tries and many failures to achieve a satisfactory etch.

The main problem, unfortunately, is the lack of specific instructions in preparing the BIG soft ground. Andrew Baldwin has some excellen…

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Brancusi in Plastic

Artist Mary Ellen Croteau is showing these columns made from recycled plastic cartons and lids in the window of the Columbia College bookstore on Michigan Avenue. They are a playful homage to Brancusi's "Endless Columns", with a serious environmental message for our times:

Mary Ellen also runs a wonderful experimental art gallery in a window space in west Chicago, called Art on Armitage. I will be exhibiting a mixed media piece there during August 2012.

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