printmaking

Recap: Custom Stationery Workshop at West Elm

August 21, 2013

I had so much fun teaching a custom stationery workshop at West Elm last night! I was blown away by the amazing designs my students came up with in just a couple of hours. So much creativity!

Each attendee received a little gift bag filled with supplies – a small EZ-cut linoleum block, as well as paper for sketching, and multi-colored postcards for printing on. I provided all the carving tools and ink, and after a bit of sketching, everyone just went for it! Love to see creative bravery in action.

Thanks again to everyone who attended the workshop! I’m hoping to teach more workshops soon, so stay tuned.

Printing (and not printing)

June 25, 2013

I know I promised you a post with a more in depth look at my printing process, but something pretty out of the ordinary happened over the weekend… I took two days off from printing! It was nice to rest my back muscles a little, and enjoy the first days of summer. I am working with a friend to develop a short video showing my printing process, but I’ll certainly be sharing more photos before then.

A Long Overdue Print of the Week

March 8, 2013

Have you been missing Print of the Week? I’ve been taking a break from the scheduled content here on the blog, but I’ll be getting back into it in a more focused way very soon. Thinking about featuring patterns instead of printmaking for a while, as a way to share more of what I’m working on.

This week, I wanted to share this beautiful monotype print from David Row. I love how fluid and layered it is, it really has a bold impact. That blue reminds me of the most gorgeous indigo dyed fabrics, even though this is a work on paper, it just screams “textiles” to me. I’ll be keeping work like this in mind as I work to create new patterns for Cotton & Flax.

Valentine’s Day DIY – Eraser Heart Prints

February 5, 2013

Riffing off my other eraser printing DIY project, which uses a new pencil eraser to make cute polka dotted gift wrap, I thought I’d take that DIY a little further for Valentine’s Day. I love using stamps to make patterned gift wrap or cards, and carving your own heart stamp is super easy!

Here’s what you’ll need:

Varied cards or papers
Envelopes
Stamp pad
Carving tools (I use an x-acto knife and a small printmaking carving tool)
One brand new pencil with an eraser, one pencil to draw with

Start by drawing a little heart on the unused eraser. This will be your guide as you carve.

Proceed by carefully (and I mean CAREFULLY! I don’t want anyone getting hurt!) cutting around the edge of your drawing, and cutting away the edges. It’s very easy to accidentally lob off the whole eraser if you’re going too fast, so take your time. Watch out for your fingers, those x-acto knives are sharp!

All that’s left to do is stamp! I used a black stamp pad, but you could use any color. I would love to do this project using neon pink ink. You can go super simple, just stamping a single tiny heart on the card or envelope, or you can go wild!

I made a few different versions, one of which I am sending to my sister. I made her address label using some of the leftover paper! Hope you’re inspired to send a sweet snail mail valentine to someone you love.

Print of the Week – Margins

January 4, 2013

Margins is a small print studio run by Jeremy Rendina, an artist working here in Los Angeles. He produces lots of different original silkscreen and letterpress prints, but the annual moon calendars are my favorites. This particular version is letterpressed, and can come framed in blue pine. Jeremy has even shared a little peek into the printing process below:

I love the tactile feel of a letterpressed print. Did you give or receive any prints for the holidays?

Print of the Week – John Baldessari Lithograph

December 28, 2012

Can you believe this is the last Print of the Week post of 2012? This year has flown by so fast, and I find myself thinking about 2013 and what’s in store for me, creatively speaking. I am proud of the work I made this year, but in 2013, I want to take more risks, and be more adventurous in my creative life. I thought this John Baldessari print, titled, “I will not make any more boring art,” would be a witty way to ring in the new year, and to look forward to all the amazing things yet to be created.