Finished!

Printed the last two colors and now the edition is finished.
It took me hours to cut out the ten commandments in Hebrew. 

I'm beginning a project today which will be
the new Safeway at the corner of Bradley Boulevard and
Arlington Road in Bethesda.  When we moved to Chevy
Chase in 1970 we lived two blocks from the Safeway.
Look for the new posts soon.

Only Two Colors Left to Print

Printed two purples, a green and a dark brown yesterday and cut the stencil for the deep blue (radiant ultra blue).
I'm cutting the black stencil which contains a lot of detail and will print both today to finish the edition.
I'll be cutting the ten commandments in Hebrew onto the tablets which somehow seems a little symbolic today.

Stay tuned; I'll post the finished print this evening.

I'll be in Baltimore this Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timmonium, participating in the Sugarloaf Crafts Festival.   The first thing I always do after I set up my booth on Thursday, is to go by Glauber's Candies and purchase a pound of dark chocolate nonpareils.
That's usually enough to get me through the weekend at the show. 

I'm Getting Excited, Only 6 Colors Left!

Got a lot of printing accomplished since the last post.  I'm cutting stencils now for two shades of purple, dark green, dark brown, dark blue and black.
I'm hoping to finish the print on Monday or Tuesday, at the latest.

Amazingly, with all this rain and dampness, I've been able to maintain a perfect temperature and humidity in the print room.  The paper continues to be crisp and registration almost perfect.

Stay tuned.

A Good Day of Printing

The printing is moving forward beautifully, with four colors printed today.  I'll spend the rest of today cutting more stencils for tomorrow.  I'm cutting a medium blue stencil now that will require some delicacy and a lot of time.  It will alter the look of the print considerably as it represents a lot of glass on the window and numerous shadows and reflections.
Stay tuned for more.
I'll be attending the "Hyattsville Arts Festival" this Saturday from 11 - 5 PM  on Route 1 and Jefferson Street in Hyattsville.  Come by and say "Hello".

A New Beginning

A very productive day on a brand new commission.  The subject is the beautiful Historic Synagogue at the corner of 6th and I Street, NW in Washington, DC.  This piece will include an outside view as well as an interior view.

The interior will portray the Star of David stained glass window.  As I'm cutting the stencils, I feel like a glass artist cutting and fitting each piece into my composition.

After only six colors, the window is already taking shape.  This will be quite an amazing piece when finished, so stay tuned.

Finished!

Printed the last color to complete this edition.  I'm very pleased at not only how trouble free this printing was, but also how nicely the piece looks.

I'll be debuting the print in Richmond, on Saturday at the 43rd Street Festival.
The image size is 22 X 16 inches and I think the edition will be 70, though I'll have to inspect the edition tonight to determine the exact number.

Issue price will be $325, but I will sell for $275 at Richmond this Saturday to anyone who mentions this blog or calls the studio by Tuesday the 20th.
I'll be starting a new commission piece immediately,
so stay tuned to the blog.

Coming Down to the Wire

Well, after a good day of printing, I'm ready to print the black stencil and finish this edition.
Took several hours last night to cut the black and thought you might enjoy seeing it before it's mounted to the screen and printed.

The stencil itself is a very thin lacquer membrane coated unto clear mylar.  It comes to me in big rolls 48 inches wide and several yards long.  I cut it to the size I need and then place it over my pencil pattern on my drawing board.  I then very carefully cut out all the areas that will print black and peel them off the mylar backing and throw them away. This leaves the mylar with the green lacquer to adher to the screen.  The ink comes through the clear window areas I have cut and prints onto the paper. (Because the mylar is very shiny it's tough to get a decent photograph.  Click on it to enlarge it.)

Five More Colors!!!

Printed five colors and am approaching the home stretch.  Cut four more stencils to print today and tonight l'll cut the "biggie",  the black stencil for printing tomorrow.  This patch of low humidity that we're having here is providing near perfect conditions for printing and I'm happy to be able to take advantage.

 Hope you'll come to Richmond on Saturday for the 43rd Street Festival and see all my new work in person.

Village Cafe in Progress

I apologize for beginning this post in the middle of the printing process.  The combination of attempting to finish this print for my 43rd Street Festival show
in Richmond this Saturday the 17th and preparing for the Alexandria Fine Arts Fest this past weekend has got me a little crazy.  I'm printing around the clock to finish this one and start a new one, with another right behind in the production lineup.

I'm gonna cheat on this one and show you my preliminary sketch and you can see what you think.    

Stay tuned.  I'll post more.

To all of you who came out to the Alexandria Festival this weekend, it was great seeing and talking to you.  What a fabulous weekend and show.
Amidst all the hard work, I enjoyed myself immensely!!!