A Nice Finish

A very nice day for printing yielded the final colors on this commission edition.  Added some more foliage on the tree and the wrought iron railings to bring this piece to a nice finish.

Beginning to Leaf

What a miserable day to print!  Rainy, foggy, damp and cold.  I cranked up the woodstove and drove the moisture out of the studio with some good old fashioned heat.
Cut the stencil for all the leaves and printed it in white.
Then, leaving the stencil in registration (alignment) I washed out the white ink and reprinted the same stencil with yellow. (The white served as an undercoating.)
Then I blocked out a portion of the yellow and printed the rest green.  Tomorrow I'll print yellow ochre and orange leaves as well as a darker green.  The color balance is coming together and the composition is singing.
After I've printed all the leaves, I'll cut the delicate railing stencil and print that in black to finish the piece.
Stay tuned.

Weekend "Print-a-thon" A Success

Working up to my elbows in ink all weekend has yielded a terrific image with exceptional registration.  There are several unique features to this print that make it unusual.
First, there are two totally separate black stencils.  The one shown here is the base stencil over which I'll print the tree and fall foliage which will bring fantastic color to this piece.
The second black stencil is the railings and fencing that was too delicate to cut around and will be my final stencil.
Secondly, I'm going to undercoat all the multicolored leaves with white ink.  I rarely print white, but this will give the leaves a three dimensional look that I think will give real depth to the composition. I have two more big days of printing to finish this image, so stay tuned.

A New Print Underway

I've already printed nine stencils on my newest original serigraph.  It took three days, but tomorrow, Saturday,
I'm locking myself in the studio to have a "Print-a-thon".

This is a special commission with a deadline, so stay tuned to see the magic happen before your eyes.
I'm approaching this print a little different than I normally print.  I'll be printing some of the dark colors before light ones; which I rarely do, but there is method to my madness and I'll explain as the image takes shape.  The largest and most intricate stencil is the grey, which I am planning on cutting and printing tomorrow.  Stay tuned.

New Mural Installed in Fairfax Circle, Virginia

     Here's an exciting project that I have been working on for several months this past fall.
It began when I was approached by Peterson Company of Fairfax, Virginia to create murals for one of the properties they manage in the Fairfax Circle retail center.
     The three murals on "Monument Wall Way",
(appropriately named, I thought), illustrate a cyclist, lacrosse players and a young woman in
an equestrian jumping competition.
     I used real models, did extensive photography, and manipulated the final images in Photoshop.  My final artwork was printed on high tech panels that replicate ceramic tile without the high cost of a ceramic tile installation.  A lot of this process was experimental, (at least for me), and I credit Peterson Company for their support and patience. The final project took longer from start to finish than planned; with some trial and error involved, but the final product speaks for itself.

"Flower Buckets", a nice finish

It was cold and rainy this morning. I cranked up the old wood burning stove in the studio and printed the blue and black in perfect registration.  I am so delighted with the way "Flower Buckets" has been completed.  This edition of only 50 prints will be available for $200 each.  I'll sign and inspect the edition tomorrow and get several framed for the Open Studio this weekend, Saturday & Sunday, December 1 & 2.
Hope you'll come by either day, 2-6 PM and have a glass of fresh cider with me.  Park right in my driveway.
For some reason nobody ever does; but now you know.

Working on a new commission of a vintage Georgetown rowhouse.  I'm waiting on approval of my photos so I can create my rough sketch and then I'll post as I begin printing, hopefully next week.

Whoops!!!

I got so excited about my progress on this print that I forgot to post, so please forgive me.  We now have an image lacking only two colors, (both critical to the final piece).  I cut the deep blue stencil tonight and will cut and print the black after printing the blue. 
I love working in this size format.  The sheet is very easy to handle and registration is a piece of cake, even in an edition with so much color.  Since I'm printing a half sheet there's also the economic issue; I'm using half as much paper and ink.
The wear and tear on me is also less.  In a short period of time I can accomplish a lot of printing.  I'll be sure and post tomorrow when the whole edition is completed and I've figured out a title .  Stay tuned.

Colors Galore!

A lot of colors printed, but a lot more to go.  Hoping that today will see many colors printed as I drive to the home stretch and at the same time try to prepare for the 40th Annual Open Studio on Saturday and Sunday, December 1 & 2.
Stay tuned.

Coats of Many Colors

I think of all my colors as falling into one of two catagories.
The first are the light colors.  The usually represent about one half of all the colors I print.  The medium grey is the turning point where I transcend from light to dark.  This piece has a lot of light colors, so I still have a ways to go to "turn the corner".
All the stencils are relatively complex, so I'm working hard to get as many colors cut as possible so progress will be rapid.
Stay tuned.

Off to the Market

My niece, Katherine got married in Richmond this past June.  In the morning, before the late afternoon wedding, I went over to the Forest Hill Park Farmers' Market with my camera to scout some new material.
Among others, I was fortunate to find a vendor selling fresh flowers, (how could I resist?) and I got some great pictures.  Here we have the fist four colors of what will ultimately be a very colorful print.  It should come together very quickly so please come back soon and watch my progress.

Heading for Home

Finished the final color this morning and am well pleased with the result.
I'm going to title the piece,
"Hot Sauce" for not only the Chalula in the background but for the energy that Chad Tracy always brings to the game when he comes in to bat.  I could write a whole column about Tracy and the great contribution he and other "Goon Squad" members make in helping the Nats in the late innnings, but I'll let the art do the talking.
I'll be unveiling this piece this Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Montgomery Co. Fairgrounds at this weekends' Sugarloaf Festival.  The edition is only 50 prints, so I'm expecting some rapid sales. (four copies sold while in progress)  Come see me this weekend.

Heading Toward Third

Moving right along with the addition of purple and two shades of blue, plus a dark grey.
Looking forward to finishing tomorrow but have lots of other projects that need my attention.
I'll be setting up Sugarloaf at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds in Gaithersburg, MD.
This is the biggest Sugarloaf (and the best)
of the entire year. Friday, Saturday and Sunday,
upstairs in the main building, I'll be holding forth at my booth and hope you can come by.

Moving On to Second Base

Printed red, a darker flesh tone and grey today.
As you can see, the grey stencil was huge and used almost a full quart of ink during the printing.  Except for the uniform, the grey is the undercoating for two dark blues, dark red, dark brown, dark purple and black.  Now, when I print those colors they will appear especially rich because of the grey beneath them.  Hope to finish this edition on Saturday, but I'll have to get busy cutting stencil to succeed.
Stay tuned.

Every Child is an Artist

Pablo Picasso was certainly right when he said that every child is an artist.  I may be partial, but my grand daughter, Ashlyn, at five years old, has an awful lot of talent. (As shown by this wonderful tennis player that she drew and bound into a book of drawings that she made for me.)  I was winning art contests with my drawings when I was five, but then, most of the drawings I see by five year olds possess a lot of terrific joy for life, great color and imaginative composition.  Unfortunately, very few of us are able to maintain the youthful enthusiasm in our work that we exhibited as children.
I put this on my blog because it makes me smile.
Art has a way of generating emotion and I have always chosen to opt for the smile when given an opportunity.  If your work can make people smile or cry, why not make them smile.

Getting to First Base

I'm making some good progress!  If you look carefully you can see the batter, catcher and umpire.  Still have a lot of stencils to cut and lots more printing to go.  Have to take a temporary break on the printing but will return soon.
Stay tuned.

Finished...Six Feet Under

I got all six feet finished and the print looks terrific.  Sorry for not posting sooner, as I got sidetracked with my show and the new Nats
print that I'm now printing.

Bethesda Row Arts Fest

 Here I am in Bethesda this past Saturday, enjoying the beautiful weather and nice crowds.
Former Washington Grove neighbor David and wife Maureen came by my booth to say hi and snapped this shot with their cell phone.
Thanks to all who came by to say hi and went home with a new piece of art for their homes.
This is the kind of show that keeps me enthusiastic about what I do!
A special shout out to the folks that run this show and make it so special.  Thanks to Bob & Robin and "ground forces" Seth & Josh, you did a positively great job!!  

Four More, No Score

The four colors I printed today are beginning to define the action but it's still pretty hard to tell.
I'm going to cut more stencils tonight, since the Nats aren't playing, but I doubt that I'll get more printing accomplished before next week.
I have a lot to do to get ready for the Bethesda Row Festival this weekend but I'll plan a heavy printing day for Monday.
Stay tuned.

Four Colors, A New Beginning

It's pretty much impossible to tell what's going on here unless you received an invitation to my Bethesda Row Arts Festival this weekend in Bethesda, Maryland (Sat & Sun, Oct. 20 & 21).
These are the first four colors in my new Washington Nationals print.
This will eventually portray Chad Tracy, captain of the "Goon Squad", slamming a low fastball into the bleachers at Nats' Park.  This piece will come together gradually as I add all the puzzle pieces.
Please stay tuned.

FINISHED........almost

Wow, that wrought iron balcony was an amazing stencil that ended up taking me all day to cut, not to mention the grill work on the doors.
In the process I overlooked putting shoes on my people. Oops!
So, today I'll do the little touch ups to complete the piece and then I'll really be finished.
Click on the balcony to see it larger.
Stay tuned.

Five More Today and a Big Finish

Got a lot of printing accomplished today after spending most of yesterday cutting stencils.
I'm now cutting the black stencil which is monumental in its delicacy and intricacy.
Began by cutting the ornate wrought iron railing on the second floor balcony and realized I would be cutting this stencil for a long time.
This stencil includes all the ornate wrought iron, as well as the lettering on the awning and the sign (not to mention the railings and some deep shadow areas.  I'll keep you up to date.

Busy Weekend Thank You!!!

 Just wanted to say "Thank you" to the hundreds of nice folks who came by my booth this past weekend at the Sugarloaf Festival in Timmonium, Maryland.  It was a real pleasure
to talk to so many of you and a real treat to know that you are continuing to enjoy my work in your home.

This Saturday, October 13th, I'll be in Sykesville, Maryland at the annual Fall Festival.
This festival is so well attended that they don't even advertise!  Come 9AM til 5 PM to buy art, apples, pumpkins and home bake goodies.

Sunday, October 14th I'll be in McLean, Virgina for the MPAArtFest.  www.mpaart.org/artfest.php
Great food, live music and some terrific regional arts.  If you're in Northern Virginia, don't miss this festival.

Come out and see me this weekend.
Stay tuned

The End is Near

Printed 5 colors today under less than ideal conditions.  Humidity made the paper want to buckle, so I turned on the air conditioning in my print room and slowly it removed the dampness.
Yesterday was even worse, so rather than take a chance printing a color out of registration I spent the day cutting the stencils for today.
Was really hoping to finish today but I have to set up the Sugarloaf Arts & Crafts Fair in Timmonium, MD for the weekend.
Stay tuned.

Moving Along

Three more colors today, but looking forward to tomorrow being a much more productive day.
Will be cutting a lot of greenery and some darker colors to enhance the perspective.
Stay tuned.

Let There Be Purple

I'm really beginning to get excited with the progress of this print!  The purple shadows add so much to the composition.  I'll be cutting more stencils tonight and printing more tomorrow.
There's still alot of color to come.
Stay tuned.

Second Day of Printing Goes Well

Printed all the stencils I cut and now back to the drawing board for more cutting.  The stencils today will be delicate and lacey.  I'll be cutting several shades of green and the shadows they cast on the building and sidewalk.  I may even get to a bicycle.
Stay tuned.

New Work Underway

I'm off to a flying start with my new commission of the Tabard Inn in Northwest, DC.
I've printed 5 colors and am cutting stencils to print more this evening.  This print will be quite colorful and pretty complex too.
I hope you'll follow my progress as it comes together.
Stay tuned.

Coming In For A Landing

Had a very productive last few days and am very pleased with the finished product.  This is a pretty high resolution image that you can click on to see large.  Please note all the little tiny tail lights on the cars and busses.  Hope the airports authority will commission me to create a 75th Anniversary piece.

Preparing For Arrival

Printed the large black stencil along with some small stencils and the end is in sight, but not without a good number of additional colors.  The yellow and red stencils will be lots of fun and add immeasurably to the overalls effect.
I'll be cutting stencils tonight and tomorrow.
Stay tuned.

An Ontime Flight

As you can see, I am making very good progress.
Lots of small stencils today to cut and print.
I will start populating the airport and really bring it to life in the next few days.
Stay tuned.

Flying Right Along

I'm making good progress in spite of several electrical outages.  The large green area represents not only foliage but the under printing for the pavement. (Don't we always pave over the green?)  Got an early start on the stencil cutting today while it was relatively cool,
(less hot), and will try to make a productive stab at getting a lot of printing accomplished.
Stay tuned.

A Hot Day to Print

Got a lot accomplished in spite of the heat.
With the air conditioner going full blast and the ventilation system removing the cool air with the fumes my print room is about 80 degrees.
Cut stencils early this morning and have been printing all day.  Rather than print light to dark, as I normally do, I'm printing background to foreground.  By tomorrow, it will begin to look much more exciting.
Stay tuned.

A New Commission Underway

I'm pleased to announce that I have been commissioned by the Metro Washington Airports Authority to create commemorative artwork for Dulles Airports 50th Anniversary.
This project began with photos that I took from the top of a forty foot lift parked on top of the fourth floor of the West parking deck at the airport.  After approval of my preliminary sketch, I am now printing, (silkscreening), the many colored stencils that will be necessary to bring this piece to life.  At left are the first three colors.  Stay tuned for more.

Finished at Last

Got the final colors printed and then I've been so busy with a mural project in Fairfax, Virginia that I forgot to post.  So...here it is, a very nice image with which my client will be well pleased.

Cutting stencils today for a new project out at Dulles Airport.  I've created new artwork commemorating the 50th Anniversary and will be printing this week and all next week too.

Stay tuned.

Super Productive Day Today

Got into the studio early this morning and printed solid all day until 9 PM.  Amazing what you can accomplish when you're motivated.

Will get the air conditioner going early and cut stencils enough to finish printing this edition by end of day tomorrow.

Stay tuned.

New Commission Underway

Began a new commissioned project by printing seven colors today.  Cut the stencils yesterday so I could print all day today.  This is a very small edition and I am working from an archived photo supplied by my customer.  This is  a very nice image of Grandpa and little Grandson at the beach.  I've created a colorful interpretation of the original photo that is really going to be super when I'm finished. 

Because the edition is so small, I can work quickly and get a lot accomplished.  Weather turned hot and sticky today with hotter and stickier predicted for tommorrow.
I'll run the air conditioner full blast with the windows open so the fumes are forced out by the cool air.
Temperature in the print room should stay about 75,
if I'm lucky.

Cut four stencils tonight while listening to the Nats' game so I'll be ready to go in the morning.
Stay tuned.

I'm Finished

Started printing early this morning and managed to finish the last color this evening at 9:30 PM.

I was very focused on getting the edition finished so I could bring it to Reston this weekend for the Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival.

Thanks to all of you who came to Bethesda this past weekend.  What a beautiful weekend with terrific sales!  At 3:30 PM on Sunday the show management team came by our booths and gave us ice cream.  It doesn't take much to make me happy, but this was especially appreciated.

This edition is only 50 original prints so please, if you'd like to have one, don't wait to call me after I've sold them all.  This piece is 16 X 21 inches, matted 24 X 30 and is priced at only $325.
Trust me, this picture doesn't do it justice.
Hope to see you this weekend at Reston.  I'll be previewing Friday 5-8, open Saturday 10-6 and Sunday 10-4, (this is just about the view from where my booth will be on Market Street.) See you there.

Let There Be Lights!

Now that I've got the lights in, I'll start cutting the orange, pink, and red for the neon.  The last stencil, the black, is extremely complicated and will be a fantastic culmination to the print.

Come see me at Bethesda this weekend and Reston next weekend. Stay tuned

Five More Colors

Added five more colors to the equation and it's beginning to look like something now.  I'm going to cut a complex white stencil which will be lights and windows.  I'll print it twice.  Once in white and then again in yellow.  The yellow will then get overprinted with pink, orange, red and yellow ochre.
At that point it will start singing.

Had a very successful show at "Arts in the Park" in Richmond this past weekend. My new "Italian Garden" received lots of attention and several sales.
Looking forward to seeing you this weekend in Bethesda.

Stay tuned.

Building a Town Center

Working hard to be able to finish this print in time to debut at the Northern Virgina Fine Arts Festival in Reston, Virginia, May 19 & 20.  In addition to printing, I have a show every weekend!!!
Was in Baltimore last weekend. Will be in Richmond, Virginia this weekend, Bethesda, Maryland next weekend and Reston the weekend after.  Making me crazy.
Have to suspend the printing today to get ready for the weekend in Richmond but I'm well pleased with the progress thus far.  As you can see the image is taking shape and will be beautiful when finished.
Stay tuned.

Reston Town Center, Blue on Blue, Grey on Grey

Began printing my new Reston Town Center image
with four colors.  I will be trying some new techniques on this piece because of the after dark color palette.  There are many colors and lots of detail which will pose some challenges that I am looking forward to tackling.  I am approaching the color application with more of an intuitive order than my usual light to dark, so I think you will enjoy seeing this piece take shape over the next couple of weeks.
Stay tuned.

The Garden's in Bloom, Fini

This is the printed, large white stencil which is the underpinning of the blooms and the yellow blooms printed in register on top.  I decided to try it this way as an experiment and it worked out very well.















Now here's the finished print with the addition of more colored blooms.

I'm very pleased with the way this print finished.  This is a large piece, 16 X 21 inches that I'll mat 24 X 30.

I'll be unveiling this at the Arts in the Park show at Richmond's Byrd Park, Saturday & Sunday, May 5 & 6.

The edition is only 50 original serigraphs, so if you'd like to be assured of having one for your collection, call me at the studio to reserve yours.
301-840-1897

Three big commissions in the studio concurrently plus I'm going to design a night time street scene of beautiful downtown Reston, Virginia which I'll begin printing and posting soon.

Stay tuned.
Your comments are invited.

Two Colors Today

Dark purple and black stencils printed today.
Cut my big white reduction stencil which will print all the flowers and really bring this composition alive.
With a little bit of luck, I'll finish this edition tomorrow.
Stay tuned.

Eighteen Colors and Counting...

Printed six colors today on a day that started out cold and clammy.

After my first two colors, decided to print a reduction stencil.

This is the stencil in the lower right side of the image.

The first printing is white ink.  I then "reduce" the stencil by 

brushing on lacquer based blockout to fill the area of the stencil

I would like to remain white.  Then, without changing register

(alignment), I reprint the same stencil using pink ink.  Now I 

have the pink printed in perfect alignment over the white and

I've only cut one stencil.  A little later I'll print another reduction

stencil and print 4 colors (quite a feat) and everything should

align perfectly.  Got so psyched with how nice this came out that

I cut two fairly complex stencils (purple and dark green) and

printed both of them too!  Course, I'm posting this at almost 10 PM,

so it was a very full day of work.  

I won't print tomorrow ( my skills as a babysitter are in high demand),

but I'll try to print a couple colors on Sunday.   Stay tuned.

By Monday or Tuesday this is really going to get exciting.
Wait until I start printing the rest of the flowers.