"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.