My New Website

I am so happy to report I have completed creating my new website. It is www.wswillis.com. The process was so easy and whenever I hit a snag, my "guy" at Photobiz was able to magically make it go away!  I have a guy!

I am really not a techie person. I believe it is important to try to keep up with the changing world and the technology that keeps evolving.  But I am far from comfortable with it. So I have spent over a week's time pulling images, updating my resume, and all the other decisions I needed to make about how I wanted it to look.  I am eternally grateful to have had Diana Hartley's assistance in funtionality and helping me think it all through.  I guess I have a "gal" too!  

So please check out my new website and tell me what you think. I hope you find it easy to navigate. I learned about Photobiz from Sam Dahl, who created an easy to update website for us at Five15 Arts Gallery.  Check it out too, at five15arts.com

IN, OUT AND UNDER AT THE PHOENIX CENTER GALLERY, revisited

I don't usually post pictures of my whole exhibition but this space is special.  At the end of my reception Friday night, another one of teachers there sat with me in the gallery space.  It was so soothing and she commented on it.  I felt calm and happy.  Then another artist friend who had been there wrote to me and commented on the space.  She said "The exhibition space  FELT like the confines of a contained space of water........just like a swimming pool.  Did you notice?"  And I hadn't exactly.  But once she mentioned it, of course, it was plain to see.  The walls are painted a grey/blue and the movable panels which are flush to the main wall are a truer blue.  

I want to thank Warren Norgaard and Edna Dapo, the gallery managers for inviting me to show here when another show cancelled at the last minute.  I will enjoy popping in when I am teaching at the Phoenix Center this month.  The gallery is right next door to my studio/classroom.  The gallery is open now during business hours.  Check with the office staff if you want to see the show.  Or contact me for an appointment.

RELIEF-A-RAMA

NEW MATERIALS 
I am teaching a relief printmaking class at the Phoenix Center for the Arts.  In preparation, I ordered some relief supplies from Dick Blick that I had never used before.  One was a new item - a clear soft plastic like plate about 1/8" thick in a 12 x 12 size.  I taped a drawing under it and cut it for a black and white print.  It was weird, really hard to see what was left as I cut it away.  But I kept plugging away and ended up with the plate and print shown in the photos.  I used Flexcut tools and it cut more easily than linoleum.  But I think I still prefer Gomuban (available from imcclains.com).  

COME PRINT WITH US! 
Tomorrow is week 2 of 5 and then we start all over again with another 5 week session.  If anyone is interested sign up is available now for this relief class and solarplate etching too starting the middle of February.  Here's a link to registration.  Just click on Printmaking to see what's available and when.

Happy New Year

Back to work after returning from Christmas in Cincinnati, I printed the 3rd color on my 10 x 10 print.  I carved a small piece of gomuban with the shape I wrongly cut away and have reserved the ink I mixed of that color.  But after 5 colors now, I am waiting to see if I really need to use it.  Here is the 3rd color pass.  You will note that I am not printing the whole area of the print.  This is a change for me...I am trying to think more about putting the color where it is needed and not building up too many layers.  Too many make for shiny areas.

Color 4 is the first of three colors for the pool.  I forgot to add cobalt drier to the ink and hoped it would be dry enough to print today.  A color-a-day is the goal since I have returned.

I am printing on Rives BFK and a kozo paper.  The Rives version is turning out clearer, the ink spreads out smoothly.  With the kozo there is more of the underneath color showing through.  I haven't adjusted to the rougher surface but I kind of like the differences.

Color 5 covered up the brightness of Color 3 pretty well.  Certainly enough for what will come next.  I had another brain fart carving away this one and had to glue back a piece.  I will learn tomorrow whether that worked or not.  See if you can spot my error!  It will show (or not) after either Color 6 or 7.  When I look at the print at this stage, I am tempted to leave it this abstract.  But I can't do it.  There is something in me that can't wait to see what it will look like after the next color...and the next.  But this stage inspires me to think more abstractly and to really try to do fewer colors.

Ten By Ten

I have finally started a new reduction relief print. The new print will be 11 colors.  I tried to get it down to 10 but felt I needed that one more color. I am one of those printmakers who decide it all in advance and do all my color separations on paper before I begin cutting.  The project is to be a commemorative piece to honor the 10 year anniversary of the Arizona Print Group.  The print dimensions are to be 10 x 10 inches in an edition of 3.  Two will be assembled into books for showing potential galleries the type and quality of our work.  One will be used for exhibition purposes.  My plan is to make two small editions from the same plates, varying perhaps the color of the swimsuit...?  I am printing one set on kozo and one set on Rives BFK.  The image here on kozo will be a bleed print and not for the book.

The second color went down yesterday.  Here it is shown on Rives.  My lighting was terrible and my battery almost dead so the color isn't great on these.  The kozo is a bright white paper and the colors are actually brighter and different than the ones on the creamier Rives.  It looks the opposite in the photos but that's just my bad lighting.  

This project is due January 10th and I am going away for a week.  Then I will be having a very special house guest January 5th so I am running out of time...and in my hurry I cut away an essential part of the face.  I have to admit I have never made such a bad mistake.  I have a couple options in mind to salvage my print but in the meantime I have let it go for now.  Breathe deep and enjoy Christmas.  I am confidant I will save it in the end and I will share with you how it goes.

Thank you for following my blogposts and commenting as you have.  It is another layer of support and nurturing of artists to artists that is inspiring and fun and loving.  

Happy holidays to you and safe travels.

Last Night at Five15 Arts Gallery

The five new members of the Five15 Arts Gallery have a group show exhibiting this month.  We are Brendan Ore, Marc Marlowe, Marlys Kubicek, Sarah O'Donoghue and myself.  Last night was the Third Friday Reception and the turnout was great.  It is wonderful seeing our friends and collectors come by to see what's new and support our new venture in this cooperative gallery.  It was also fun meeting Sarah O'Donoghue who drove up from Tucson last night.  She's our newest member and will be showing her work exclusively in December.  It was also nice to hang with Brendan and get to know him a little better.  He drove in from Yuma for the evening. 

Mike O'Connor and Catherine Ruane

Marlys Kubicek, Doug Kirkman, Sarah Kriehn, Rosalie Kirkman

I will at the gallery from 1:00 to 5:00 today, if you want to stop by or hang out for awhile.  It's a beautiful day for art viewing!

Brendan Ore and parents

Sarah O'Donoghue and Matt

Seeing Stars

What do Deborah Oropallo, Hung Liu, Lewis de Soto, Eleanor Coppola, Sibylle Szaggars and I all have in common?  We are among the 24 artists invited to participate in the exhibition "Discrepancy:  living between war and peace" which will open Friday, August 5th at the Napa Valley Museum in Yountsville, CA.  I am pinching myself for being included in a show with them.  Plus other California artists I have met during my frequent visits to the Napa Valley - Sharon Anderson, Helen Wilson, Rob Keller, Sue Bradford, Anne Trinca and Alondra Contreras.  I am so excited by this opportunity.  Curated by Nancy Willis, the call asked artists:

to create a visual response to the discrepancy between being emotionally         connected/disconnected to events from which they are geographically distanced.   It is an opportunity for artists that typically do not address political and/or emotionally charged events directly in their work to investigate these events on a personal level that will ultimately be part of a public dialogue. In particular, we are looking to present a view of daily life from the territory between war and peace... Discrepancy is centered on three major events; the World Trade Center bombings and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

 Not my typical work, no.  But a challenge that immediately got my juices going.  I considered the wars and the events of September 11th and imagined what I would want to say about them.  

Ten, One Thousand

Ten, One Thousand

In the end I felt the most connected to my memory from the World Trade Center of people falling from the buildings.  After discussing it with Nancy, who encouraged me to search for information on the internet, I discovered many of the images that were censored in the US of the people who fell or jumped.  It was a difficult but important period for me, the researching the images, the stories and the facts of what happened that day.  And in the end my print seeks to recognize their bravery and bring light to their story.   At least two hundred people jumped or fell that day.  Less than a dozen fell from the South Tower which was hit second and stood for  56 minutes.  The North Tower, hit first, stood for 102 minutes.  People fell from all 4 sides, from right after the plane hit to just as the tower was falling.  No one survived from the floors where people jumped.  No one could save them.  It was a lack of oxygen and extreme heat that drove them to the windows.  

It is hard to read about the conditions and not put yourself in their position.  Observers have stated that those who chose to jump were silent as they fell. The fall lasted 10 seconds.  Not fast enough to cause unconsiousness in the fall.  I have such a fear of high, open spaces that I can't imagine making this choice.   Skydivers have told me that 10 seconds is a long time but it seems a short time when that is all that is left.  They died instantly.  People in the South Tower seeing people jumping from the North Tower immediately began evacuating.  Before the second plane hit 1400 had already left the building.  So in the end they saved many lives by their act of courage.  And as one blogger put it, they chose to die by wind, not by fire.


DISCREPANCY:  living between war and peace
Also included in the exhibition will be artwork made by military personnel in a therapeutic program after returning home of Iraq and Afghanistan.  The Pathway Home facility is located near the VA Home in Yountville.  From their website:   "The Pathway Program is a Residential Recovery program specifically created for, and dedicated to serve, our Nation’s “New Warriors”—those of any age who have served our Nation’s Global War on Terror in areas of the world such as Afghanistan and Iraq."
Another innovative aspect of the exhibition will be art writers, who will view the installed exhibit and write essays to help put in cultural and art historical context the work presented in Discrepancy.

I am honored to be in this exhibition and hope you will have a chance to see it.  The show has been extended to October 30th. 

Turtle Reef

I heard there was a new sea turtle exhibit at Sea World so I HAD to check it out.  After we were inside the park we learned it didn't open until June 18th!  I was so disappointed.  When we walked by the barricaded entrance we noticed a sign saying there was a preview of the exhibit - and it was opening in an hour!  Yay!  As you may know, I LOVE turtles so I was thrilled with the beautiful (but fake) coral filled tanks in which the turtles swim.  They were quite active and mostly small but they packed lots of personality and happily swam by the windows, seemingly as curious about us as we were them.

The exhibit was still under construction, parts were blocked off but I was just happy to be in the right spot at the right time.

You will be seeing some of these little guys appearing in my artwork one day...

Your Days Are Numbered Print Exchange

I finished my print today, for the Your Days Are Numbered print exchange.  Todd Christensen of New Mexico Highlands University is the organizer.  I met Todd at the Southern Graphics Council conference in Chicago two Marches ago.  I had been in another print exchange with him organized by Melanie Yazzie, so I recognized his name when I saw him there.  I am curious to see who else is in this exchange but look forward to seeing the work by the other artists whoever they are.  The size is 10" x 22" and this print is titled "Heart Broken."

I printed a few extra from the first color pull in a greener version, to play around with later.  I wanted to experiment with different color variations to see how to get the figure to pop out.  But I am happy with this two color version.  It took me awhile to carve the (golden cut) linoleum after having used Gomuban for my last 4 reduction prints.  But the Gomuban didn't come in a size large enough to accommodate the 22" image requirement.  Gomuban is the name of the product at McClain's.  The same product is available at Graphic Chemical but they call it Blue Vinyl.   I asked Dean Clark if he could get it in a larger size and he said he would check on his next trip to Japan (where this product originates).

My next two projects are exchanges due in January.  Both will utiltize solarplates.  So I will be switching hats, after a few days of play with the remaining relief prints.

Expressions of the Soul Opening Reception

I am one of five women showing at the Cathedral Center for the Arts at Central and Roosevelt starting this (First) Friday.  We are pleased to have two receptions - one for First Friday and another for Third Friday.  Stop by to meet the artists and see some wonderful art by a very diverse group of women:  Annie Lopez, Joan Jue Yen, Mitra Kamali, Michelle Peacock et moi!

Cathedral Center for the Arts
Olney Gallery at Trinity Cathedral
100 West Roosevelt Street, Phoenix
www.trinitycca.org
First Friday nov 5 6-10pm
artist reception
Third Friday nov 19 6-10pm
collector’s evening
(public welcome)
Olney Gallery is open during regular business hours: M-F, 9a-4p

"Summer Sprite"

"Summer Sprite"

I finished my print for the Mesa Contemporary Arts  2011 Print Calendar project.  It is a two-color reduction linocut.  Forty-eight artists are invited to create 50 prints and the calendar (with 12 original prints!) will sell for $200.  Such a bargain, my friends.  The calendars will be available at the MCA reception Friday December 10th from 6 to 8 pm and thereafter.  Save your pennies, they will make wonderful gifts! 

GUEST SWIMMERS

The past four weeks were plum full of visitors who partook themselves of the joys of playing in the water of our swimming pool.  World travelers and locals, the enjoyment found in water play is universal.  The Chinese kids were teenagers 14 to 16.  One determined Chinese girl learned to swim in just two days.  It was amazing to watch her overcome her fear and practice in the shallow end before venturing off into the deep end.  I am sure you can draw your own analogy to life here.   Anyway, she was 14 and apparently you learn to swim in China at 15.
The Dutch girls visiting my neighbor with their parents,  reminded me of myself on vacation with my parents.  I lived underwater.  They too were in the pool next door whenever the could.   The twins were 8 years old and the eldest was 10 (if my addled brain remembers correctly.) The girls didn't speak English but underwater you can clearly understand what's being communicated. 

My local friends Diana and Daisy, 9, came for a photo session.  It was my first time meeting Daisy and she was a little tentative at first.  But she was totally game and we had a blast.  No one wanted to get out of the pool...we floated around with the satisfied/happy/tired feeling of an afternoon well spent.
After each session with the visitors, it always ended the same.  Looking at the photos on the computer.  Laughter abounds, groans and teasing...It makes me sad that summer is almost over.  But I have hundreds of memories/photos to inspire lots of art.  Thank you to all my swimmer friends.  It's been wonderful sharing the water with you.

First Friday, May 2010

ANOTHER GALLERY
We had a great turnout for last night's First Friday event.  Several new artists were showing work and it was fun getting to meet them and commiserate about artist life.  (Ok, so we also talked about friends and family...the universal language.)  It was especially fun to get to know Sandra Ferris Goldin, who painted the beautiful black and white paintings hanging over the table. Nicolai Sinu's Japanese style watercolors are powerful and delicate...I really enjoyed meeting him. Joan Yen is a fan of his work too and stopped by to show support.

I was happy to see my old buddy John Siefert, from my other life as a City of Phoenix employee for 23 years.  I retired in 2002 when times were good.  It is hard to see what the economy has done to our City and to the good folks who still try to provide the services we need.

Saturday was lightly attended.  It was nice hanging out with Larry and Ellie and Andrea Rusing.  I will miss seeing them monthly over the summer but hope to be well occupied teaching Solarplate Etching and Reduction Linocut at the Phoenix Center for the Arts.
Registration is open until 5/31.  Click here for more information.

New Print/Register this Saturday for Summer Classes

FROM ALL DIRECTIONS
I finally finished the edition for the print exchange.  Shipped them off today. I have never done so much pre-printing before and feel I learned a lot about getting to the image in my head.  It surprised me a little, how hard it was, but I am really glad it worked out the way it did.  This is my 12th print exchange.  I accept invitations to be in them, or ask to be in them, because of who the organizer is - someone I respect or would like to work with; or because of the subject matter.   I consider how much time I have to create a piece...because I can't just knock off a simple print.  Four or five color linocuts are more the norm.  I have committed to another PE due in November, Your Days Are Numbered, and I already know what my image will be and that it will be a reduction linocut.

This piece would not have been completed so easily on time without the assistance of my friend, Diana Hartley.  It would have taken me 3 times longer without her help.

OTHER BLOGS I LOVE
I haven't quite mastered the blog world and how to set stuff up exactly as I would like - yet.  But there is a blog I hold up as my model.  Sherrie York is a very talented Colorado printmaker who does amazing drawings from nature.  She writes so well, interesting mixes of "this is the print I am working on" and "this is happening in my life" and general philosophy or instruction.  I have never met her but feel like she's living an honorable life and her blogging about it inspires me.  Here is a link to it, called Brush and Baren.

Another blog I love is written by Sharon Anderson, a San Francisco artist who has branched out from painting to art management services.  Her blog, Create Your Time, has a Friday feature she recently started where she asks working artists how they make time to actually create art.  The first artist is my favorite, my sister Nancy Willis.  Here is a link to her Time to Create feature in Create Your Time.

SUMMER PRINTMAKING CLASSES AT THE PHOENIX CENTER
I am teaching my first solo classes at the Phoenix Center for the Arts this summer.  Registration opens Saturday May 1st at 10:30 am.  Here is  link the online registration page.  Put in May 1, 2010 and 31 Dec 2010 in the date range and use the keyword Printmaking.  You will see the details for my 6 week Solarplate Etching class which starts 7/13 and my 8 week Reduction Linocut class which starts 6/30.

In the Studio

I have been working in the studio everyday the past week.  I have a print exchange due May 1st.  It is titled "From All Directions" and the paper size is to be 8" x 20".   After I finished my taxes last week I started to concentrate on finalizing my concept.  Then I started drawing and cutting stencils and more drawing.  I tore my paper, I transferred my image to linoleum.  But I still wasn't sure what my final image would be.  Normally I do reduction linocuts and once I am at the drawing stage, it is pretty much decided.  But I am trying something different.  I am trying to show depth of field using uncut linoleum as a monotype plate and cut linoleum.  Here's a peek at my first effort.  I don't like the white line around the figure so I pulled a ghost and like that better.  So for the past few days I have been playing with the lightness and darkness of the background and the figure/fish.  Yesterday I carved the linoleum.  I think I have hit on my layout and my process.  I will be printing in 3 pulls.  Tomorrow I will still work out the colors.  I am happy with greys and dark blues but I want to see what it will look like with noticeable blues.  And maybe greens.  Such a dilemma.

Final Color for 2 Reduction Linocuts

UNDER THE RADAR

It was finished this past week.  The final color is exactly what I wanted, a redish purple with some black in it.  (Photos are never as good as seeing it in person.)  It was achieved by printing alizaron crimson over the blue of the water.  It is nice to learn how layering inks affect the outcome.  You never know until you actually print it and with this one I was very happy with the results.  I want to thank Susan Marquez and her daughter Lily for being my muses for this print. 

LOOKER

What a challenge this print turned out to be.  On Wednesday I etched a 12 x 18 photopolymer plate (Solarplate) with 3 rows of the windows I wanted to collage above the linocut as my final image.  I also experimented with what color to do as my final color and the color of the windows.
 
Thursday I printed the etching 9 times.  And yesterday, for 8 hours Diana Hartley assisted me in collaging and printing the final step.  Diana tore down the individual rows and applied 3M spray adhesive to the backs while I inked the plate to print.


This project, the Naughty, Taboo, Just Plain Wrong print exchange, was a lesson in letting go of perfection.  In the end I love my print and am proud of how it turned out.  HUGE thanks to Diana for her amiable assistance throughout.

I've named the print, Looker,  meant to reflect not just the beauty of the swimmer but also about how your view of nudity can depend on where you stand, through which window you see it.

Reduction Lino Color 4

UNDER THE RADAR

I loved the reveal of this color.  It really puts them in the water, suspended.  I printed this on Thursday and plan to finish it with the final color tomorrow.  When I started I thought it would be 6 colors but have since determined 5 will do. 



NAUGHTY, TABOO...

Today I printed Color 4 on NTJPW.  As easy as UTR was Thursday,  this one was difficult.  I couldn't seem to do anything right and I couldn't figure out why my mistakes happened.  I finally let go of the need to be perfect.  It is what it is and for most people, it's pretty darn good.  I like that I am still learning these lessons.  I want to do even larger linocuts and see that I will have my work cut out for me.  One more color and collage element and done... next week!

Reduction Lino Print Color 2

I printed the second color of UTR before I left for Flagstaff. There is one more skin color, which is next. It will be dark and then lighter on color 4 - counter-intuitive but I am interested to see how it works.

I didn't get the second color of Naughty, Taboo printed until

today. I am printing 30 for an edition of 20. I goofed already on the first two today. Totally forgot what I was doing and didn't tape off the top for the etching. After that I kind of got my groove going.