beneficial insects Archives - Starpointe Studio

Starpointe Studio Virtual Tour

Joanne Price — Wed, 18 Mar 2020 20:06:31 +0000

Welcome to a virtual tour of Starpointe Studio! Following the cancellation of the Kentucky Crafted Market event in Lexington, KY March 14 & 15, I decided to set up prints and items as a showcase. You can experience a quiet, slow-paced video perusal on You Tube: https://youtu.be/BQ2fEnFVDdo or just click on the picture above — you can view and purchase all of the prints you see in the video in my online shop. If you see some mini books or greeting cards that you’d like to order contact me directly. PLUS, from now to March 31, 2020 you can enjoy free shipping on your orders!

In the picture above I am just starting sketches for a commission from Yew Dell Botanical Gardens for their Twilight event this year. I’ll be using a natural box wood round to engrave an image of a tree(s). My antique engraving tools, generically called burins, sit atop a handmade tool roll.A new Beneficial Insect illustration of a Robber Fly — the eagle of the insect world. This is being engraved on a plastic material called high impact polystyrene. I’ll be posting progress on social media as this moves along.Some newer images, including the most recent Matriarchy, and a colorful bunny print Stay Sharp! Also shown are Athena and Greenie (lower left) and some Japanese Side Stab blank journals (upper right).
Above: Miniature blank books (3 inches high) with my original prints on the covers — great for gifts.
Above: Miniature blank books in progress. Half ready for your creative venture. See one you want — let me know. I’ll finish it up and ship it off to you!Even smaller miniature blank book necklaces (about 2″ high) — a classy way to remember important notes AND a beautiful expression of your love of books.Locally sourced black walnut (top) and hickory (bottom) wood covers for coptic stitch binding of blank journals in progress. A finished purple-heart wood coptic bound blank book, upper right. Many of these books and business card holders are not on my website because they are all unique. The papers and prints I use are available in limited supply. Business card holders with magnetic or button closures ready to represent and present you and your business in style.
Starpointe Studio in its functional, casual, working state — ready for more wood engraving, letterpress, printing, book binding, and overall creativity. Wood engravers need stretches of quiet time, with social isolation — its built into our DNA. The printing part is far more social, but can easily be done at social distance. Stay safe and healthy y’all.

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Bugged Out at Ayatana this Summer

Joanne Price — Wed, 16 Oct 2019 17:21:33 +0000

I had a truly inspiring experience with a group of 5 artists for Ayatana Artists’ Research Residency’s Swarm, an intensive study of insects. All the scientists, participating artists, and Ayatana Director, Alexis Williams, were engaging and enlightening. It was the perfect time to test the capabilities of my phone’s camera with clip-on macro lens (works great) and to learn so much more about insects! We lured moths, we chased insects with nets, we visited the Canadian Department of Agriculture insect collection and entomological staff, we looked at insects through microscopes and sought them out in the forest, prairie and bog terrains. We worked with entomologists everyday — it was amazing. A huge thanks to the Great Meadows Foundation for funding my participation in Swarm and my journey to Quebec.

The Ayatana crew decked out in bug nets seeking lightning bugs.

A mosquito with my blood — artfully arranged and lit at the direction of professional macro photographer and consumer electronics industry veteran, John Healey.

Capturing all flying insects at Mer Bleue Bog with Moth expert Diane LePage.

A blinded Sphinx Moth found by luring moths with a bright light and white sheet between 9pm and 12:30am

The epic and beautiful Maman sculpture by Louise Bourgeois at the National Gallery of Canada. The bronze spider sculpture has a sac containing 32 marble eggs!

Using my clip-on macro lens to explore my own garden — look a wheel bug!

And then, a strong Frankfort, Kentucky community supporter, Bob Patrick generously gifted me a beautiful binocular microscope and petri dishes to study insects! Wow! Bob also donated a 15-inch telescope (it’s taller than me!) and many other astronomy materials, equipment, and books to my husband, Dan Price, NASA Solar System Ambassador! Wow — talk about level up! Thank you Bob!

Salt Marsh Moth caterpillar ready for a hug!

The hairs of the Saltmarsh caterpillar seen under higher magnification — look at those barbs on the hairs. As far as I know these caterpillars are not poisonous.

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Flight Path: From Block to Street to Press

Joanne Price — Mon, 27 May 2019 21:51:32 +0000

I mark spring’s progress by the arrival of the elegant, but spunky barn swallows. I love that their diets include eating wasps and other insects around our home. And if you’ve ever witnessed the feast of mayflies by a body of water — you’re lucky enough to have seen the feeding frenzy coupled with the grace, fluidity, and freedom of these birds. So, of course, a print was going to feature them!

I started by drawing directly on the block.

This print was originally printed with a construction steamroller at the Portland Museum in Louisville, Kentucky. The free public event was organized by Rachel Singel of the University of Louisville and supported in part by a grant from Burning Man.

The edition was printed on a large Takach Press at the University of Kentucky with printing assistance from Charles VanMeter.

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Up to Our Elbows in Paper Pulp at Fall Arts Festival this Sunday September 9!

Joanne Price — Sat, 08 Sep 2018 00:39:44 +0000

Join Starpointe Studio Sunday September 9th, 11am through 6pm for a paper making odyssey at this annual one-day-event, Josephine Sculpture Park’s Fall Arts Festival!

Continuing our support of a healthy environment for birds and beneficial insects, this creative workshop will guide you through the process of making paper by hand with seed inclusions. This unique handmade paper can be used as a small note card or a gift tag specifically designed to be planted in the ground to grow native KY flowers and grasses that are necessary for butterflies, Hummingbirds, bees and beneficial insects!

The paper can be formed with a variety of cookie cutter shapes, including butterflies, bats, trees, flowers, dinosaurs, moons, stars and much more. Join the fun – meet me at the paper making tent at JSP’s Fall Arts Festival!

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Catch Starpointe Studio at these Exciting Activities and Exhibits!

Joanne Price — Thu, 15 Mar 2018 18:21:46 +0000

Visit STARPOINTE STUDIO at Huber Winery’s Stella di Luce Art Show: A Celebration of Art & Wine!
I’ll have all my greeting cards, prints (both framed and unframed), business card holders, miniature blank books, and more!

EXHIBITIONS
See the Beneficial Insects on exhibit in Pressing Entomology, Plantory, Lexington KY. March 16 – May 4. Opening reception Friday March 16, 5pm.
Visions at the Capitol, Capitol Annex, Frankfort, KY. Through April 6.
The Society of Wood Engravers 80th Annual Exhibition, Zillah Bell Gallery, North Yorkshire, UK, February 24–March 17. Da Gadderie at Shetland Museum & Archives, Shetland, Scotland, March 31–April 25. Pier Arts Centre, Orkney, Scotland, May 5–June 15. Woodend Barn Art Centre, Banchory, Scotland, June 24–July 21.
Wood Engravers’ Network Third Triennial Exhibition, University of Oregon School of Art & Design, Eugene, Oregon, June through July 7.

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Beneficial Insects Image Process

Joanne Price — Fri, 08 Sep 2017 02:45:27 +0000

What are beneficial insects anyway? Beneficial insects are insects that pollinate trees and plant-life while they collect nectar from flowers. Insects that are predators of undesirable, destructive insects are also seen as beneficial to human activities. There are many more beneficial insects than what I have included in my book, but you can count on dragonflies, parasitic wasps, pollinators like bees, butterflies and moths, assassin bugs, assassin flies, lady beetle larvae, spiders, and house centipedes to benefit you in your garden, yard and house—but, of course, these definitions are very subjective. Insects in different stages of life are very destructive – like caterpillars. And predator insects are great, but they are not very discriminatory in what they kill and eat – so they will eat harmful beetles as well as beneficial bees.

The Beneficial Insects book is comprised of 36 pages with 10 original, multi-color relief engravings. The page sizes are 6 inches high by 7 inches wide. A limited edition of 30 letterpress books and a possibility of a commercially printed version are planned. Joanne Price is the author, artist, printer and binder for this exciting project.

This project is very slow and time consuming because of the process necessary to create the illustrations. Each illustration is hand drawn and then transferred to a printing block. Then the image must be engraved/carved so that it stands in relief. The first of the print matrices to be created is called a “key block”. The key block is then transferred to 3-4 separate blocks and each is engraved/carved based on the color that will be printed from it. Then each block is printed together—one on top of the other—to create the final image. I go through many color trial proofs finding the correct color and transparency for each color to maximize each layer. If I can print three colors and make it look like there are 5 colors (with overlapping colors creating additional colors) – I am happy, but that rarely happens! After several color trial proofs, the image is hand-printed, one color at a time, one piece of paper at a time. Each image has taken an average of 4 months to complete.

My studio desk – you can see the plastic plates with transferred images on them. The obvious tools are the u-gouges and v-gouges, but there are plenty of engraving tools on hand – they are the ones with the mushroom-shaped handles.

You can see the plastic (High Impact Polystyrene) plate I have engraved/carved attached to a Boxcar base. The plates were printed on an SP-15 Vandercook proofing press. All of the proofing and color trial proofs were printed on my 1913 Vandercook Proofing press. There is one plate per color. The Vandercook presses make registration of colors a snap. the press holds the paper in the exact same spot consistently and I can make adjustments very easily with the twist of a knob or two.

The yellow and blue plates printed together.

The yellow, blue and red plates

The yellow, blue, red and dark blue plates printed together.

Just two of many, many color trial proofs. The purple petals were throwing everything off and so as I was printing the first color, the green background –it occured to me– leave the petals white! I was happy with that final decision.

White petals! And then I added the blue/violet color block afterwards to make it all pop. The key plate on this image was printed in a dark brown – far less harsh/contrast-y than the black in the color trial proofs.

Yellow and red plates printed together

Yellow, red and blue plates printed together – right before the final key plate (dark brown).

All colors, plus the dark brown key plate. In case you are wondering – the butterfly is a Great Spangled Fritillary (on a Gaillardia bloom) – not formed from the monarch caterpillar (seen at right).

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Butterfly Books to Pollinate Josephine Sculpture Park’s Fall Arts Festival!

Joanne Price — Fri, 01 Sep 2017 18:59:38 +0000

Cap off summer with a day of art making and fun at Josephine Sculpture Park’s annual Fall Arts Festival Sunday September 10, 11am–6pm!

Joanne Price of Starpointe Studio will guide visitors through a FREE event – the creation of your own BUTTERFLY book!

Did you know that the Viceroy is Kentucky’s state butterfly? Viceroy’s are called mimics because they copy the appearance of a Monarch butterfly to scare away predators (the Monarch does not taste good).

The butterfly book covers are original prints designed, hand-printed and cut by Joanne Price. Customize your very own butterfly book to record stories or drawings or leave it as a fun paper sculpture that can flutter in the wind!

The photographically created printing plates are seen on the printing press – butterfly books by the hundreds!

These girls decorated their butterfly books and wrote stories about Paris and ice cream!

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