Please join me for the opening reception of the Wood Engravers’ Network Triennial Exhibition and two other printmaking exhibitions on November 4th, 7pm at the University of Kentucky’s M.I. King Library, home of the Special Collections Research Center. I will be talking about wood engraving with historical and contemporary examples as well as some of my own work.
To further celebrate relief printmaking, please join us for a Kentucky-themed linocut workshop at the King Library Press the following morning starting at 8:30am. With a continental breakfast and lunch served at noon, this collaborative project is sure to feed your creativity! The cost is $45 per person, limited to 12 participants – register today! Contact the King Library Press to register: 859-608-9623
Arilus Cristatus Epoch, is a two color relief engraving – meaning there are two separate plates that were engraved out of a plastic material called HIPs (high impact polystyrene). The rest of the color was added by hand with watercolor. This image is the largest engraving I’ve done to date. The image size is 11 x 14 inches, which doesn’t sound like much, but when you think about the tiny tools used to make the marks – and the time. This piece took over 60 hours just to engrave the image – that doesn’t include the drawing, the printing or the hand coloring.
The illustration of the many life stages of a wheel bug (Arilus Cristatus) takes direct influence from a portfolio exchange theme titled: “Wondrous Transformation and Peculiar Nourishment: Celebrating the Engravings of Maria Sibylla Merian” organized by Emily Arthur and Ruthann Godollei for the Southern Graphics Council International conference in Portland, Oregon in March 2016. By combining micro and macro perspectives I intended to create a narrative, examining elements of biology, entomology, and the surrounding environment. The transformation of both environment, flora and fauna are seen with an aerial view of the Ohio River intertwined with the Milky Way’s river of light and light pollution from towns and cities.
See more of my work in the exhibits at the University of Kentucky, including the Affrilachian Triptych recently published by Larkspur Press.
