new series, times two

Since there was a 4 month delay between the ordering and delivery of the press, I had a while to think about what I would print. I already know that I work best in a series... I almost never am able to fulfill my interest with a subject in one picture, so a series offers me the chance to more fully explore topics from a variety of emotional angles. I also like to have more than one set of ideas to work on at any given moment... so that if one thing just isn't working, I can focus my attention on something else for a while.

I decided on two open ended series. One will be portraits of peace leaders and activists, and one will be a continuation of a naturalistic iconography that I was working on in my most recent paintings. The portraits will be on 8" by 10" plates, and the naturalistic images will vary in size and shape.

I'm really looking forward to both projects, for very different reasons. The portraits present several challenges that should be a lot of fun to address... those of likeness, of emotion, and of relevance to the subject's message. The naturalistic series involves the challenge of translating ideas that I've been working with in paint to the medium of printmaking. I know that I'll have a lot of failures along the way, but I am excited about these series and about the work involved in making the finished products that I've had in my mind for so long.

For me, with printmaking, it is very much about the joy of the process. I know that I have much yet to learn about etching, and I am looking forward to those lessons.

Below I've attached the first of the portrait series (it's just a pic of an inked plate, not a print) in a very early state. It's Aung San Suu Kyi, although the likeness will hopefully evolve more as the plate progresses. I've also included images of a couple of my paintings.

Happy printing!