Hmmm do I even remember how to use this Livejournal thing? Hope so...
Last month I was invited to participate in a show called "A Rainy Day Wildfire," I opted not to since I'd need to make a new piece and I'm very busy right now. Fast forward to Saturday, I get a call telling me I need to drop my artwork off before 6pm. What art? What show? I don't actually get the message until late that night, so I do some searching, and find my name listed on their website as a participating artist.
Well crap, here I am getting promoted for a show I didn't sign up for. I may look like a bit of a jerk since I didn't submit a piece, but it was too late to do anything about it. I e-mailed my apology and an explanation. Then an e-mail arrives Sunday afternoon, "Last minute drop-off Monday from 3-6!"
At this point, I'm a bit angry. I didn't sign up for the show, I don't have any work that fits the theme, and I don't like appearing to be a flake who signs up for something then doesn't do her part. A crazy notion hits, this is a challenge! I'm going to make a woodcut print overnight and deliver it framed and ready to hang at 3pm.
So I did. After dinner (we had invited mom over and I had a ham in the oven when I received that last e-mail) I sat down with a blank 8x6" woodblock and started sketching. I kept coming up with similar ideas to one I'd already roughly sketched out, so I switched to it and started carving.
I usually spend days, if not weeks, carving my blocks. I like to do some work, switch to something else, and come back to it with fresh eyes. Making myself sit down and finish a block in a single night forced me to consider the design in ways I wouldn't normally approach it. I had to resist the urge to start carving in ways that I knew would be too horrendously complex for a single night. I made it to the studio around midnight, inked, proofed, fiddled a bit more with the carving, made myself stop, and pulled a couple nice prints around 1am.
After a good sleep I ransacked my supplies for a mat and frame, and got that sucker gallery-ready right around 1pm. My favorite frame shop wired the back for me and I did indeed get it delivered at 3pm. That print is now hanging and the Olympic Mills Commerce Center and the show opening starts in an hour.
"A Rainy Day Wildfire" runs through the end of May, so please stop in if you get the chance.
Olympic Mills Commerce Center
107 S.E. Washington St.
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amused
accomplished
artistic
