What the Plants Say

I have been working on this little book Root, Leaf, & Flower for a quite a while. The boco printing was done a year ago, but the letterpress just added. I haven't sewn one together yet, but all the pages are ready now.

I had some different thoughts about it when I first started the boco printing process from the plants. And it took me a while to realize those ideas were a dead end for me.

It started with the idea of a sampler – each plant isolated on its own page. But the result for me is much more than a sampler, it is a song. Each print is unique, the gesture of the plants expressive with hidden images and colors revealed.

I have worked out the stitching on sample papers, but I am not ready to reveal that one yet. And for those of you that have it, this book: Root, Leaf, & Flower will be akin to Plant Dyes from the Kitchen. (below) Plant Dyes from the Kitchen was also published in the fabulous book Thread Loves Paper by Emily Marks.

Easy Peazy & Hard As Chard

In the studio with Rebeca, having loads of fun while printing for GRuB (Garden Raised Bounty) for their fundraiser. You'll have to be quick to get one of these awesome potholders.

  

Co designing with Rebeca was the most fun I've had collaborating, ever.

 In the studio by myself today, thinking we should have printed "Hard As Chard" instead. Registering dozens of pieces of seam binding is challenging. Phew, finally finished!

It won't say so on this colophon, but this is another Inking Up! for Social & Environmental Justice publications from May Day Press. Had to keep this colophon short as possible to suit our "easy peasy" approach.

Stayed tuned for the finished product. We will be having a sewing bee on Sunday! 

Speechless

Craft in America has posted a one minute promo video - catch it here! I don't know what to say. Bill and I feel very overwhelmed by this grace all over again. The episode airs April 21st on PBS!

May Day Magic

Dear Friends — best birthday ever! The PBS show, Craft in America, came to film Bill and I at our house and studio. It was an incredible adventure without ever leaving home. A very kind and professional crew made the 2 day filming event easy-peasy for Bill and I. Please check out Craft in America's website - they have been show casing artists for many years now. And I can testify that they are hard working, art-loving people who really care about the work they do and the artists they feature. And stay posted - the episode Bill and I are is in edit and won't air for a while. I'll let you know when!

Bill and I worked very hard to prepare — Bill polishing every leaf in the garden and me designing a website! Check me out at: http://www.catherine-alice.com/

The Pressure to Print

Pressure printing was the way I created all my image work for this latest edition. Learned from Kathy Kuehn two decades ago, pressure printing is my favorite way of getting ink onto paper. Over 30 print runs, front and back, went into this piece.  

It is titled Sola: A Mythical Story About A Real Girl. I nearly titled it Sola: A Real Story About a Mythical Girl.  They seem equally true. Sola learns to see herself in everything and everything in herself. It's a condensed version of my own healing and transformation.

I was fortunate to be commissioned to create a piece for the "Just One Look" exhibit now showing at the University of Washington Allen Library, Special Collections. The request and theme of the show pushed me in unexpected directions that yielded so much. Without this opportunity, I would not have been able to know the end of my story.

If you can't get to the "Just One Look" exhibit at the UW (and really you should - or look for the catalogue - the show is loaded with incredible work) then visit the PSBA members show in Tacoma at UPS this summer! 

The Bees Knees

 I have a lot of creative irons in the fire.

The newest, direct animation, is so much fun! I started letterpress printing on film leader, and have two very short clips below. One is bees and butterflies, the other is a font of type set in the press before distribution. It makes a crazy sound, like a cello! This is the ink printed over the sound file on the edge of the film. I love it! (You might turn your sound down a tad, it's a little loud.)

 

 

I'm having a great time with all the different processes I've been engaging, but find it hard to switch gears. This weekend I am off to do a bunch of video work on beautiful Bainbridge Island!