Ghost Town Progress

20 Sketches

The 5 sketches for each of the cardinal point walks have been carved and are waiting for me to print them. I am working on a "jig" that will hold a few of them at once. This way I can print a bunch at a time on a large sheet of paper and then trim to size. I am planning an edition of 100 for these smaller blocks. I will post update on the "jig" as soon as construction begins, usually I make these out of foamboard, just a bit below the height of the block. 

Here are a few of the latest small blocks:

Walking to the North

Walking to the West

Walking to the West, Death Valley is just West of here

Walking to the South

South

South

On to the Views of the Barn

The next step is to work on the medium blocks, the views of the Red Barn from the four cardinal points. A while back I finished the View from the East, on deck are the Views from the West and North. In each case, I found a "window" natural or man-made from which a distant Red Barn could be seen.

Red Barn Viewed from the East

Red Barn Viewed from the North (left) and the West (right)

Stay in touch!

1000woodcuts Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/1000woodcuts 
Maria's Facebook Profile: https://www.facebook.com/maria.arango.diener 
Maria's Twitter Profile: https://twitter.com/1000woodcuts 
1000woodcuts YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/1000woodcuts/videos

2016 is Here! Planning, Planning, Planning...

Left Brain Kicks In

This time of the year, I look at my new calendar straight in the face. Looking at the entire year at a glance can be daunting and really drives in the thought that time is short in this life and we may as well live, do, work, travel, and make art!

Being an artist this year began last year when I applied for some art shows and exhibits; the good ones always have applications well ahead of show time. 

Like a row of booths at sunrise, the year awaits to open...

And since I enjoyed my residency here so much, I also applied for a residency at a National Park. Applying is a game of chance; jurors like what they like and at any given time, luck may strike. I always tell artists to maximize their chances by putting their best foot forward every single time. Try, anyway. Reading applications and carefully following instructions to the letter makes me squirm, but that's how the game is played. 

Frames are on the way and preparations have begun for early March, when I have an opening in Oakland California for a month-long exhibit that promises to be awesome. Here is the information:

Peace Puzzle Print (plus!) 

Event On Facebook: Opening Reception for Exhibit 

Aside from art festivals and the occasional exhibit, I really don't do much more in terms of art networking. My personal business model is rather simplistic: make art, sell art. Sometimes I like to teach art. All the while my online shops seem to have gained traction at are now producing some (amazingly) consistent sales results. I guess persistence pays off.
Once the applications are out, I don't worry about them too much and crawl back into the magic realm of the studio. 

Right Brain Screams!

All the time I spend looking at calendars and filling out applications, my right brain is flying about...sometimes an endless glide over a canyon or an ocean, sometimes a frenzied bouncing like a pinball. Eventually, I have to release the unruly beast and get back in the studio. 

Entre Viento y Sol

This year I have some unfinished business with the desert, a set of 8 blocks that have been drawn for years are now, almost embarrassingly demanding my attention. Dutifully, I will carve. 

I am also feeling drawn to the figures in nature series again, with my figures reduced to tiny proportions surrendering humbly to the awe of Mother Nature. 

Fool on the Hill

Aside from that, planning what art I will feel like making next month is like planning to fall in love--just doesn't happen that way. Art, like love, just appears and flourishes at the will of some unknown and irrepressible force. I just let it take me.

Stay in touch!

1000woodcuts Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/1000woodcuts 
Maria's Facebook Profile: https://www.facebook.com/maria.arango.diener 
Maria's Twitter Profile: https://twitter.com/1000woodcuts 
1000woodcuts YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/1000woodcuts/videos

Sketching a Big Piece and Getting Ready to Teach a Workshop

Sketching The Piece

The artist residency is a wonderful event in which artists get to go into an inspiring place and dance with the muses, don't you think?  Residencies are one of the better ways to engage in artistic development and have uninterrupted dedication to the arts. For all that I am grateful every day of this residency and truly thank the Red Rock Canyon Interpretive Association for affording me this unique opportunity.

As you can tell, I'm having the time of my life. I have sketched now about 8 little blocks ranging form small to smaller and am planning a large piece or two. If you have visited my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/1000woodcuts), then you know I have enough reference material to last until next year. The desert in the spring is truly inspiring.

Even if I had not signed an agreement that requires a donation and a workshop, I would be looking for ways to give something back. So, of course, I'm planning a puzzle print!

Here is a sketch on two 16" x 20" panels, total size of the woodcut will be 16" x 40". I always print a few color and black and white photos to aid in the sketching.
The plan being, I carve the background mountains, one of the most encompassing views of the Red Rock Canyon proper area.

The puzzle pieces will reside inside the valley and will be carved by my workshop participants, which is the other way that I'm giving something back to the place that is giving me so much.

I am going to place them in a quilt-like arrangement within the valley area, and will print all the tiny prints in one pass after gluing them securely. The background will be printed in another pass and I will probably hand color the resulting print (I have become enchanted with hand-coloring my woodcuts as of late!).

The finished woodcut print and the block will be donated to my benefactors and will become part of the BLM/Red Rock Interpretive Association collection. How cool is that?!

 

The Workshop

I am giving two workshops, one Sunday the 13th and another Saturday the 19th, which happens to be Red Rock Day! Info flyer at the end of this post.

I spent the better part of yesterday and this morning assembling everything for my brave participants. I like to provide everything so that everyone gets totally addicted to doing woodcuts. I use my own workshop instruction handout to make sure I have everything I need.

The woodcut kit is composed of: Starting at the top left and going clockwise: my handout with quick instructions, a printing tool I call a wood-button baren, pencil and marker for sketching, a door-knob printing tool, set of carving knives, paper for printing, woodblocks, a carving "bench" made of fiberboard and molding with no-slip lining, walnut ink for tinting the block and a foam brush, two demo blocks, ink slab (wax paper on foam board), ink, brayer and knife. Ready, set, go!

And the workshop info:

A Day in the Backcountry

Quiet!

On my fourth hike of the residency in Red Rock Canyon and surrounding areas, I headed off into the backcountry. The Black Velvet road is a less visited area, at least by the larger crowds. It is frequented by mountain bike riders and trail runners, so I'm told.

I posted more pictures here:
https://www.facebook.com/maria.arango.diener

The trail was mine all mine, with a couple of young bike riders passing me in a hurry. Here are some of the musings I wrote upon my return.

Musings

Last hike at the pine creek, I was surrounded by the sounds of the birds scratching into the dirt, calling each other, rustling the leaves high in the pines. Today, the few birds are distant and my footsteps silence their calls, warning each other of approaching danger. I'm not dangerous, I call out and am answered by more silence. A road runner clacks his beak as he scurries across the trail but too quickly for the camera. As I follow his path, a huge hare stands tall, ignores the road runner but, ears awind, sees me and takes a few hurried steps toward safety. I decline the invite to follow; when I get to where it had disappeared it would be long gone anyway.

The narrow trail is easy to follow and devoid of rocks allowing me to keep my gaze high on the surrounding red striped peaks, enjoying the mottled sandstone and savoring the lure of the distant canyons. There! Where the two polka dot skirts meet the Velvet desert, there is where the desert calls from. Another canyon, lush with vegetation as it climbs the path of the seasonal descending water. Steep climb among boulders, oak and spruce hanging on to the vertical sides and shading the lush guarded life.

 
At the top, the gift of another endless view sitting on a boulder slapped by the cool breeze and listening to the sound of my tired breath. Later I return to the trail, grudgingly. I am regaled this time with the delicate cream flowering yucca and just when I begin to marvel at that and the sunny yellow daisies against the purple desert sage, I spot the unbelievable magenta color of the prickly pear blooms.

Sunday I teach a workshop and will report on that awesome adventure!

Red Rock Residency in full bloom

Two days in heaven!

What an amazing place. I have hiked here so much long ago but it feels like every time I come there is a new place. Many new trails, better marked, connected...enough trekking for a life time.
I have spent two days walking about in the spring desert; I am tired but so filled with beauty that, as I rest, I long for the next adventure.

Red Rock Canyon is just West of Las Vegas, for those who haven't clicked on the link yet. The Red Rock Canyon Interpretive Association graciously awarded me an artist-in-residence spot and I am taking full advantage of the opportunity. I will be teaching two workshops so be sure to check the schedule and the workshop flyer on my  page 1000Woodcuts on Facebook
I will also be uploading selected photos from the 685 that I have taken! Very selected...

Musings

My M.O. is to hike, absorb, take pictures and maybe sketch a little, always on a woodblock. But mostly I absorb while there and sketch later from memory or as I re-read my comments. Here are some excerpts of the first two days.

"The cold wind blows and I feel its bite. The breeze scatters visitors, they snap their photos and move on quickly. I am able to withdraw, drink the landscape and write a little. Cold wind also vibrates the landscape, shaking spring blooms and the hardy yucca spikes alike and scatters early clouds. Soon the sky is blue and the crowds quickly vanish leaving me with the view, the mountains, the beckoning canyons and the warming sun.

The view is hard to describe, easy to take in. There is a circle of mountains enveloping me, colorful rock mountains hiding canyons and springs. A velvet spread of spring green covers the desert and close to the ground there is the amazing beginning of spring in yellow, purple, pink blooms. The incredible globe mallow orange buds and flowers are everywhere and speckle the green velvet with fiery splashes. Sounds are continually interrupted by the purr of motors passing by and turning on and off. Voices telling jokes, lauding the landscape or bickering about the cold breeze enter and exit consciousness."

More to come...