Category Archives: Me

Print shop

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Oh yeah, I’m a printmaker! I spent my last 2 years of college in the printmaking lab. Sometimes nearly 24 hours a day. I love printing things. I love making one thing to make something else a whole bunch of times. I like to have an extra to give to my mom. I like to plan and retrace and perfect my drawings before they become something. I like to print things. I am a printmaker!

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Welcome to my birthday party. We went to the art store this morning. I got some screens, bulbs, and ink, came home, drew and planned, and once Logan was down for a nap I got to work! It was so cool how fast the screen was made. Flash–just like that. I went the low tech route to make my master by just drawing with the Riso pen (that came with the press) and filled in an area with Sharpie. Over all I was pleased as punch, though the part I had planned on being a flat color didn’t burn completely and had some texture. I actually like that in the finished print though. Want to see it? Well, here it is:

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I drew the tulip tree pod hanging on my mobile.

It is the same screen printed twice with two different colors of ink. The paper is Rives BFK becuase I have tons of scraps. It has some texture, but not too much. The ink sits beautifully on it. I learned that when I mix an ink color I need to make more than I think I need so that I get adequate coverage. I didn’t make quite enough of the bluish color and the line drawing pod is splotchy in the middle. I used Simple Green (thanks to all the awesome info over at the Gocco flickr group) to clean my screen in between colors and it worked like a charm without any toxic chemicals. On the brown run I used the ink blocking foam to guard the solid seedpod from getting printed and that worked just perfectly. So, all in all I call my first printing a success :)

Here it is on Rives Lightweight in a creamy color. Oh, and without the blue ink…

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Now, how could a birthday get any better? I have the BEST husband this world has ever seen.

(Well, I did get a light blue fleece jacket from my inlaws, which I really needed. It’s cute and feminine and warm. THANKS!!)

I got tagged for 7 things…

(Okay, i’m having a hard time with my wordpress update. can’t get my picture to be centered and there are some places where I want space between the lines and it just won’t stick. aaauuurrrghh)

Monique tagged me to write 7 things… YiKES

But first I must say that Block Swap sign ups are going very well and I’m excited about the talented quilters I will get to have blocks from :) If you’ve signed up, look for your name on the right side of the block swap page!
Now, this is because I believe every post should have a picture

drunk love

here’s some quilt block making inspiration by you know who.
Okay, on with the listing…

7 things to do before I die (in no particular order)
become a yoga teacher

live in another country (or at least visit one)

do another triathalon

have art in a real gallery, and even my own show

have a really cool art studio–with lots of high counters, big sinks, an etching press, easels, a pottery wheel, a couch for sitting and knitting, tables and chairs to sit and work at… you know, a place where I can make anything and everything. where the kids and I can go for school everyday, and maybe other people could visit and I could teach classes, or just hang out and make stuff. i always imagined this in an old barn all fixed up, but after seeing the INCREDIBLE light in Denyse Schmidt’s studio in an old industrial building I may change my dreams. barns don’t have windows.

build a tree house, well, have a tree house. someone else can do most of the building if they want as long as i get to help design it.
make a book– a real book with a story and pictures. write, illustrate, print, bind

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Ebb and flow

Barry is being promoted to Captain today. It’s a beautiful day outside and I have this overflowing feeling of joy and graditude and, well, I can’t put my finger on it…

Yesterday something got me thinking about my mission in life, what I want, what Barry wants, what I’m made for. Clearly I’m made to be a mom, my service is needed in God’s church… but what about this unquenchable drive I have to make things? I remember as a little girl I would scheme and dream about the tree house I would someday live in, the art I would make, the lessons I would teach, and how I would somehow be a big influence for good. When I was in high school I was convinced that this urgency to be known by a large audience and have some positive, creative, good influence must mean I needed to be famous. I would tell my mom maybe I’d be in musicals. Maybe I’d draw for Disney movies. I’m still going through the maybes. But this nagging feeling of urgency to BE, to create, to DO the things I idle away daydreaming about ebbs and flows throughout my life, and it never goes away. It seems to be high tide today.

This may seem completely unrelated, but yesterday I started looking into Signing Time. It’s a video program to teach toddlers and preschoolers sign language. It’s beautifully put together. We checked out some of the videos from the library yesterday. The music is great. Logan is already making the sign for milk when he wants to nurse. But, the thing that is most striking to me is that it is put together by Mormon moms who found their purpose, took some risks, used their God-given talents and circumstances to create something useful and influential in the world.

All day I’ve been listening to Peter Breinholt. His music has sentimental value because Barry and I fell in love at one of his concerts. But, his music just feels good. And he is good. If you have time, read this. Another Mormon who found a place with his uniqueness, and is a humble influence for good.

I need to be a DO-er. I’m built to day-dream. I read this quote from President Monson the other day: “The work of reactivation is no task for the idler or daydreamer. Children grow, parents age, and time waits for no man. Do not postpone a prompting; rather, act on it, and the Lord will open the way.” It peirced straight to my heart. And not at all within the context of serving in the church and working to reactivate people who have fallen away. It talked of daydreamers– and time doesn’t wait for them. Well, if anyone is a daydreamer, I am. And so, I need to make my dreams; I need to do them and not simply dream them. Time will run out.

So, I need to put a lot of inhibitions aside. I don’t have to make money. I don’t have to be completely practical. I don’t need to worry about what people will say about the things I make (particularly our parents). I don’t have to paint pictures of the Saviour to make art with a spiritual impact (an “aha” from Peter Breinholt). I think this list is much longer…

I think a lot. I combine things and find connections. I visualize and go through elaborate constructions–but I do it all in my head. So, what good is that? It all disappears.

I think I do have a mission and a purpose that Heavenly Father wants me to fill. That’s why I feel this urgency. I’m still searching through the maybes…

but time waits for no man.

Did you know?

Did you know that if your mom takes the jam out of the fridge and sets it on the counter while waiting for a bagel to pop out of the toaster, but you wanted to get the jam out yourself, the world may come to an end and you must scream “Mom you don’t do very nice fings” and “You make me feel really, really mad.” and “DON’T SAY THE WORD!!” over and over again?

Did you know that the prospect of making your bed all by yourself while the rest of the family goes downstairs can cause your stomach to ache, your legs to shrivel up in pain, your fingers to tingle too much to move, and your back to itch, all while you melt into a heap and wail like the boogey-man is after you?

Did you know that if you’re ten months old your high chair is a torture chamber that causes ear splitting screaming?

Well, I discovered all of these things at once this morning and had three kids screaming hysterically for a good solid 45 minutes while I begged and pleaded for them to just let me eat half a bowl of Cheerios so that I could see straight and maybe even think a little bit.

Barry has decided he wants to go into work earlier so that he can come home earlier, so i get mornings to myself again. And my mom was also here visiting for the past week and a half and has sadly returned to her regular life. And we stayed up late last night and watched the BYU-idaho dance teams perform… anyway, it was a crazy morning I momentarily thought I might not survive.

And, there’s more i have to process. A family in our ward lost most of their worldly possesions in a house fire last night. So, I spent the day on the phone tracking them down, finding what they need, answering phone call after phone call of questions and offers for help…

It feels good to be busy serving and knowing that my efforts are really needed…

Anyway, so much to do… so little time. Imagine not having underwear or shoes, or even a toothbrush.