The Incredible Print Show

I had a very busy weekend and was remiss in neglecting to mention again this wonderful exhibition I feel so honored to be part of in Rochester, New Hampshire. The Incredible Print Show at Artstream Studios is on view both online and in person until June 27th. There are 50 artists from around the world showing all types of printed work: linocut and woodcut, photos, silkscreen, monotype, intaglio, etching, digital prints, and more! All the work is for sale and priced under $400, with many available for under $100! There's some amazing stuff.

You can go here to view some of the art as well as gallery installation shots.

I can't wait to see the exhibition in person! (I will be there for the June 6 art walk that happens once a month in Rochester.) But based on what I have seen online, here are some works that especially caught my eye:

Ana Ventura


Heather Smith Jones


Stacey Durand


Helle Jorgensen


Wayne Pate


Along with five others, I submitted this work to the show.

U-Men


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Photo: CAM staff photographer (Note: You can catch a glimpse behind me [standing] the table o' zines! Click to enlarge)

On Sunday, I had an incredibly good time at the Castellani Art Museum presenting my workshop about zines called Invisible Voices: Zines as Art, to a small but very enthusiastic group. After a short slide show in which I covered a very encapsulated history of zines and talked specifically about old zine friends Emily Lyon, Sonja Ahlers and Emily Larned, we had a quite lively discussion about, among other things, the relevance of the zine format in the 21st century compared with blogs and social networking venues like Facebook. My pal Jan Nagle and I also talked about how we put our respective zine "dummys" together in a very low-key demo fashion, and the rest of the time was spent, understandably, gushing and cooing over the fantastic zines I brought along from my collection (well, actually, I brought my whole collection!) It made for quite a display spread out on a couple large tables. I can't believe I forgot to take photos! Tsk.

It was especially great because the workshop really seemed to spark genuine interest in all those attending (even the curator, Michael Beam!), which included people who had never even heard of zines before. One of my old high school friends who came said she found one zine on the table in particular that she ended up reading all the way through—she liked it so much she couldn't put it down! I think it was a copy of Kyle Bravo's These Are the Days, which definitely warrants such a response. It was really representative of the entire workshop, I think. And while it may not necessarily have produced any future zinesters, I know that someone is surely to become a regular reader of zines, if anything. I saw a lot of eyes sparkling, that's for sure.

Yay zines!

I've got the Blues

...the winter blues, that is.

This week has been such a downer after the nice weather we had there for a while. I was so confident that spring really had sprung and that we'd see no more white stuff on the ground, and BLAM! a couple inches have accumulated since yesterday.

It's really affected my mood. I want to work in the gardens, I want to go on more photography roadtrips, I just want to bask in the rays of the sun. Is that too much to ask? Humph. That's what I get for living in upstate New York, I know.

The rest of the week I will be finishing up getting ready for The Incredible Print Show in New Hampshire! Unfortunately, the frames I ordered were delayed and I won't see them until Friday. But, I guess in the meantime I can get the artwork made and ready to fit the frames, shipment out first thing on Monday! Whew! Frantic, but exciting. Not to mention I am really looking forward to my whirlwind trip to attend the opening there on May 1st. I will be back in town in time to present my artist workshop at the Castellani Art Museum on May 3rd!

I'll tell you a little about that. It's called Invisible Voices: Zines as Art and it will be part presentation/lecture and part workshop. In addition to a slide show and talk about what zines are and their surprisingly lengthy history, I will demonstrate how a zine is put together using various techniques, with the opportunity for YOU to get hands on—complete with a tour of my extensive personal zine library, which includes zines that I'ved collected since the early 1990s.

Q: What is a zine, anyway?

A: The zine – a self-published magazine that’s often published by an individual making use of cut and paste techniques and photocopies – has a long history, with its roots reaching back as far as Thomas Paine’s pamphlets of the Revolutionary War era, The Crisis and Common Sense, to the manifestos and pamphlets of the Dadaists and Surrealists in the early 20th century, to the music fanzines of 1970s punk rock and the Riot Grrrl and DIY movements of the 1990s and beyond.

The past few years have seen many zine publishers pushing the envelope with the form, transforming the humble photocopied pamphlet to an honest-to-god work of art. Along with the gain in popularity of book arts in general, zines can be an astounding alternative to more traditional art-making.

It's free to attend, though you should register an RSVP with Curator Michael J. Beam at 716-286-8286 or email mjbeam@niagara.edu.

I guess it helps to keep your eyes ahead when you're feeling blue, especially when you have things to look forward to... and I sure do! While I am recuperating from this slump, let me show you something that I have dug out of my archives. Sticking with the blue theme...


Lora and Lana Didn't Have a Chance (detail), Silicone toray intaglio print, 2006

I've been blogged!

Cathy Cullis over at November Moon and her lovely Etsy shop has added me to her Saturday Shopping list this week featuring my last zine, HPRS 15. What an honor! As she'll also tell you, I have "known" Cathy for a long time now on the internets and have a great respect for her creative pursuits, which have developed in an amazing way. I have a small collection of her little dolls in my office that I really love, but her newest sewn artworks are amazing, unique, and really coming into their own. Just take a look at her most recent:



If you're thinking "mutual admiration society," well, I guess you're right. But honestly, I'd have talked about Cathy soon enough anyway. :)

As for me, I just found a couple extra copies of a little zine called Pumpkin that I did a few years ago. It has a rather interesting format that I enjoyed putting together. See what you think!



Regarding zines, I've had a couple Etsyans tell me that they have no idea what a zine is. I've also added the following description to my listings, but in case you aren't sure, either, here you go:

Q: What is a zine, anyway?

A: The zine – a self-published magazine that’s often published by an individual making use of cut and paste techniques and photocopies – has a long history, with its roots reaching back as far as Thomas Paine’s pamphlets of the Revolutionary War era, The Crisis and Common Sense, to the manifestos and pamphlets of the Dadaists and Surrealists in the early 20th century, to the music fanzines of 1970s punk rock and the Riot Grrrl and DIY movements of the 1990s and beyond.

The past few years have seen many zine publishers pushing the envelope with the form, transforming the humble photocopied pamphlet to an honest-to-god work of art. Along with the gain in popularity of book arts in general, zines can be an astounding alternative to more traditional art-making.

That's it for today. Thanks for stopping by!