Sunday, October 31, 2010

the origin of things

I've got a show that is already almost over (it ends this Thursday), but I never even wrote about it here! I didn't have time to produce any new work for this show, so I just compiled things that fit a certain theme. Above is my postcard for the show, which I printed on kraft paper.

Here is my writeup for the show (which I had a lot of fun writing):

Where do things come from? A factory is defined as a place where goods are manufactured. To manufacture means to make something. So, doesn’t that mean that everything was made in a factory of one form or another? When our minds first think of the word "factory", things like teakettles, basketballs, and milk jugs come forward. Other things, like love or trees aren’t so simple. “Trees!?” you say, “Why, those come from the right combination of air, light, water, and nutrients!” Ah ha, but where do those things come from? And what’s down there in the ground that makes those trees want to reach up above the surface? And, LOVE… how do we even begin to explain where its origins are? I’m telling you, it must be a factory of one form or another.

“The origin of things” is a collection of woodcut and linocut prints that is an exploration and commentary that suggests an answer to the question of where things come from. This theme of work originated by my realization that most people don’t know or care where the consumer products they buy come from or how they were made. Are there factories up in the clouds that spew out these goods that make our lives easier? And maybe food falls into this unknown-manufacture-void as well. Where did that salmon you ate last night come from? Was it wild or farmed? Guess what? Either way, it was a factory.

This art was made by Sara Schalliol-Hodge. And you should know by now where she comes from.
And here it is up at Modern Dwellers.

Monday, September 27, 2010

magpies, float planes, and volcanoes

Just a small taste of some new work I haven't shown here yet.
"Magpied"

The above print "Such Great Heights", was actually a commission to go along with another one of my prints. The customer gave me a size and I asked her for a general theme.. and I ran with it. The mountain range in this print continues the mountain range in the print that inspired it.
"Under the Surface"

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Snow City Cafe show photos

Here are photos of my work at the Snow City Cafe in downtown Anchorage.

I think my prints look extra good on these sunshiney walls! Hooray!

Sunday, August 29, 2010

show at Snow City Cafe

I'm busy getting ready for my First Friday reception at the Snow City Cafe this Friday! This will be my first time showing my work all by itself (without the works of other artists there too).
Hooray!

Monday, April 12, 2010

Frontier linocut

My newest, smallest linocut yet! The image is about 5" x 7", so it makes a nice card. Above is my initial sketch, and below is the print and how I packaged some of the cards.


Thursday, April 8, 2010

Grandma


My awesome grandma, Eleanor Koukol, who was 97, died about a week and a half ago. She was such a sweet, loving, strong, funny, and ornery lady. I read her eulogy at her funeral, and I think it was one of the most satisfying things I've ever done. It made most everything I've ever done before seem so selfish, because I had never honored someone in that way or ever given anyone a gift like I did that day.

I took this photo of her my senior year of highschool.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

nursery birds!

I just got back from South Africa and Lesotho (photos to follow), and I got an email from Kelli Taylor at Purple Tree Photography letting me know that she finished her nursery. She hung 3 of my FLIGHT hanging wooden birds over her baby's crib. Her photos were super exciting for me to see since the colors of the birds match everything else in the room perfectly, and because while I've sold a lot of my hanging wooden birds, I never have seen them in their new homes! Here are some of Kelli's photos of her new nursery: