GirlMeetsArt

I did this print in 2001. It was originally a black monotype, but at the request of a friend who liked the design but also loved color, I applied washes of water color to give it its “tropical” feel. Hence the title: Tropical shoes. It hangs proudly in my friend’s apartment.

Remember Melissa Bank’s book about falling in love, Girl’s Guide to Hunting and Fishing? Well, my helpful advice book is A Girl’s Guide to Running and Screaming. Its advice is based on some oh-so-awful dating experiences, including the slobbery kisser and the one who heard voices promising him the formula for an AIDS cure.

I made 12 editions of this accordion book to share with classmates at Penland, and to put in the box of books our class auctioned to support Penland. Final bid: $1000.

This year, the creative urge hit me around the time I began considering what Christmas cards to send out this year. How could I combine some of the many techniques I’ve learned at workshops over the years? So I dug out some fabric I’d screenprinted, pulled out the embroidery stitches guide, and started working.

Thankfully, I only send out a few cards these days. Each one is unique. Half use those neat Italian paper clips as “ornaments.” Some include “snow.” Ho, ho, ho!

A few months ago, Polaroid sounded the death knell for its instant cameras. But thanks to John Reuter’s class at Penland a few summers ago, I got to play around with Polaroid transfers and emulsion transfers.

Using some pieces of my many collections of stuff—in this case, wind-up toys and blue glass bottles—I created and photographed some tableaus in Penland’s wooded grounds for some transfers. For the rest, I used existing slides of family and everyday objects. My ‘57 Chevy piece, and the work of others in the Penland class, can be seen at John’s website.

One summer in the late 90s, I signed up for a one-week printmaking workshop at Oxbow, the summer art colony outside Saugatuck, Michigan, with Holly Greenberg. A dynamo of a teacher, Holly does collagraphs and linocuts with a retro feel and a spot-on sense of humor about gender issues.

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