I ‘ve done a larger, vertical version of the Ridgetop theme. While the photo isn’t that good, I’m going to move on to some other ideas, so I decided to wrap up the gray-on-gray/negative space thread for now. The best of these can be found here, in a portfolio with commentary. Be sure to click ” Become a Fan”, too. I’ll post newer work soon.
BTW, in case you out-of-towners are wondering, yes, it HAS been an unusually gray winter here.
If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don’t have to worry about answers. -Thomas Pynchon
From the ridge top east of Colorado Springs, CO you get a view overlooking the little upscale city and the Front Range behind it, including Colorado’s most iconic “Fourteener”, Pike’s Peak. It’s so close you can seemingly touch it, and the scene rivals any I’ve seen in the west. But I rarely go there. It is a city that has made itself into a compound for the right wing/anti government /tea bagger movement, a breeding lab for anti-gay hate legislation, anti-tax libertarian fantasies, and religious intolerance. It’s a holy center for the Party of No.
On that same ridge top sits Focus on the Family. Their Tebow Superbowl ad caused a controversy which highlights the extent to which the right wing has seized control of the ongoing debates surrounding the culture wars.
Every element in the ad story exemplifies the right’s cynical approach to political discourse that dates back to Willie Horton and before, and continues through Swift Boat ads and Health Care lies. Everything about the ad was brilliantly staged. Not just the ad itself, which featured popular jock Tim Tebow, college qb who goes into battle with bible verses painted on his face, in a feel-good tribute to his mom’s decision to have him, instead of a medically sound abortion ( I didn’t see the ad, but have heard it was fairly bland). Delivered during the climactic game/spectacle of the league that has become the entertainment arm of right wing big media, the ad reinforced gridiron culture’s fantasy of fighting American heroes to the millions of Bud Light- and Doritos- buzzed couch muffins who have always lapped it up.
The run-up attracted protests from NOW, allowing right wingers to portray them as censors (CBS, has in fact, refused left wing organizations such as Move-On.org space during the Superbowl, but now says the policy has changed). One rebuttal by a right wing sock puppet even used the words “fair and balanced”, thus slipping in a plug for his favored sock puppet advocacy network. The Sports page “journalists”, ever hungry for “relevance” to alleviate the grinding boredom of covering American Football, went along for the ride, chastising the perpetually un-savvy NOW, before heading back to their free, NFL-sponsored buffets. Excuse the mixing of sports metaphors, but in every possible way with this ad, Focus hit a home run. Smoke and mirrors for 2.7 mil- cheap!
Meanwhile, what’s going on in Focus on the Family’s sprawling little upscale home town? Funny you should ask. The supposedly left-dominated media has not noticed, but apparently there’s trouble in the compound, and angst in those McMansions.
I’ll let this Salon.com post, by writer David Sirota tell the tale. If you’ve ever wondered what happened to Reagan’s “shining city on a hill”, Sirota says, “the view isn’t pretty”.
Yes, the right of reproductive choice is very important to most Americans. But are we being distracted from the basic issue of whether the right wing Libertarian fantasy of no tax/no government/no public safety net even works? The politics of greed have made a crumbling joke of one of Tea Bagger-ism’s epicenters. Time to put down the Doritos and start asking each other what we can do to save the nation from the same fate.
“Ridgetops”, Monotype, 15×21″
I’ll do a larger version Monday. I’ll lighten the far ridge, and adjust the scale and distance. I promised myself some more interiors, so I think that’ll be next. Nor have I done a “fun” Weekend-type post lately, so I’ll work up something of that nature.
“Winter” 30×22″ Monotype
This is a larger version, from Monday, and it actually came out better than this rather amateurish snapshot might indicate. I wanted to post it simply to complete the progression I’ve been yammering on about. I’m getting it photographed for possible publication, and when I have that, I’ll post a complete portfolio on my Facebook Fan Page.
Next week I’ll move on to a different concept in this same, minimalist vein.
I got very busy with a summer workshop proposal and a residency application, and almost forgot I promised to post a ghost of the last monotype. Here it is. I think you can see that the dark gray retains its graphic power more than the light gray.
I still have options, though. I can print another layer ( something in the foreground?), or I can hand tint the little ponds/ puddles to bring them out. Or I can just leave it alone. What do you think? I’ll probably work on it Monday.
The year seems to be getting off to a good start. I wanted to do more sketching as a way of adding focus and unity of purpose, and I wanted to keep the images minimal and make greater use of negative space. Those things seem to be happening here, in the print I did Monday. It’s not in its final state; I’ll need to touch up a couple of areas.
It’s two drops, gray and dark gray, and it was trickier than it looks; I took my time. I had gotten a late start because we went over to help lift a press into a car bound for its new home up in the mountains. It’s a Squishtoid occupational hazard- every time someone buys a press, we wind up doing the grunt work. It’s not something my back especially looks forward to after 25 years of lifting 50 pound bales of potatoes, but it’s nice to see a printmaker living the dream, and she did buy us breakfast and bake us cookies!
I have a ghost of this which I’ll post tomorrow. For now, I’ll post the sketch to prove I’m not just talking the talk.
That Tuesday posting ( below ) was actually the ghost of this print ( above ). If there is enough ink left on the plate after the first run through, you can put a fresh sheet of paper down, and run it again, and that is called a ghost. These are just quick snapshots, so the color is off in the ghost- it came out much bluer where the gray should be- but you can see that there was plenty of black ink left for a second impression. Sometimes, as the hard edges become softer, the ghost is actually the superior print. If you have a preference, then post a comment!
There are more photos here. I’ll be back next week with another batch of images. If you want to keep track of new prints and upcoming shows, then click “fan” on the Facebook page.
If there is such a thing as omens, then Monday’s printing would be a good one. I went slow and examined each part of the routine for changes I might like to make ( for example, I made a slight adjustment in paper size during tearing, because it might make the smaller pictures more compatible with ready-made frames now available).
When I finally started composing, I kept it simple and tried to be conscious of negative space. When you are working with a limited color palette ( in this case black, and mid-value gray), It implies that white ( the paper) will be one of your colors, so use of negative space in the printmaking is essential.
Hanging the salon-style wall at the Open Press Small Print Show in December. They always look great, especially after you straighten all the frames. 
“SOL INVICTUS”, 15×11″
I mentioned that I often take a break this time of year. Toward the end of these holiday breaks, I often start getting a bit antsy to work on something new, which is proof enough that a break is a good thing, for me at least.
Last night before sleep I was running through some images and concepts in my mind, enough to keep me awake for a bit. This is sometimes, though not always, an indication of what might happen on return to the studio.
Here’s a peek at the last stuff I did, for a demo during the Small Print Show, which has also been on my mind, so another possible direction. The colors are a bit wack, and the composition cramped, but that’s not unusual, since they’re pretty small.
I won’t try to verbalize what exactly I think the new work will look like, but here are some “keywords”: line drawing, muted color, figure and landscape.
