I spent this past Friday and Saturday at the inaugural “Artalicious” festival in downtown Adrian. I was hired to demonstrate printmaking so I showed up with some framed work to display, linoleum, and tools. The crowds were not that heavy but sales were good never the less. I loved the whole event. I knew most of the artists but there were a few I havent met and a few I havent seen in a while. I didnt share a tent with Carlos Tobar afterall. He was hired to demonstrate painting. We still hung out a lot anyway since he was only two tents down from me. I got to meet Jason Stockman, a local potter who was set up next to me. At the end of the festival I traded him two prints for a bowl and a vase. Anyway, I spent Friday morning finalizing a sketch of “corn”. Friday afternoon I spent the day cutting linoleum. Saturday morning it was busier. I only had a little bit of work left on the block but spent a lot of time talking to people in the crowd. I ended up making a test print around 1 pm. The kernals were a tad small so I borrowed my neighbor Christine Marsh’s dremel tool to make them bigger. I had never used a dremel tool on linoleum but figured it was as good a time as any to experiment. It worked well so I may have to run out and get one now. I’ve wanted one for a while anyway. I’m not a huge fan of reworking my blocks, but I had a lot of time left in the day so I did. The kernals looked larger on the second attempt, but it was getting colder and windier. The ink on my glass was drying fast but the ink on my paper wasnt. Carlos told me that it was probably the cold temps that were causing the ink to stay tacky for so long. I prefer printing with oil based ink but I knew I couldnt use it at the festival because it would never dry in time before I had to pack up and take everything home. Anyway I ended up only making six prints. I was fed up with the ink drying so fast on my glass and was certain more prints on my drying rack would stick together if the wind blew them hard enough. So I cleaned up shop and finished out the day trying to finish a block I had started a month or so ago. Overall, I had a great time. The owner of the Book Abbey in Adrian asked if i would be interested in selling my work in their gallery. I went there today, signed the contract and dropped off all my remaining prints…minus a few of my favorite =)
The Heron 