New In The Studio - March/April 2020

Hello all.

It's been a whirlwind last couple of months, hence the lack of updates, but found a moment to drop in and catch everyone up.

Day job duties and grad school has consumed most of my waking moments, but I've been able to find a few minutes every morning to work on collage art. It's an exercise that does not require a lot of time to execute, so it's been a healthy way for me to stay creative. Grad school takes up most of my time, between night classes, grad assistant duties and teaching. It's been a challenging and fun semester, so far, that is for sure.

By now, I'm sure everyone's lives have been affected in one way or another by the Coronavirus pandemic. The uncertainty is nerve-wracking, for sure, in regards to public health and the economic impact. I'm hoping that the world gets back to normal relatively soon. There is lots of talk about 'self-confining' and staying away from large gatherings of people, in the meantime. No restaurants, no bars, no concerts, no movie theaters. Parks and schools are closing. The mood outside is definitely strange. My grad school duties will be moving online for the foreseeable future, which leaves me a little anxious. However, I'm sure I, and the rest of the world, will hang in there and do our best to keep our sanity.

I'm not to the point where I have to self-quarantine just yet, but if I have to, thankfully, I am in introvert at heart and have plenty of records, movies, bath tissue, food, and cocktails to ride out the storm for awhile. Plus, I have plenty of source material to keep cranking out the collage work. I probably won't get to do much printmaking, but I'll see where I can squeeze that in.

And speaking of printmaking, I've started converting some of my favorite collage designs into large screen printed versions. Below is the first design that I really wanted to make a screen print from.

The original collage is smaller than a business card while the screen printed version measures 18 x 24 inches / four color spot print on Accent Opaque 100lb cover. I printed only a few copies of the design just to see how I like the results. I'm hoping to print a full edition of 10 prints soon, but if this Coronavirus stuff keeps me away from the school's print lab for awhile, these will have to wait. However, I have some smaller designs in the works for print soon, so maybe I'll get to dust off my tabletop press at home in the coming days.

Well, that about does it for updates. Many things are currently up in the air, right now, so if I get confirmation that events will move forward without cancellation, I'll be sure to update everyone. In the meantime, wash those hands, listen to what the CDC and local authorities have to say, and take care of each other. Let's get back to normal as soon as possible.

Cheers,

-Jonathon