edition done

Well, I finished up editioning a series of prints from the etching plate I've been working on. I will post the image eventually. There is sooooooooo much updating that needs to happen on my website (all the plaques and paintings I did for the Auburn show, etc) that it's gotten a bit overwhelming.

I'm totally exhausted again, I really think there's "something in the air" in the print studio that wipes me out. Well, truth is there's all sorts of brain-cell-shrinking chemicals in there (the very same ones that make me walk in the door, take a deep breath, and say "ahh, I love the smell of the print lab!" Only fellow printmakers would sympathize with that, anyone else would think I'm nuts). And maybe it's just that the studio is on the third floor, but it is mildly disconcerting that I haven't ever seen a bug in there. There are bugs everywhere, right? Ought to be some spider webs on those high ceilings? Nope, not a one. Weird. Oh well, artists don't need brains anyway, right? :-D (oh no, not true at all!)

You know what, I'll just take a picture of the prints now. I'll deal with posting a GOOD pic some time down the road. There is an edition of 20 prints in dark brown ink on cream colored paper, and an edition of 4 in white ink on black paper (print # 1 of 4 is sold). Those are pretty interesting, but I think the "regular" ones will have more appeal at the horsey type shows that I do. We'll see! I have not quite settled on the prices yet. I'm thinking about changing prices all over the place (going UP). Though certain family members are fairly adamant about me already being overpriced, I really disagree with that, and a lot of the artists I show with have hinted that it might be time to raise prices. I mean, people can sell their "limited edition" offset lithographs (don't get me started!) for hundreds of dollars each, so why am I busting my butt to make originals and then pricing them at a fraction of that cost? Sure, a lot of that is name, and I certainly don't have much of a name, and I can count my "following" on one hand, but I sometimes wonder if higher prices would command a little more respect. I dunno, it's a sticky issue, and probably not one I should even be admitting in public, but hey, that's the point of this blog, right? Airing my issues! :-)

Anyway here's the pic.. I have them all out drying (etchings are printed on damp paper) on the dining room table, but I couldn't fit them all in the frame even when I stood on a chair and held the camera over my head.

an accurate prediction

As expected, I was not capable of remaining upright and awake for the duration of the day, so shortly after getting home from several hours of printing, I did indeed zonk out. Gosh, what a shock.

The auction was uneventful, although I did get there a little later than I normally do and had to wait a half hour to unload the birds. Now I just have a couple of halfway decent BBRed cockerels and a few pairs of Brown Reds to sell...for now...maybe more in a few months. I'm keeping more than I usually do so that I can show about a gazillion of them at the National meet(s) in January. That is going to be so much work. Oh geez, I'll give myself a headache thinking about it.

So anyway, after dropping off birds I headed over to the print studio, got there at 8am.. I had some problems with the etching plate--lines I thought I had successfully scraped/buffed out were worse in places. I'd never done much with scraping a zinc plate before, but I now know there is a very specific way to do it! I didn't expect to be able to pull a lot of prints from this particular plate. It's so finely etched and such a subtle variations in tones I really thought it would wear out and lighten up pretty quick, but it totally held up til I reached the end of my paper supply....and I wished I had more paper! I am debating getting more and going in again to print more. I have 13 good prints (7 bad ones) but I think I could print more good ones. I always feel obliged to get as many prints out of a plate as I can. So, hmmm. Then again, I've never sold out an edition, so I'm not sure having a larger number of prints would even be beneficial. The higher the number of prints, the lower the price will be. I hate pricing art. Some people say I overprice, some say I underprice. Maybe I really should just double everything!!! ;-)

Anyway, I got home around 2, and decided to see how my bed was feeling around 3, and then the next thing I knew it was 5. And what did I dream about for those two hours? Printmaking. Over and over and over and over I saw my hand inking the plate, buffing off the ink, wiping it clean, over and over and over. Holy crap. As if I didn't see that enough in real life today, I then had to take a nap and dream it all over again? No wonder I'm still tired, that's like I did another two hours of printing!

Sleepy time.

the chicken wrangler

It is perhaps one step down from the romanticism and intrigue surrounding the cowboys of the old west, but the chicken wrangler is nonetheless a force to be reckoned with. Dressed in frayed jeans and an old sweatshirt, various barnyard remnants stuck to her shoes, her hair twisted up into a bun (which inconveniently manages to get snagged in the netting covering certain coops, gaaa!), she ventures out just after sundown with her trusty flash light and gingerly picks "the chosen ones" off of their perches, taking care not to disturb the rest of the sleeping flock. It's a thankless job, this chicken wrangling, and one that can only truly be understood by fellow chicken wranglers (they're out there...).

There were twenty-seven birds to wrangle this evening, and I'll be off to auction in the wee hours of the morning. Being "the chosen one" in this case is not an enviable position, but a necessary thing in the chicken world. It means more room for the good ones, the hopefully-soon-to-be-champions who will be shown in the upcoming months...and hopefully kick some booty! :-)

And then after dropping birds off at the auction I will go work in the printmaking studio, where I will print the edition from an etching plate I started several months ago. There is something about the studio that just drains me. Even if I don't do anything strenuous, it's like an energy sponge. So despite my best intentions to come home and work on Standard drawings all afternoon and evening, I am predicting now I will zonk out on the couch for a least a while! But hey, I do have to get up at 5am...

On that note, sleepy time!

(sometimes it occurs to me that keeping a blog really is kind of strange... who on earth reads this stuff? They are addicting though aren't they? And mine's relatively "normal." (yeah, how scary is that if I'm calling my own chicken and art ramblings NORMAL)... I clicked on the "view random blogs" button the other day on the blogger home page...criminy there is some freaky stuff out there...and people say some mighty personal things!!!)