Quirky Fun Collagraphs of 1920's Ladies

© Susanne Clark  - The Ladies
Collagraph - Varied Open Edition

Some time back I created "The Ladies" a Collagraph showing two women with a 1920's look.  I wrote about them in a post called "I'm in Flap About Flappers".    The name "Flappers," I believe, comes from the popular fashion of the time of wearing floppy bows around the head.

People often think these are paintings but Collagraph is a form of hand pulled printmaking based on collage.  You can  read about the process on my web site. Each print is hand inked and printed on a printing press  Even though I can use the same plate to pull many prints from, each one is inked in a different set of colours and so is a unique work of art.

After creating "The Ladies" I decided it would be fun to do a few more in the same theme so I went ahead and made the collagraph plates ready for printing.  In the previous post I hadn't actually printed the new works but since then I have, and also added more "Ladies" to the series. Because the ladies are only very loosely based on the 1920's style I have been able to have fun with their design, making them look slightly  sexy and with exaggerated bows and hats.  The first prints I pulled all sold so this week I printed up some new ones and I'm quite pleased with the result.  I will be exhibiting them at several art shows around Toronto in the next few months.  Details are on my web site.

© Susanne Clark  - Fancy Flappers
 Collagraph - Varied Open Edition

My intention is to add more photos of "The Ladies" to my web site along with the current pieces that I have available from the Kimono Series.

Please share this post, or any others you find interesting, with your friends or people you think would be interested.  As an artist I really appreciate any help in getting my work out into the world.

No Naked Walls - About Block Prints

Golden Notes 2
Hand painted block print on wood panel 24 x 36 in



After writing my blog yesterday I though that I should have mentioned how I go about making these block prints.  First of all I work out the design.  I have to decide what size I want the final work.  When I do this I have to allow for the size of the artwork plus the size of the surround or mount and then make it a size that will fit into a standard frame.  After making a lot of art that needed a custom sized frames I am finally getting smarter and working to standard sizes. Once the size is decided I then draw up the design I want.  Next I divide the design up into blocks that will fit the size.  For the Jester in the previous post the blocks are 6 inches square and the design is three blocks by 4 blocks or 18 inches by 24 inches. Next I cut all the small square blocks to make the printing plates and transfer the design to each one. Finally I lay them all out and paste them to one large sheet of mounting card to hold them in place while I print the design.  I use a roller to ink up the whole panel and then lay the paper over and hand press the ink onto the paper.  I could also run it through my printing press. Once it's dry I hand paint the central motifs that I want to feature. I have also experimented with printing onto a wood panel but I have to be very careful to place the design into exactly the right place on the panel because being a geometric design it would look awful if it was off even by a bit.  The attached picture is a piece I did on a wood panel.  It's similar to Golden Notes but much wider. Unfortunately the photo is a bit dark.

Beaches Arts and Crafts Show

This weekend I'm participating in the Beaches Arts and Crafts Show held in the very trendy "Beaches" area of Toronto.  It's the first festival of the season, the first time I have done this show and it will also be the first time that I have shown only printmaking so it will be an interesting few days.  It's great to be getting back into "Art Mode" as the past few months have been full of renovations and all the messy work that entails....the wrong kind of painting for instance!  We are really pleased with the results of our labour but glad to be finished. 

This week I have been busy matting up prints, and getting work into frames.  I have gone with the standard plain black frame on most work except for the "Kimono prints" which are in white.  The "Kimono" prints are more feminine so the lighter frame colour works better. It's been fun getting all my printmaking work out and I'm really looking forward to seeing it hanging together in the tent so that I can get a clearer view of the work overall.  Most of the pieces are collagraphs but I'm also showing some block prints on paper and an experimental one on wood panel.  I'm a bit concerned that there is too much variety in the imagery I've chosen to show but I can select and edit as I hang the work.  It's much more problematic showing works under glass at an outdoor show so I hope we get nice sunny warm weather. 

As an update on people using images from artists websites without permission, I came across one of my paintings being used on the Patio Bar blog, in Faro, Portugal, as publicity for a jazz concert.  http://opatiobarfaro.blogspot.com/2009/11/j-z-z-z_19.html   I have decided to take it as a compliment.

My son and daughter in law recently moved to live in our house in the apartment unit below us.  It's working out wonderfully and I will write about it in another post.  It will only be for a year or a bit more so we are making the most of this very special time.  They have their second baby due to arrive at any time and are hoping for another home birth so the next few days will be very exciting.

Test Run for a New Painting

I have been thinking for some time of combining printmaking with painting and working on board. Last week I did a test run on paper first to see how it would work out. The paper size is not as big as the final painting will be and so both sides, and some of the most interesting parts, are cropped off. I have a big board, 24 in x 30 in, ready to print the full size work on. Some time back I did a piece called Golden Geisha using the same sort of method, block printing, but I want to take this further by moving onto wood panel instead of paper. This will enable me to do quite large pieces that are not under glass. Please let me know what you think.

Link to My Art Page on Facebook

Here is a link to my new art page on Facebook. Please take a look. Hopefully now that I have a better idea of what I am doing everything should start working properly.

Yesterday I had fun playing in my studio. I am figuring out a few things in preparation for some paintings I want to do in the New Year. Here is an example of what I was up to. It's very simple printmaking using foam, and not the subject matter I intend to use in the painting but just a quirky fun piece.

Painting and Printmaking:
My New Studio Space

It may be on the small side but it's still great to have my own studio space. My first project will be to try printmaking on board instead of paper. I have primed a nice smooth board and I'm working on what I want to put on it. It's been hard to get into the studio with so much else going on since we moved here. Our non paying tenant in Atlanta finally left and we have re-let the house so now we can move on with our life.

The Kimono Prints

A few years back I began a series of collagraph prints based on the Kimono. It's such a wonderful shape and great to work within. I felt like a dress designer putting these together and could go on and on thinking up new designs. Now that I have my own press I am able to start making them again and yesterday I was in the studio pulling one for a friend when I thought about posting a few here.

The Kimonos are signed with my name and the Japanese characters for my name. The colors are vibrant and the image is impressed into the paper by the press embossing it which unfortunately doesn't show up in photographs. I have added a detail picture so that you can see a close up.

There are a couple of beautiful Kimonos framed up at the

Heaven Blue Rose Gallery

in Roswell north of Atlanta however if you are interested in this one you can contact me or the gallery. I will post more in coming days. You can also check out my web site http://www.susanneclark.com/ and look on the gallery page for collagraph prints.