FINISHING UP - Interview with Leslie Vreeland of The Watch

On Forest Road 642

INTERVIEW WITH LESLIE VREELAND OF THE WATCH NEWSPAPER

link to published article on Wednesday, November 20, 2013 

http://tinyurl.com/mo7lau2

1) What drew you to Lone cone and why 12 views?

I decided that I wanted to study Japanese woodblock printmaking. There was a class at the Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass titled Japanese Woodblock Printmaking and the Western Landscape! I applied for an artist's small grant from Telluride Arts to cover the cost of the workshop and I had to propose something specific that would relate to San Miguel County in some way. I had been looking at Hokusai's 36 Views of Mount Fuji for many years and decided to use that as a basis for my project, Twelve Views of Lone Cone. Lone Cone is geographically similar to Mount Fuji, a volcanic mountain that stands alone, and is also an important presence in the daily lives of residents of the Norwood area. I chose twelve views to represent each month of the year, but due to unpredictable circumstances it didn't turn out that way.

2) Why two media: woodblocks and paintings?

Like I mentioned above, I wanted to learn a new medium and I had always liked woodblock prints. As an artist who works in watercolor there is a similarity of approach in the sense that the painting has to be somewhat planned out ahead of time, it is not a spontaneous process. I do on-site paintings as a way to familiarize myself with the landscape, the forms, the angles of the land, etc. They are not done as preparatory studies and stand on their own merit. These are the paintings that are in the Oh-Be-Joyful Gallery.

3) I understand you've been working on these since a stint at Anderson Ranch, and continued  

    this work in Spain. Do you consider yourself through with these works now, or can we expect
    more views of Lone Cone? Do you imagine returning to depict this iconic mountain in the
    future? (Did you know Lone Cone was the site of some of the last grizzlies in Colorado before
    they disappeared from our state? very cool spot)

This particular project is finished. I enjoyed painting a new landscape and expect that I will go back to paint again. I think that Lone Cone offers a great, stunning, visual presence in the sense that it stands alone and becomes that iconic mountain. There are other peaks that stand out, like Sneffels or Wilson, but to see the entire mountain rising from the horizontal on the ground is something else.

I did not know that about the grizzlies!

4) Did you take photos of Lone Cone, or are these pieces from drawings? What did you use as    

    inspiration? They strike me as very Japanese. Do you see them that way?

I did take photos, and also brought photos with me to Spain taken by other people. The first few prints were done from drawings, then some photos and then ideas from other artists' works. The longer I was away from Colorado the more free I became to make up compositions and rely more on memory which is something I don't normally do as a perceptual or observational artist. But being away I couldn't just get in the car and take another look. I always refer to Hokusai's 36 Views of Mount Fuji, so I suppose that is why they strike one as very Japanese.

BLACK COW/WHITE COW, after Milton Avery

Cattle grazing at sunset in Norwood, Colorado

Top - my print Black Cow/White Cow, idea from photo,

inspiration from Milton Avery's drawing Black Goat, White Goat, 1958

For seven months during the time I worked on the twelve prints I lived in Spain. I am a perceptual artist who draws on the immediate visual environment for my paintings or in this case, prints. Since

I couldn't just drive over to Norwood to see/look at Lone Cone so I started working from my drawings (Lone Cone), then from photos I took before I left (View from Summet), and then I became free from a visual reference and could work from memory, or in this case a remembered favorite drawing of mine, Black Goat, White Goat by Milton Avery. I enjoyed the opportunity to be more playful with the idea or image I chose to make a print of.

TWELVE VIEWS OF LONE CONE - A portfolio of twelve woodblock prints

 White Aspen/Lone Cone
Printed on a press on Hahnemuhle paper with sepia ink.

 The Old Apple
Hand printed on unbleached mulberry paper with gouache.

 View From Summet
Printed on a press on Hahnemuhle paper with sepia ink.

 View Of Lone Cone
Hand printed on Hahnemuhle paper with gouache

 Mountain (after Alex Katz)
Hand printed on Hahnemuhle paper with ink.

 On Forest Road #642
Hand printed on mulberry paper with ink.

 Black Cow, White Cow (after Milton Avery)
Hand printed on Hahnemuhle paper with sepia ink

 Deer In Winter
Hand printed on mulberry paper with gouache and ink.

 Lone Cone Line - Hand Colored
Printed on a press on Fabriano paper and hand colored with watercolor.

 Lone Cone
Printed on a press on Hahnemuhle paper with sepia ink.

 Moonlight in Glade Park
Printed on a press on Hahnemuhle paper with sepia ink.

Lone Cone Line - Chine Colle
Printed on a press on Hahnemuhle paper with sepia ink and tissue paper.

TWELVE VIEWS OF LONE CONE

A series of 12 woodblock prints with and edition of twelve of each image.

All prints except On County Road #642 measure 6.75" x 10".

On County Road #642 measures 8.25" x 13.5"

Please see each caption for information on individual prints.

For further info -  meredith.nemirov@gmail.com

 

MOUNTAIN, last print of Twelve Views of Lone Cone

MOUNTAIN (after Alex Katz)

Last printing session in the studio

I am looking forward to hanging and showing all twelve prints this week.

Opening at Stronghouse Studios, Telluride, CO is this Thursday, October 3rd, 5-8pm.

Opening the The Livery in Norwood, CO is Sunday, October 6th, 4-6:30.

I will also be showing the on-site paintings I did in conjunction with the woodblock series at

the Oh-Be-Joyful Gallery, Telluride, CO opening on Thursday, October 3rd, 5-8pm.

 

IN THE STUDIO - ON CTY RD 642

Finished prints drying in the studio.

Drawing for On Cty Rd 642, copy of color print and key woodblock

Can't quite believe that this project is nearing it's end with a show opening on October 3rd at The Stronghouse Studio Gallery in Telluride and also October 6th at The Livery in Norwood!

Over the next week and a half I will be printing the last few prints and framing the entire series of 
Twelve Views of Lone Cone! 
I will be posting everyday until the opening of the exhibition so check in to see the latest prints
and I look forward to seeing you at the show!

PROOFING APPLE

 Studio wall with two color proof and some tree drawings.

 Three blocks, blue sky, gray tree, black key block

 Proof of black key block

Painting in Lone Cone

LONE CONE LINE - Hand-colored

Lone Cone Line - Hand Colored

Here is another variation on the Lone Cone Line print.

This time with hand coloring added to the black ink.

It's been a busy summer and I am just now getting back to my woodblock project.

Next print - THE NORWOOD APPLE

 

Last Print in Spain

BLACK COW/WHITE/COW

This image is after a drawing by Milton Avery titled Black Goat/White Goat, 1958.
It is in the collection of the Arkansas Arts Center. The Center has one of the largest collections of works on paper in the country. You can see this drawing by searching their website at www.arkarts.com

This is the last woodblock print I did in Spain. 

I was working on a press with Liliana Lima de Lázaro and Ayax Paris

at their Academia Asociación Delarrarte in Logroño.

http://adelarrarte.blogspot.com

I will miss their printmaking expertise, our lively conversations in Spanish

and above all our friendship as I continue the Twelve Views of Lone Cone in my studio in Colorado.

Chine-Collé Continued

Here are some photos showing the process of chine-collé. The bright colors of the tissue paper keep bringing to mind Andy Warhol's prints of Vesuvius that I mentioned in an earlier post.

Lili and Ayax preparing to place the green to print the chine-collé.

Putting the green in place.

On the press bed ready to print.

The finished print.
Lone Cone Line, Blue, Yellow, Green

 Here are some of the color variations hanging in my studio.

Playing with colors!

FROM THE PRINT SHOP

Fooling around with Chine-Collé

Chine-collé is a special technique in printmaking in which the image is transferred to a surface (in this case the colored tissue paper) that is bonded to the heavier support in the printing process. Here the purpose is to provide a background color, the sky, behind the image that is different from the surrounding backing sheet.

It was fun choosing the different colors and seeing how they changed the feeling of the print.

SIX COLOR REDUCTION WOODBLOCK PRINT - FINISHED

FROM THE STUDIO - One more color to go!

BLUE OF THE SKY

GREEN ARE THE PINES

ROCKY MOUNTAIN GRAY

PINK COVERED HILL

GRAY GREEN BUSHES

RED-ISH BRANCHES OF THE OAKBRUSH

next block/next blog post

NO BLACK ASPENS!

Aspens take on the appearance of different colors, not just white, and under certain lighting conditions can appear quite dark, but no black aspens! After proofing this print a few weeks ago I decided to carve the trunk out to make it white. 

Here is the latest print, a departure for sure, from a more representational scene. 

Inspired by a woodblock print titled, Yarrow, by Alex Katz.

I decided to try a simple line "drawing" of Lone Cone with a forest foreground.

On the left, white ink on toned paper, right, dark gray ink on white paper.

Three proofs in the studio.

White line on toned paper.

Proofing with Liliana Lima de Lázaro and Ayax Paris at Delarrarte

Last Thursday, March 7th, was the my first day at Delarrarte to work on the press. We worked on proofing a couple of the images I had been hand-printing in the studio, Moonlight at Glade Park and Aspen/Lone Cone.  Here are some photos from that two hour session.

Lili inking the block

On the press

Going through the press

Various stages of proofs

Ayax and Lili with Aspen/Lone Cone using chine de colle for the blue color

An Update on Twelve Views of Lone Cone

Proofing different stages of a print.
Actually experimenting with the process, inking different parts of the block,
combining two different blocks, trying out colors.

Some studies in watercolor and gouache.

Other studies in colored pencil and ink.  

Proofs of four different blocks.

Some other proofs.

Bringing this project with me to Spain has presented various challenges mostly technical having to do with materials and supplies. First, I can't just order supplies from McClain's in Oregon and have them shipped to Europe (the best source for materials and tools for making Moku Hanga (Japanese woodblock prints).  Second, how to keep those tools sharp? I am not that experienced and did not bring the right things to sharpen tools. Have been looking and looking and trying many different ways, but no success yet. Doing the best with what I have. And paper, no Japanese printmaking paper available here.
This week I will be working in a print shop on a press.
Look for a new more comprehensive post about that experience later next week!

Two small prints I brought with me that I am using as a basis for a larger block print.