Dec 2020 from Lauren - More printmaking

 

Another very clever card and envelope from Lauren.

The card reflects the mid-century vibe of the Rudolph themed envelope.

Sheer perfection - the way the bar code fits under the name and address - not to mention the placement of the stamps...and no cancel. Yay.

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Apologies to anyone who is tired of the printmaking topic. I thought of another form of printmaking that simply MUST be included. Fingerprints. Remember our dear friend Ed Emberley and the delightful fingerprint pictures? I'll post a couple examples in a future post, if I find them. 

And even better - here is a link to a NYT article about a Native American artist, Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds. 

LINK to the full article

Here are the excerpts that resonated with me. Somewhere on my blog I ran an intaglio print I made of an alphabet. I ran the plate through the press and then before inking it again, ran it a second time, with the image flipped, to make a ghost print. The double image was much better.

<ghost prints>. OR <or in the case of our envelopes, whatever comes out of the pen, we mail>

I'll highlight the parts that are things I have been saying for years - and enjoy finding other people who say the same things.

THE REST OF THIS POST IS  AN EXCERPT from NYT article:

The artist Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds, of the Cheyenne and Arapaho nation, embraces mistakes. His Native perspective taught him to be accepting of nature. His version of printmaking, as evidenced in his latest exhibit, “Old Indian Tricks,” rejects standardization and believes in the alchemy of art.

<ghost prints> became this great metaphor for where Natives are today in this country. They’re very faint, they’re very diminished. 

The tribes accept the weather, accept things that happen, the water, the heat. They’re going to accept it and work with it. We accept everything that comes with the prints and don’t ever remake it again. Whatever comes out of that press, goes up.  <or in the case of our envelopes, whatever comes out of the pen, we mail>

I watch the news and I research, and there’s so many horrible things going on in this planet. If I wasn’t making something, I’d be ashamed of myself. 

I don't say that I am ashamed of myself if I am not making things. He is talking about his obligation to lift up his community. My perspective is more along the lines of remembering to turn to art (an art) as a remedy for the challenges we face.

I am drawn to the simplicity of the words as well as the straight forward lettering.