Thinking Outside the Frame – print show at NUMU

 

I was excited to take in the new print show which opened to members last Thursday night at the New Museum Los Gatos! Presented by The California Society of Printmakers, Thinking Outside the Box was juried by Cathy Kimball,  Executive Director and Chief Curator of The San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, bringing together fascinating prints, which employed a wide variety of processes, mediums, materials and methods of presentation, engaging the viewer in a very different experience than with traditional printmaking. Makes me want to print on stuff!!! The show runs until September 30. Check the NUMU website for hours and all the printmaking demos they have lined up this summer! Also, click on artist’s names below for links to their wonderful websites if you’d like to see more of their work.

Outside the Frame – NUMU

NUMU’s curator Marianne McGrath introducing Susan Howe, who is in charge of Special Projects at The California Society of Printmakers which is presenting Thinking Outside the Frame and offering an excellent exhibition catalogue which is available at the museum. She will be conducting a Mokuhanga Woodcut demo June 30 at the museum.

Cathy Kimball, Executive Director and Chief Curator of The San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art brought her considerable experience and eye to jury the show. She is speaking here about her selection process.

Kent Manske – Genetic Garden 5-17-18 – 2018 – Installation of screen based monoprints on aluminum.

Ellie Honl – Coping Strategies – 2013 – HD stop animation video made from prints.

Michelle Murillo with DNA MAP – For a Shifting Identity – 2015 – Fused glass screen print.

Detail – the artist is using bits from her own family history!

Karen Gallagher Iverson – Variable Horizons 1,2 – 2016 – Pochoir Print – drawn colored pastel on wax.

Close-up of Variable Horizons 1. The artist has echoed the contours of the landscape to the rhythm of a heart!

Beth Fein – Betrayed – 2011 – Monoprints formed into 3D shapes, paper, ink, shredded US currency

Close-up.

Ashley Rodriguez Reed and little one – The Forest of My Wild Heart – 2017 – Silk-screened, digitally printed, found, sewn and embroidered fabric.

Detail, a toucan amongst the intricate patterns of a piece inspired by tangles of exposed tree roots at Mount Tamalpais and the environments they create.

Ginger Crawford Tolonen – Hopscotch Allegories – 2003 – Accordian artist book, intaglio and drypoint etchings, handmade box.

Up-close.

Ewa Gavrielov – 5 Shades of Pink – 2017- Screen print.

Ewa Gavrielov – Alternating – 2016 – Mixed media, shredded and folded paper.

Carrie Ann Plank – Dermaombré Brown and Blue Variations, Small Versions – 2017 – Laser assisted woodcut with indigo dye on Okawara.

Carrie Ann Plank – Dermaombré – 2016 – Woodcut with indigo dye.

Robynn Smith  – Liminal Terrain – 2015 – Linoleum relief print over digital output, 5 panels. This artist will be offering a Silk-Cut Linoleum Relief Printing Workshop July 14 & 15 at the museum.

Detail.

Donna Westerman – Generation – 2015- Woodcut installation.

Close up.



Katherine Venturelli
– Lunar Calculations – 2013 – Artist book, intaglio, Rives BFK paper, book cloth binding.

Luz Marina Ruiz, Tierra de los Sueños – 2017 – Tunnel artist, linoleum cut, hand-colored with watercolor.

Me with Betty Friedman‘s Untitled (triptych) 196, 2010 – Intaglio, chine collé, printed on handmade paper.

NUMU’s Executive Director Lisa Coscino in conversation with Genetic Garden’s artist Kent Manske.

Britex Baby!

Britex - San Francisco - photo Marie Cameorn 2015

I used to sew a LOT –  my prom dress, my wedding dress,  clothes for my children,  costumes, quilts, upholstered furniture and art.  Now heaps of of fabric sit waiting in boxes I may never get to because I’ve been all about the painting for some time now. Still, there is a love of textile that lingers, and I’d often wondered where Bay Area seamsters go to get their fix? All was revealed when my friend, Elizabeth Greer – maker / arts educator, took me to Britex in San Francisco!

Britex - Botom Floor - photo Marie Cameron 2015

Beyond the fabulous selection, what I adore about this place it the environment. Founded originally in New York, in 1939  by Martin Spector, a fabric merchant from Poland, he and is wife Lucy relocated to San Francisco  in 1952 and set up Britex in a great period building in Union Square. This place FEELS like a real tailor shop, There is a beautiful orderliness to the bolts stacked neatly sky high and a library ladder running along the perimeter. The four floors are each devoted to their own niche. Floor 1- dress and suit  fabrics. Floor 2 – upholstery and drapery. Floor 3 – Notions (buttons, ribbons and embellishments). Floor 4 – Remnants and plush. (I’m sure there’s much more but that’s my breakdown). There’s a lovely wooden staircase set against the brick wall to access each of the floors (or you can take the elevator) and you can be served in a variety of languages by experiences and friendly staffers.

This institution really radiates tradition and quality but that doesn’t mean the fabric itself is all stuffy serge and challis! I was charmed by these novelty prints in heavy, upholstery weight cotton…

Britex - Animal Frock Yardage - photo Marie Cameron 2015

Fawns (etc) in Frocks

Britex - By the Yard- photo Marie Cameron 2015

By the yard.

Britex - California Road Trip Yardage - photo Marie Cameron 2015

California Road Trip!

Britex - Bolts- photo Marie Cameron 2015

Bolts and babes……

Britex - Buttons - photo Marie Cameron 2015

Floor to ceiling buttons….

Britex - Ribbons - photo Marie Cameron 2015

Walls of ribbons….

Britex - Bag - photo Elizabeth Greer 2015

Old habits die hard……………………………………can I make a skirt from upholstery fabric?

I can’t wait to introduce my daughter to this shop as she becomes more and more skilled with her own dress making!

 

What Not to Wear

What not to wear.


What not to wear? Apparently anything in my wardrobe!

I adore prints!

I met with Sally Rayn (host) and Nance Wheeler (producer) of Talk Art last night, prepping for my TV interview that we’ll be taping next week. I found out that my entire wardrobe is made up of TV unfriendly clothing.  Prints (bye bye florals and stripes), reds, whites & billowy bohemian tents are all a no no as they do funny things on screen. I have lots of black but the background is black, I would look like a floating face. Actually, I do have one outfit that is body conscious, in deep, rich SOLID hues that will have to do, stay tuned to see how it works out!