[fruit series] chine colle woodcut diptych on arches printmaking paper, each woodcut image 6.5 x 9 cm, 1997
[fruits series] drypoint & chine colle on arches printmaking paper (printed from hard cardboard not copper plate), plate image 7 x 8 cm, 1997
This one above is actually a ghost image pulled immediately from the plate after it had already been inked up and printed on a different sheet of paper. So a paler image was produced from the leftover ink on that plate in the successive printing here. (It is the same plate as the one shown in the previous post Grapes.)
During college, in between meals, i was crazy for fruits, eating maybe 4-6 fruits a day at least, more if i am pulling an all-nighter. So that was how these prints got started, and before i knew it, they became connected with pieces of my thoughts, things from the senses, small details of just being.
...i think that is what a lot of my work is about...
Today i drifted off my usual redwing trail and hiked up a really steep incline. Felt really good to be so high up and be so fully aware of all these trees around me. Didn't realized how steep and high the incline was until i got to the top. Saw some broken bottles and cans scattered about that do not belong here. Pissed me off. Will have to remember to bring a garbage bag with me when i go on the trails now.
Also saw two deer with long tails that looked like nice white fur trimming. Did not know deer could have long tails. At first, i thought they were some woodsmen in their tan work jackets hunched over creepily.
Walked around some more and then suddenly came a rally of these turkey-looking birds bustling by like they got an important meeting to attend. Kept running away from me when i tried to take a closer look to see if they were turkeys or not.
But what startled me the most was this little chipmunk running right across my path out of nowhere. Will have to make John come with me to check out more of this wildlife area of the nature preserve next time.
Mein, these are simoly lovely and enchanting! Will you post them at the Hand Pulled Prints Blog?
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about the bottles and cans that don't belong. We have a LOT of that here everywhere in NM. So unfortunate that people are not mindful of their actions.
Just being... that is what I try to strive for each day. Easier said than done!
Hmm...I could relate to many things you've written there:
ReplyDeletethe feeling a bit scattered
the memories of uni days all-nighters (ugh..never again)
the annoyance at people's insensitivities (the garbage).
And of course the lovely prints (even though I already commented on flickr) but there's always room for more! :)
..enjoying nature...I'm always so happy, when I become aware of an animal, I never saw before (like a white heron and a nile-goose on the last weekend)...it's sooooo good to be outside.
ReplyDeleteAnd I feel so much more connected, when I take my time trying to transfer nature into art...like your grapes-print. It's gorgeous, and I even like the second, delicate print more!!!
And..hehe..about bottles and similiar stuff: on this last weekend we stumbled over some white buttocks at a lake ;) and this morning a dog left its pooh between my flowers, I could kick the owner in his..... *evil grin*
hi guys, thank you for connecting with me... :).
ReplyDeletePaula, i wasn't sure how to go about adding the images to the Hand Pulled Prints group. but i think you just add a page and put in the images there, right? will post them up as soon as i get a chance. thanks for asking me to. anyone interested, please join us at:
http://groups.google.com/group/hand-pulled-prints
thanks,Carson, for your lovely comments here and on flickr. you know, i wouldn't have suspected you of any scatteredness at all. there is a strong sense of clarity i find in much of your work (i think...) ;).
Uschi, your second part of the comment made me laugh. sorry for your pooped on flowers. but how lucky of you to come across such glorious view at the lake. ;). i also came across some chubby bare buttocks when i was out walking by myself on a nature trail years ago. scared the heck out of me.
Omg, the nature trail sounds so cool/awesome = I want to go with you! I'll take lotsa pix!
ReplyDeleteI like the ghostly grape print!
Dear Mien Wong,
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you like my music!
Can you please send me your e-mail address? (I am Hans, Olgas man in Sweden)
our e-mail address is: info [at] himla [dot] nu
Wow, these prints are lovely - I really like the subtlety of them.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you trail is a beautiful place to hike. Deer and chipmunks? Oh my, how wonderful! Makes me wanna get out and reconnect with nature.
So you also love fruit! You woudn´t believe how many bananas I eat! And Hans takes care of the apples.
ReplyDeleteI also saw deers today. Probobly some other kind than yours though, as we live so far a part...
I was so impressed Mien, that you´ve done so MUCH and souch GREAT art after reading somewhere on your blog that you´re just thirty!! I guess you´ve ALWAYS created and made lovely things? Right?
I imagine fall is brighter here than there and warmer too, but I think it's the cool air that I miss during the summer. It feels fresher than the muggy humid or oppressive hot air of summer. It's a lift of spirits and an atmosphere of quiet reflection. Also I adore grey rainy days anytime of year.
ReplyDeleteYour walk makes me miss living in woods, we had a gaggle of wild turkeys grow up from tiny chicks to big stupids, chased a few with the car (slowly) more than once before it realized to flap AWAY from the road, Tommy kept threatening to run one down by foot for dinner, deer, foxes, a pair of red-tailed hawks, a huge snapping turtle in the swamp (gators too!) also a Houdini goat. We had pretty little garden snakes and a fat mocassin that scared the beegezus out of me one day...I yelled at it from the safety of my car for good while until it decided I was boring and slid away. We have some good trails right in town here, but it's hard to relax because I'm concerned about intruding on homeless campsites. It seems they are everywhere, I'm not used to other people in the woods. Trash makes me angry too.
Perhaps the urge to rip up your sketches is a rebellion against feeling as if everything you make must be perfect, my wall has the reminder "the worst things I make are better than the best things I haven't made" (even if you don't keep them!)
Mien, I recommend you get a roulette tool. If you combine drypoint with roulette, I think you will really have something. If you need advice on where to get one or how to use it, send me an email. You are ready. Jerry
ReplyDelete