New swanky things from the studio

Lots of things are happening in the studio this week...here is a glimpse:

"Luna" polymer clay, acrylic paint, protective
sealant, fire-polished Czech glass, and amethyst
beads.



"Traveling with the Blood Tide" is getting a
tentative frame fit, to see how it might be best
to exhibit it....more on this as plans take shape!




"The Dream" is also getting a tentative frame fit for the same
upcoming project....more on this soon!



I'm taking part in the Brooklyn Art Museum's Sketchbook Project. I ordered my sketchbook on Friday night, so it should be here by next week. I'll be completing the "Right/Write When You Get There" themed sketchbook, which, along with 2,499 other artists' sketchbooks, will tour Kansas City, Louisville, Columbus, and Pittsburgh this October. Also, I opted have mine digitized, page by page, so it will be available to view online, and not just in the mobile library. I'm really excited about this!

And...one more art necklace, which I beaded on Monday morning!

"Geisha Girl II" polymer clay, acrylic paint,
protective sealant, glass beads.

"Geisha Girl II" (detail)

After some time in the studio.....



"Flight Patterns" aquatint, oil pastel, black ink, cardstock, and
cotton embroidery thread



Two more works (in-progress!) from the series...more on these
to come!



The underdrawing, originally from 1999 (and quite a bit larger--I've
cut it down into four pieces like this one), is also in progress...
The stars and circular sewing machine thread pattern are new.



I've put together a binder full of my present series for an appointment I
have this week. I used Michael's comic book protectors to mount the smaller
works. 

A week of snow and....

It's been snowing on and off here, and sometimes it looks as if our house is in the middle of a snow globe. It's wonderfully dramatic to have these big flakes swirling around outside. I've also been, very happily, making a lot of vintage sales and 'tidying' my shop and my stock, taking pictures, and also fighting a bout of feeling under the weather. I started on "The Dream" (below) on Saturday night, but because I felt so terrible on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, I didn't finish it until early this morning. This is the last segment of the giant aquatint I'd done at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts back in 1999. I have another etching, about the same size, downstairs in a folder. I'll bring that up and cut it into pieces and work into it next....as well as continue with some art jewelry and forge ahead with the Radium Girls graphic novel. 

Speaking of graphic novels, Michael and I spent some time at Barnes and Noble in Robinson on Sunday night, after he was done with his usual 3rd Sunday systems engineering assignments. We filled our bellies with Red Robin goodness, and then went over to hang out in the comic book section. I picked up Craig Thompson's Blankets (for the 3,000th time) and his Habibi (for the first time). His work is dynamic, and I learn quite a bit just by looking at his line work and use of space. 

For now, I present the new mixed media work: "The Dream"....

"The Dream" (2013) collage on aquatint, with ballpoint
pen, white watercolor, oil pastel, and purple embroidery thread
Now in my shop: www.savannahschrollguz.etsy.com 

"The Dream"

"The Dream" (back side)

'The Girl Knows These Corridors' and 'So Much Like Love'.....

Last week, I began cutting up a fairly large etching-aquatint I completed back in 1999, when I was in graduate school and, for the sake of my sanity, took a printmaking class at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. On their own, the etching-aquatints I completed were pretty unimpressive--more like an abstract jumble that never coalesced into real works I felt comfortable with.
My Dad has been giving me things that were stashed in the studio in the Pittsburgh apartment, and thanks to his diligent cleaning and discoveries, I have many boxes of goodies I can work with now. I brought the folder of etchings back to my studio here, cut them into smaller pieces, and have been working into them with a variety of materials, like oil pastels, embroidery thread, and watercolor (I'm excitedly awaiting the gouache set I ordered on Etsy...it should arrive from Israel soon). I also attached the drawing of the doe I made for our 2012 Christmas card to one of the works. Here are more productions from this week....

"The Girl Knows These Corridors" (2013) - cropped etching collaged with a black
ballpoint ink drawing, embroidered with yellow cotton thread, and
augmented with white watercolor and oil pastel. Now in my shop!

At the side and bottom of "The Girl Knows These Corridors" is a text excerpt from my autobiographical flash fiction work, "Italy, 1990". You can read the entire work here: http://fictionaut.com/stories/savannah-schroll-guz/italy-1990

The hand-written text that appears at the bottom and side is:
"The girl, now a woman, knows those corridors. She didn't then, but she's walked them since she knew each of those men, although she's several—no, many—years behind them. She can't even see their backs from where she is. Yet, she knows..." (the rest of the story paragraph is: "the wallpaper of the hallways, its texture against her fingertips.")

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On Thursday night, I completed this work (while watching a pretty riveting episode of DCI Banks involving art forgeries and duped museums--fun!). It is a segment of the same etching as the work above and those featured in previous posts.

"So Much Like Love" (2013)  - cropped etching, embroidered with magenta cotton thread, and augmented with white watercolor and oil pastel.

At the side of the work are words from my written work, "Charlotte's Nexus", a story about a little Polish girl who, as a ghost, haunts the doctor who has caused her death. You can read an excerpt from the longer story here: http://fictionaut.com/stories/savannah-schroll-guz/charlottes-nexus

The hand-written text that appears at the side reads:
"It was, some of her older facets told her, so much like love. Rushing away from the source, nearly drowning, coming back again…and again…and again….until the drowning could be mastered, managed, sustained."