Well, (gulp) here goes...
I am officially stepping into the 21st century and I've decided to create my own blog to keep everyone up to date on news, events, happenings of interest, and ponderings related to my studio art work.
A bit of obligatory background info: I am an artist based in Seattle, Washington who uses watercolor, graphite pencil and collaged prints to create works on paper with a hushed, meditative mood. I depict Geisha, floating cloud forms and floral imagery in assembled, patchwork-like compositions that are intended to spark associations for the viewer while producing a quieting or calming effect.
I have a fairly unique background. I was born in Hawaii and spent time on both the East and West Coasts as well as Misawa, Japan before my 9th birthday. My teen years were spent blowing glass and working in the kitchen at The Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Washington, which is the famous stomping ground for Seattle's International Glass Guru, Dale Chihuly.
I intended to follow in the footsteps of my very talented, glass artist mother, Judith LaScola, until discovering the printshop at Pilchuck. I began learning about monoprinting by assisting Italo Scanga, a family friend and a prolific painter, sculptor and printmaker. I was hooked on the printshop and ended up attending the University of Washington's printmaking program.
Right after graduating magna cum laude from the University of Washington's Printmaking Program in 2001 I spent time at Pilchuck as the printshop coordinator, then returned to Seattle where I've been exhibiting at a variety of local venues. I currently operate my studio in The Tashiro Kaplan Arts Building located at 3rd Ave South and South Washington Street in Seattle's Pioneer Square Neighborhood. The area is known for it's galleries, artist lofts, bars and nightclubs. If you'd like to learn more about the Tashiro Kaplan Building there is much information about the project and its inhabitants at
www.tashirokaplan.com.
Down at the studio we've shaken things up a bit. We've installed new track lighting, which looks great and shows off the artwork much better, one of our studio mates has moved out and we already have a new gal who is excited to fill the vacancy. Meg Pettibone will be joining Roger Willsie and I. Meg has done quite a bit of stone sculpting in the past, but has more recently commissioned me to help her print some beautiful drypoint plates. They are quite nice and we're excited to have her sharing our space.
Since Maura Allen has left I decided to move my space closer to the door. It's a slightly longer space, which seems to accomodate my Takach table top etching press more comfortably and allows me more wall space for exhibiting some of my larger works on paper. I've included a few images of the new setup, which I'm very excited about.
I've been working down at Pratt Fine Arts Center's printmaking studio this week. I've begun two new copper plates on which I plan to create an image using drypoint and aquatint inspired by my large nine panel piece. The photo is of the polished plates with beveled edges prior to any drypoint work. I've already scratched my imagery into the plates with a drypoint needle and have almost finished preparing the plates for the acid bath. It's been a little while since I've done any etching, and everything seems to take twice as long as I think it will. Anyway the progress so far is encouraging and I hope to pull a proof from the plates within the next week or so.
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