The Greedy Bird

This is my newest print, based on a doodle I made in my sketchbook a year ago. I really think he belongs in his own story somehow. he is greedy, yet loveable, in my opinion.

someone at a craft show asked me if i read a lot of Edward Gorey. i admit that the look and feel of this piece did remind me of Gorey while i was making it, though I never purposely try to emulate him. i can't help it if i love words and intricate little pictures within borders!

here's another artist named Daria Tessler whose work is awesome! i first found her work and bought some of her beautiful little illustrated booklets (which you can find on her website). her prints are so amazing. i love how she incorporates the borders into her screenprints, and how she layers so many colors and patterns. she inspires me to push my artwork into a more intricate and involved direction. i only hope i have more time to work on some kick-ass work this new year. see more of Daria's work here. and she also has an Etsy shop called Animal Sleep.

"Prehistoric Journey" - 5-color screenprint by Daria Tessler

Art 180 Calendar!

 

 

I made the drawings for the new 2011 Art 180 calendar illustrating quotes by youth in Art 180 programs. Erin Potter of Punch Design did the graphic design and color selection. It is a very handy calendar that folds out to sit on your desktop, adding a bit of brightness and inspiration to your day. We are all very proud of having donated our efforts to support Art 180, an organization that provides art programs to youth facing challenging circumstances. Once this product is listed, you can buy your very own calendar for $12 at their online shop, and if you live in Richmond you can find it at craft events where Art 180 and I will be vending! By the way, I've heard rave reviews about the Art 180 cookbook. Someone told me about a recipe for black bean burgers that is simply amazing. May have to pick that up for myself soon...

One Kind Word - Love

This is a poster and postcard set I illustrated and hand-lettered for One Kind Word Project, run by Hartwood Press in Richmond, VA. Please submit writing, art, or a combination of both! There is a chance your submission will be selected for inclusion in a print anthology of One Kind Word. Please pass this along to friends who may be interested.

New Prints and Black Friday Sale on Sprout Head

These are what I've been working on madly for the last few weeks. More new art to come. They are all linocuts, which is my new (old) favorite printmaking medium. I say that because I hadn't done much since high school, but I love them now. All are for sale in my Etsy shop, Sprout Head.Which reminds me, I'm having a BLACK FRIDAY WEEKEND SALE at my shop from Friday, Nov 26 through Sunday, Nov 28th. Get 10% off your entire purchase when you enter coupon code BLACKFRIDAY10.

 "Horse Constellation"

 

"Gathering"

 

"Gathering (Autumn) 

"I Went Hunting" - inspired by a song of the same name by Alasdair Roberts:

I went hunting in the morning, Polly,
When the geese were in the field.
I went hunting in the morning, Polly,
The geese were in the field.

Then I saw a woman changing
From a woman to a gosling.
Then I saw a woman changing
Before my eyes.

And the larks sang melodious, Polly,
At the dawning of the day.
And they only know the one song, Polly,
But they sing it wondrously.

And the beauty of the singing,
All along the valley ringing,
And the beauty of the singing
Stayed my hand. 

One print in this edition is being donated to the charity auction at Gallery 5 on Friday December 3rd, benefiting Art 180. I'll also be vending at RVyAy! (Records, Vintage, and Art Fest) on that night. Stop by and do some shopping if you're in town!

Stillness

it's been awhile since i posted something on here, but i promise you i have been busy! i've been working on some commissioned illustrations, which i will post here very soon

as for personal work, i was asked to donate a piece for the Tiny Auction, a special event which is part of Bizarre Market Holiday, a craft market that is set up in the gallery space of Chop Suey Books in Carytown for a whole month from November 26th to December 24th (Christmas Eve!) Visit the Bizarre Market Facebook page here. I will be selling prints, paintings, and more at the month-long market, but the Tiny Auction is for 3 days only. 20 artists have been asked to donate art specially made for this silent auction. the pieces measure 5" x 5" or smaller. From Friday, November 26th to Sunday the 28th at 4 pm, customers get a chance to bid on their favorite pieces. profits go towards a great cause - the scholarship fund for the Richmond Young Writers Program, a non-profit that offers writing classes to youth.

here is my piece for the auction, measuring 5" x 5." It's called "Stillness." I made it using papers that i painted with watercolor, cut and collaged together. i was actually quite frustrated working on this piece because i kept feeling like it needed something, but i didn't know quite what to do. i think adding the shadows helped. i admire other artists who can beautifully blend funky textures and colors together into a unified whole. i need to practice more to really master it. i am happy with my piece now, though you can only tell it's collaged if you look closely. i had a Scandinavian look in mind when i made it, especially with the detail of the girl's sweater and the simple shapes of the trees. i may create a black and white linoleum print version of this piece if i have time.

i hope you like the painting! and it you live in Richmond, please come down and bid on it at the Tiny Auction!

More Monotypes

I finally got around to scanning/photographing the rest of my monotype prints from my art show "Wind Bridge." Here are some of my favorites, the rest are on my website.

Milk Paintings

Here are some new paintings I made using Milk Paint. Last week I e-mailed my friend Betsy about using milk paint, since I had been curious about it for awhile. Betsy works at Ecologic, an environmentally-friendly interior design store that also sells handmade goods from artists like me. Betsy makes beautiful handpainted gourds with all kinds of colorful patterns. She gave me some samples of milk paint that I had asked about. It's based on an old formula of casein (milk protein solids), lime, and pigments, and after it has been mixed with water it becomes a biodegradable and non-toxic paint that is environmentally friendly (paint they used to use in the old days). I spent a few days experimenting and making small paintings on wood blocks. This paint was really fun to use. It is a bit like gouache paint, but dries much harder and can't be re-activated with water. It has a chalky quality to it that I like. Also, the wet paint doesn't last long, so I have to work fast because the paint doesn't store well after it is mixed with water. This is good for someone like me, since it forces me to work for a long stretch of time on the paintings so I don't waste the paint. I experimented with sealing the surface with wax polish and with varnish. The wax will darken the color a lot, which is useful in some cases.

It was fun experimenting with new materials. I have lots of ideas for this new paint. I love the fact that it works so well on the wood panels. I picked up a bunch of free wood panels that a cabinet-factory near Ecologic was throwing out, so i have a nice little stash to work on! I have some plans of combining painting with linocut prints. I will post pictures of more things I work on as these paintings develop.

The Rest of Them

Here are the last of the paintings I did for Harrison St. Coffee Shop. I am happy to have finished this series - it's satisfying to see all of them together.

All of the paintings were drawn from life, except for the Asparagus Flower which I drew from a photo. Also, the design on the plate was made up. This was an interesting way to work. I went to the grocery store and farmer's markets, and kept an eye on veg and fruits that looked particularly beautiful or interesting. Then I had to draw them before too many days passed and they got rotten or misshapen. I took photos of the foods so that I could reference the color when I went to paint them, since usually after I drew them I wanted to cook/eat them. It was fun drawing the cupcake. It was a nice treat to eat - delicious!

Veg Head

whoa, this summer has been busy. i've been teaching 5 days a week for ArtVenture, an art summer camp for kids at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond. I taught 4 weeks of screenprinting, and now i'm teaching a Paper Toys class. kids are fun, energetic, and keep you on your toes. they are also overwhelming. i've had to take many naps this past month.

still working on those veg paintings for Harrison St. Coffee Shop. it's been really hard to do almost anything outside of teaching, so i've really had to push myself to get the paintings done. 5 more to go by the end of august (that's less than a week, eep!)

And More Illos in Print

Some of my drawings are included in the fabulous "An Artful Agenda" planners and agenda books. Check out the shop. These are really wonderful planners, full of illustrations on each page from 8 different artists. Stephanie McDonald, the proprietress and designer, is contributing 5% of all proceeds from sales towards art education in public schools. And the interior pages are printed on 100% recycled paper! Pictured above is the cover art by Kelly Bertram, and a couple of interior pages with my illustrations. The new August to August Planners just came out, but there are a whole range of products - a Lesson Planner, Universal Agenda (undated), and blank Diary. Get one for yourself and start organizing your life!

Zine Philosophy for Broken Pencil Magazine!

click on the image to get a larger view

i've been published! i just received my copy of Broken Pencil: The Magazine of Zine Culture and the Independent Arts in my mail yesterday. it has a happy pink cover with a robot on it.

Broken Pencil is a magazine based in Toronto, Canada. I met the editor, Lindsay Gibb, at the Buffalo Small Press Book Fair in march, and i gave her a couple of my zines to review. In June she asked if i would like to write something for the "Zine Philosophy" section of the magazine - where zinesters write about why they make zines, their inspiration, and zine philosophy. i decided to make mine like how i would make a page in a zine - handwritten and illustrated. this was fun, and it is so exciting to have an illustration in print and circulating around Canada and the U.S. Doing this illo also re-inspired me to get back into zine-making. it's been a year since i made a zine! life just catches up with you, you know how it goes.

Okra Process

Here is the original drawing of the okra, done in pen and ink with a rapidograph pen (my favorite kind of pen!) I love how sculptural the okra looked, and the repetition and slight variation of its shapes. It was also such a fresh shade of green.

Veg!

I was commissioned to do some paintings for the walls of my favorite vegetarian cafe in Richmond, Harrison Street Coffee Shop. They have remodeled and are re-opening tomorrow! I only had 4 paintings to give them so far, but by the end of August I will have all 15 done. It is so fun to draw fruits and vegetables! it's rather relaxing. all the paintings were made using a gel transfer technique, where I drew the veg and then made photocopies of the drawings. Using gel medium, I transferred the photocopied image and then painted the back of the gels with acrylic paints. I mounted them onto wooden boards and painted additional decorations directly on the boards, and sealed them off with varnish. I like working in this technique because I can work on the drawing first and then color it in. I can also make multiples of the same drawing, but each is a little different because i paint them all by hand.

From top to bottom: Okra, Plums, Lemon. I got the okra and plums at my local farmer's market because they looked so attractive. i had never liked okra before because the first time i ate it, it was so slimy! but i battered it in flour, salt, nutritional yeast, and "chicken-style" seasoning and fried it up. it was delicious!

Opening Reception

Last week was busy. I finished a drawing commission for someone on Monday and sent it off to California. Started teaching a new bookbinding class on Tuesday, finished making prints for my art show on Wednesday, taught another class on Thursday, bought some shoes from the thrift store and hung the artwork. On Friday I finished up some little details for my show, then prepared some food and brought everything over for the opening reception. I had been so excited to wear a black and gold silk dress that I've had for a couple years but never worn in public. Like a scene from a bad dream, I changed into my dress at Chop Suey and realized that it was see-through. Not wanting to expose people to my underwear, I biked home and grabbed another dress to change into. So I was a little late to my reception. Friends and aquaintances came in and it was a very laid-back, pleasant night spent talking to friendly people. All in all, a great night - whew!

 

I made a vegan chocolate gingerbread cake with orange-chocolate frosting, guacamole and cashew dip. Two students from my bookbinding class (a mother and daughter) brought me a fruit and yogurt platter, forks, napkins, and a card! I was amazed at their generosity. In fact, the whole night reminded me how at home I feel in Richmond now. When I had an art show at Gallery 5 in December, I didn't have many friends to invite to the show. This time felt very different.

 

It's always interesting to hear which are people's favorites. The top three pieces were among my favorites and others pointed them out as well.

Wind Bridge - Art Show!

hey, i'm having an art show! it's this Friday at the gallery space in Chop Suey Books in Carytown. I have been hard at work in the printshop making monotype prints, and i've been having so much fun experimenting and seeing what happens. It's a bit last minute as usual, but sometimes that's just the way it goes. The show runs from June 11th - July 5th. For those of you near Richmond, I'm having an opening reception and I'm planning on making a chocolate cake and bringing some crafts to sell as well. But if you can't make it to the reception then it'll a good excuse to stop by the bookstore one lazy afternoon to browse books and see some art. For those of you who haven't visited Chop Suey Books before, it has a great selection of new and used books, and the cute little gallery space is located on the 2nd floor.

Wind Bridge: New Prints by Aijung Kim
Opening Reception: Friday, June 11th 6 - 8 pm
Chop Suey Books
2913 W. Cary St.
Richmond, VA 23221
804-422-8066

Bookstore Hours: Mon - Thurs 10-6, Fri and Sat 10-8, Sun 12-6

ALSO: I still have space in my summer art classes for more students. As I mentioned in my last e-mail, I opened up another section of bookbinding which runs from June 24th - July 29th. You may view more detailed class descriptions and register online here or call the Visual Arts Center at (804) 353-0094. Remember, you must register one week before the class starts, and classes will run with at least 50% enrollment. I suggest you sign up with a friend!

Second Friday Sampler

On May 14th, I led a workshop in bookbinding and gel transfer (a process to transfer photocopied images) at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond. The event is free as part of their monthly Second Friday Sampler. My friend Ann Merle, who I met at my Art of Sewing class that week, took all these pictures. She also helped me cut down the papers for the books and was very helpful all night. Thanks Ann Merle!

 We made a pamphlet-stitched book and decorated the covers with gel transfers. I had photocopied images to use and prepared them by painting on 3 layers of gel medium and 1 layer of varnish. The process is simple: you wet the back of the paper and rub it off, leaving a thin "skin" of gel with the image embedded into it. Then paint the back with gel medium and press it down onto your surface.

This young lady is holding up her finished book. The image is sort of small, but the image of the dog was photocopied from a book of old woodcuts.