rainboeliza

Daily Lino: India-6

2012-02-09T14:43:00.000-05:00

Inspired By:

[ from top to bottom, left to right ]

1. TAKE REST : Aditi was telling me a story about her mother and during the story she told her mother to "Just stay home and take rest." Take Rest! This triggered me to remember the vipassina seminar. At the end of each session of meditation the teacher would say, "Take rest. Take rest for five minutes. Take rest." In reality, it was more like fifteen or twenty minutes, but I wasn't complaining. Anyway, I like how they say this - and the way they say, "Let's go take some sun." Take - as if we're stealing some sun - such a chuckle I get out of this.

2. ONLY SEEN AS A MONEY SYMBOL : I cannot always tell the whole story since it's not always appropriate to share, but I will say, I consistently felt like a money symbol in India. Often times, I felt like only a money symbol. Ironic really.

3. PLANT : This plant, and many others, sat on the porch at Chhaap. I love being surrounded by plants!

4. BROKEN TOOTH : Ah, bummer of bummers, I broke my tooth on a super tasty, but rather seedy guava. Tragedy. This however, gave me the experience of visiting an Indian dentist, and let me tell you, an experience for sure - incense burning, lucky bamboo, soothing indian music, and a "shoes off at the door policy." Heck, by the end of it all, the dentist's wife and I were on a first name basis exchanging our daily happenings.

5. PRINT PARTY : I think that says it all. I managed to get my friends Vikram and Aditi to join me for a full day of carving and printing. We not only were quite productive, but also had an excellent time in each others company.

6. ROADSIDE FOOD : Yum! Although most indian mother's, or at least middle and upper class ones, would advise you against eating at roadside vendors, I ate it quite a lot. Lucky for me, I wasn't sick once. This particular image is from a night time dosa while waiting to set up an exhibition just outside M.S. University.

7. SHOES OFF AT THE DOOR : Pretty much a policy nearly everywhere you go. I like it, but really, the dust is everywhere, thus shoes or not. . . things are dirty. I guess that is why we had a cleaning lady come sweep and mop the floor everyday at Chhap.

India: Open House II

2012-02-08T10:34:00.002-05:00

This set of work was incredibly hard to photograph thanks to inadequite lighting, my lousy camera, as per the usual, but mostly it's due to the nature of the prints. Prints I was totally stoked about while creating them.

Initially, though, I was frustrated because I had arrived at the residency with a project in mind, but found, and it's usual for most gigs like this, that the supplies I was hoping to find/use, were not abundantly available. Arriving at a residency or new studio, it's always good to come with an open mind because things are never 'just like home'. It's part of the charm really and I knew darn well that arriving with expectations was a bit dangerous. . . So I brushed off the ideas of grandeur and got to work on what was at hand.

In Korea I had been tossing around the idea of taking previous Daily Linos and pushing them into full finished pieces instead of the sketches that I see them as. Restricted by time and my mini press, I didn't do much about it in Korea. Chhaap, however, offered not one but two large presses. So I 'blew up' (carved larger) some of the imagery from DLP:K, while creating new ones from the DLP:I - refining them all the while.

Process wise, the Fabriano paper is dampened and then embossed with the "Two Halves, No Whole" piece freshly carved in India. (Might I add, far more detailed then those in the series previously carved!) Then the figural image is inked up with a water based ink, which is mostly transparent base with just a tinge of black. Then I wiped the cheeks clean of ink before printing. The cheeks were specifically left on the carving to leave an impression on the paper. After printing, I hand colored the cheeks.

Why such a light color you may ask? In person, the shadows from the embossment are nearly the same color as the figure, and I enjoyed how the two played off of each other. Subtle, yet, do I dare say, beautiful? Certainly, the Korean cuteification is evident. . . In any case, it creates a situation that draws the viewer in/closer.

Below I leave you with the images and their original quick descriptions from the DLP, plus a little extra here and there. . .

[ ugh! these picture so don't do them justice! ]

CHUBBY TUMMY : I actually never got around to writing a description for this, basically it was me observing my chubby tummy, muffin top, or mushroom top as the boys like to say. All the snacks students brought me and all the amazing food I just couldn't pass up. . . This subject is never ending. . . Ha ha, we even had a great time joking about it while having the "print party" at Chhaap.

MERMAID : Ah, just one of those many drawings I do to entertain the students. I made the scales go all the way up since Koreans are know for their modesty in the chest department, but then the students were all fired up I didn't give her a sea shell top. Bah! Try not to offend and yet I still managed to.

RAINBOW TREKER : I get just about every comment under the sun referring to the fact that I am a female foreigner traveling alone with such a big bag. It seems only right to have a self depicting image. I am, after all, a strange and curious being.

NAKED LADIES : I've, oddly, spent a lot of time naked and with other ladies lately - at the jimjilbang, the gym, and each time they all want to have a conversation with me. It's becoming less and less odd, but certainly it was bizarre for me at first.

SUPPORT BEAMS : I was feeling extremely frustrated for a good number of reasons, while simultaneously intrigued by the tree trunks (later I was informed they are bamboo) supporting cement construction work as I walked along to ease my mind. I decided it was clearly a sign that I needed some good solid support somewhere in my world.

BABY : A new friend's cousin had a baby and she took me to a special ceremony for the new little guy. In India they view a guess as 'God' and consider having guests good luck, and so they seemed stoked that I came to the ceremony. In addition, they also, as with all ceremonies, had a feast, which is blessed during the ceremony and considered good luck to eat. Paralleling this Indian experience, I was lucky enough to experience a Korean friend's pregnancy from the start through delivery of twins along with all the local customs. How wonderful it has been to partake and learn about these two cultures - pretty fascinating stuff.

TWINS : For my fellow ex-coworker who was expecting two twin boys. You may be happy to know, she delivered the two healthy gems Wednesday December 16th! JOY! It was a privilege to be here through the entire pregnancy and to learn about Korean culture from this view point.

India: Saving Grace

2012-02-07T19:46:00.001-05:00

[ after a rather terrible last few days in India,
(you know that feeling where there is so much to do
and so little time and help to do it?)
at least i had this pot of leftover chai and apple cake
. . . while spending the evening packing away . . . ]

Arc-en-ciel: Deer Season

2012-02-05T23:30:00.000-05:00

[ from the caitlihne shop on Etsy ]

Lust a Small Space: Midsummer Night Tree House

2012-02-05T08:35:00.000-05:00

[ ouu, I'll take one of these to go please! ]

[ read more about it on campsite ]

India: Open House I

2012-02-03T10:12:00.001-05:00

Thought I'd share the work I made while working at Chhaap, but since the one body of work is a bit hard to see and needs some special tlc and the Daily Lino project has a really different feel to the color below, I've decided to present it in three separate blog postings.

[ round one ]

I had a few goals for my stay at Chhaap:

1. bring some color back into my work (esp. after doing only black and white for ages thanks to the DLP)

2. Daily Lino Project: India 55

3. to use up as much scrap as much as possible

4. find a way to take the prints to a dimensional form

Actually, this particular set was made during the second half of my stay. The first half I really struggled to break free of the DLP. I found the only way to break back into color was to resort to the familiar - circles and rainbows. Despite this, I had such a great time obtaining these colors - 48 different ones!

I also tried to connect the pieces to my stay in India, besides the fact I made it there, by using various objects I was using on a daily basis as a template for the piece. The largest circle is from a bowl I would often eat from. The carving that appears to be two pieces was a daily to commemorate my broken tooth (from chomping on a guava seed). Then the largest outer bordered carving was, again, the size of the bowl (there were two bowls after all) and a pattern that has been 'following' me for the last several years. The smallest circle was from a glass chai cup I often drank from and resembles an Indian pattern, and the last was carving straight from the DLP.

The circles were only temporarily attached to the white paper by string. I've since snipped them off so I could bring them back to the states nice and easy like.

The below items were made to show my students, from the Mixed Media Workshop, that using left over scraps to make work really can be done. Along with showing them a mock etching technique and a few monotype techniques, I also showed them how to make a bag and box out of scraps. They were all making fun of me a bit for it, but I do think they appreciated what I managed to do with the left over newsprint from printing the circles above.

All in all, I made, mmm, maybe 20 bags or so, I up-cycled a few old matchboxes I found while walking along, and with the ends of the paper from one of the other projects, I made business cards, note cards, and nano notebooks.

[ stay tuned for more coming soon! ]

India: M.S. University

2012-02-02T19:15:00.000-05:00

I was a little heart broken when I arrived at Maharaja Sayjirao University in Vadodara, India, to check out their print department. Not one, but several old presses were turned into purely art objects that endure monsoon seasons and dusty winters. Some were painted in bold colors and others just sitting pretty. Sure they looked rather lovely, but they no longer pull prints, prints, prints. . .

I was a fan of the colorful presses inside! Livens things up, don't you think? Overall though, the facilities were large and clearly once beautiful, they seemed to be deteriorating before my very eyes and quite minimal.

There were also a ton - Ton of litho stones going unused too. Felt like every corner I turned, stacks and stacks were hiding.

India: Night Time

2012-02-02T10:28:00.000-05:00

Current Reads: Gitanjali

2012-01-28T23:14:00.000-05:00

I Thought that my voyage had come to its end at the last limit of my power, -that the path before me was closed, that provisions were exhausted and the time come to take shelter in a silent obscurity.

But I find that thy will knows no end in me. And when old words die out on the tongue, new melodies break forth from the heart; and where the old tracks are lost, new country is revealed with its wonders. - Gitanjali

India: Open House

2012-01-28T12:54:00.000-05:00

A brief open house to feature the work I've been making the last month while doing an art residency at Chhaap in Vadodara, India. It will include, of course, the Daily Lino India Project, a series of embossments that embellishes and mingles the Daily Lino India/Korea imagery and a few other things.

There will also be work from by lovely students Siddharth Sengupta, Dhruvika Solanki, Shazia Mohib, Aditi Pande and Vikram Arora who took my Mixed Media or Time With Rainbow workshop.

You should stop by if you can. . . Although, I'm sure most of you are far, far away! In which case, I will see some of you soon, as my return to the United States of America is February 1st!

Also, don't forget, you can find me on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/rainboelizas

India: Giddy Printing

2012-01-24T23:31:00.001-05:00

India: Sharing the Studio

2012-01-23T00:29:00.002-05:00

My colleague and Pont Aven classmate, Vikram, was able to get away from work for a few days and spend quality time in the Chhaap studio making an edition of triptych prints to compliment his up coming exhibition in Mumbai. His installation, Under the Table, is a comment about the ongoing corruption throughout India. He chose to do a linoleum carving, that was later used to emboss his paper, for a more subtle approach to the topic.

Overall, not only was he productive by creating the series and learning new techniques, but we had such a good time catching up and reminiscing from our time at PASCA. Aditi, the coordinator for Chhaap (and my newly befriended pal) joined us for a few sessions of carving and chai time as well. Together, I’m certain our laughing could be heard around the block. . .

[ vikram hard at work ]

[ 1/3 from "under the table" ]

[ aditi hard at work ]

[ under the table 1, 2, 3 ]

India: Sweet Treats & Measuring

2012-01-21T10:15:00.000-05:00

[ ice cream! by the side of the road. . .

first it’s measured, then it’s eaten. delicious! ]

India: Residency Glimpse

2012-01-20T22:35:00.001-05:00

[ A glimpse into what’s been happening at Chhaap! ]

It’s been much harder to break back into colour then I ever thought imaginable. Here is a print from a series I’ve been working on. Can you see? Can you spot the little bit of colour I’ve managed?

Plus, this is far from the work I imagined making here in India. Apparently, Korea’s cuteification has taken over my brain. . . Or, at least for the time being. It's nice to be reinventing and "blowing up" the imagery from the Daily Lino project though.

Daily Lino: India-5

2012-01-20T13:08:00.002-05:00

Inspired By

[ from top to bottom, left to right ]

1. YOU'RE THE KEY : It seems these locks are on nearly every door I've noticed both on the inside and outside. I had an interesting conversation with a new friend and her mother about it. I was sort of sketched out by it because technically, anyone can lock you in any room with no way to get out thanks to bars (and of course these locks) on every window.

2. SPOOL : A little commemoration for the Gujarati Kite Festival.

3. IRON : I was in dire need of an iron and once one was purchased for me, it was love at first sight. I will not, however keep this little gem, but rather donate it for future Chhaap Residency folks.

4. BABY : A new friend's cousin had a baby and she took me to a special ceremony for the new little guy. Pretty fascinating stuff!

5. FRUIT WALLA : On nearly every corner there is a cart of some sort or another and I'm intrigued not only by the craftiness of the carts, but by the many different kinds of fruits I have never seen before.

6. Barred In : This doesn't do the beautiful old city, Baroada, metalwork justice by any means. Nor is it a great representation of bars on the residency's windows. But it is an abstract symbol of it. Depending on my time, I may give it another, more detailed, go. On another note, I always feel caged in and locked up around here - no pun intended - for real.

7. CIRCLE SYMBOL : Ah, just another abstraction patterned lino.

8. SUPPORT BEAMS : I was feeling extremely frustrated for a good number of reasons, while simultaneously intrigued by the tree trunks supporting cement construction work as I walked along to ease my mind. I decided it was clearly a sign that I needed some good solid support somewhere in my world.

India: Fast Lane

2012-01-17T10:35:00.002-05:00

[ in reality, there are no lanes and all driving is fast. . . ]

Arc-en-ciel: Illustrative Puns

2012-01-16T21:16:00.000-05:00

[ images found from all over the web and a bit altered at times to fit the formate ]

India: In the Bag

2012-01-15T10:43:00.000-05:00

[ from this . . . ]

[ to this ]

Daily Lino: India-4

2012-01-11T10:43:00.001-05:00

Inspired By

[ from top to bottom, left to right ]

1. UP-CYCLING : As part of the workshop, I showed my students how to make their own paper bags. So simple - A pair of scissors, a little glue, a ruler, some newspaper and a lightweight box from the garbage.

2. HALF CIRCLE ABSTRACT : Wanted to try something but kept getting interrupted and lost my train of thought. May work into a little more in a few. . .

3. MASTER PIECE : I specially made this for my students in the Mixed Media workshop. I, and they, caught me using this phrase quite frequently and jokes have been flying.

4. RICKSHAW : Dang I love these. To own one would be magical and to ride in one is an adventure for sure. . . Open to the world, this is a do not miss life time experience, and by far one of my favorite Indian-isms thus far.

5. BEEP : Where do I begin with this one? Forget lanes or turn signals, beeping is the quintessential element to Indian driving. . .

6. GOOD FOR HEALTH : This was often a humorous talking point in Korea and, should my expats be here with me, it would be one in India too. I don't know why we get such a good chuckle out of it, but do we ever. Every native of the respective country wants you to try or give you things that are 'good for health'. What do we say in the states? I think it's just "It's good for you," yes? In any case, it's about time this made it into the Daily Lino Mix.

7. INKING TABLE : The mixed media workshop I'm giving went from two days to five, and now it has extended to seven. . . The students are ever so hard at work, and so we've spent a good amount of time around this table chatting, inking, partaking in tea, and most importantly, experimenting.

Arc-en-ciel: Workplace

2012-01-10T08:58:00.000-05:00

India: Early Morn Mumbai

2012-01-09T09:45:00.000-05:00

Baggage: Wrap Up

2012-01-08T00:27:00.001-05:00

[ baggage in a nut shell ]

Another year has come and gone. . .

Thanks to all the participants for another great exchange.

Till the inks start slinging again . . .

Daily Lino: India-3

2012-01-05T07:58:00.002-05:00

Inspired By

[ from top to bottom, left to right ]

1. CHAOS : First impression. . . What else can I say?

2. LUNCH : In a bag - truly - even soup and they were all tied with just a little white string - not even a knot.

3. CHAI WALLA : Ah, I love the boy or man who walks around and offers me chai. Okay, really I just love the chai and that it is offered to me all the time.

4. EQUANIMITY : This word may live in my brain for ages to come. It was constantly repeated during the meditation. I am not sure I've ever heard it before and felt I needed a little clarification on exactly what it meant, so I asked my teacher. He just repeated exactly what was on the tape and instantly I was annoyed. Then I had to remind myself, just as the tape always did, "This to shall pass."

5. RELAX : While my friend went to pick up his in-laws from the train station, I had the morning to myself. Later when we all got together, everyone was so sleepy; lounging around taking naps. I was glad to see that it's not just my family that gets the sleep-ies when we finally get together. I think it must be all the rushing around to make it/prepeare for each other that by the time we connect we're exhausted, and since we're family we think, "They'll understand - They're family."

6. PRESS : The Chhaap press - ou la la! At last, a big press to make big prints! Hmm, why is it I've spent the first four days making only mini prints and wishing for my baby press? Time to switch modes!

7. NIGHT TRAIN : Another excellent night on the train. You get on. You're given sheets in a brown bag, a blanket and a pillow. Then the lights are turned off, the curtins are pulled and everyone snoozes till we reach our morning destination. So cheap = So nice.

India: Hotel

2012-01-05T07:49:00.002-05:00

[ going down and out ]

[ heading up and in ]

Daily Lino: India-2

2012-01-04T07:53:00.000-05:00

Inspired By:

[ from top to bottom, left to right ]

This one is a little unique as it was from the time period of my Vipassana Meditation stay at Dhamma Setu in Chennai, India. I was not to speak or acknowledge others, which they called Nobel Silence. No meals past 12, but we could have some chai and fruit. Plus no reading, writing or listening to music, which clearly meant no carving or sketching either. We sat for ten hours a day meditating and on the fourth day they introduced a new technique that required three hour long sessions of determination per day, which meant no moving at all - period.

There was/is a lot more to it then that and if you'd like to read more about it, here is a link VIPASSANA. They have centers all over the world. They are free ~ and some find this to be a wonderful life changing technique. I wanted to be one of those people, but, I'm afraid, at least this round, it simply is not for me. Rather humorously, at the end of the meditation the teacher came up to me and told me I was the happiest one there ~ always with a smile on my face. . . Ha ha, just wait till you read the days musings!

Anyway, it was a challenge deciding how to represent these days. I decided that simplicity was the best option due to the nature of the meditation and choose the typical marking of days - a strike. The length of the strike depended on how I was feeling. Can you take a guess, from the random musings, or at least the ones I could remember, what the different lengths mean?

1. DAY ONE : Crap! I'm late for my first meditation. Totally didn't hear the bell when they rang it at four! Okay, this feels like it's going to last forever.

2. DAY TWO : Dude, I am not okay with all of these mosquito bites. I've already counted twenty seven and the day isn't even over yet. Sweet - come for enlightenment, leave with malaria. So fun. "Oh hello little friend!" (oops, i broke the no speaking rule - does speaking to the little frogs living in my sink count?) What's this non-secular crap? All were talking about is Buddha. Not that I'm not into Buddha, but I'm really not into joining some ridiculous cult.

3. DAY THREE : Hmm, this isn't too bad, meals are tasty and I'm lovin' that chai! "Ah, Hello Mr. Lizard, welcome to my humble home." (failing miserably at this nonspeaking bit.)

4. DAY FOUR : Yes! First three days of training over! Bring on this new technique! I've already mastered the other. Vipassana, Vipassana, Vipassana ououou! Sounds like Mufasa, Mufasa, Mufasa (from the Lion King!) Oh yeah man, this is totally making sense now. It's not about becoming a Buddhist. Yeah, I'm totally into this now - makes so much sense. Everyone really should be doing this - Peace, Harmony, Love ~ Oh how I love the way he says it! He has such a wonderful voice. Though, sometimes I would really prefer riping the speakers off the wall and smashing them - mmm, but that is only because I feel like I'm going to explode from sitting two more seconds. Look, see, right! The problem is not him, it is me! I am such a problem.

5. DAY FIVE : Determination meditation epic fail. So in pain, tears were streaming down my face - do I mention a little snot too, and because I couldn't move. . . Well, it wasn't pretty. Whoa man, this just broke me. Unable to walk for a few minutes afterward and in agony. Packing the bags, I am so out of here. So many other places in India I want to see. Maybe I'll wait around for my last free chai first. Yum! Hmm, maybe it was just the position I was sitting in. I should try to stick it out - I am already halfway. Huge grin, success round two!

6. DAY SIX : Excellent, just day dream and the time passes like a river flowing by - always changing - just as he says!

7. DAY SEVEN : I really shouldn't be daydreaming. It's really not what I should be doing, but dang, I am enjoying myself. Oh man that chai smells so delicious!

8. DAY EIGHT : Okay, I must try to get more serious. I will only daydream for part of the time. So failing at this. . . So sick of this crap. That lady needed help just now and I could help because I'm supposed to ignore her. This sucks. I want to be able to help people if they need it. This is such a selfish meditation! Freaking mosquitos!

9. DAY NINE : Oh dear God this is so hard. . . Is it almost over yet? I am totally failing this miserably. I don't know If I really believe this is helpful or not. Man oh days my back hurts! Screw this, I'm gonna help that lady. You know, I think I already feel the things he's talking about. I think I don't really need this - I've already found ways to balance myself in the ongoing flow. Huh, but I definitely could use some work in some ares. . . Too bad I wasted most of my time daydreaming. Ah, but that was helpful in other ways. Well, I guess I got what I needed for the time out of this.

10. DAY TEN : Whoa. Wait. What? Speaking? Do we have to? I'm not ready yet. I don't wanna go yet! Thank God we can stay one more night and pretend the real world doesn't exist. Bring on the morning chai!