We’re a week in to the group exhibit, “The Melting Pot II,” curated by the lovely Hanalei Artworks on behalf of Thumbprint Gallery. This show was a lot of fun to prepare for and to go see… mainly because there were a lot of firsts in it for me.
The first… first: It was my first time working with Mike Hess Brewing (can we talk about their awesome set up?! It’s just like walking through a brewing room — smell and everything!) The art display wall was really neat and there was a lot of beautiful artwork hanging up when I went in to drop off my piece. Also, the staff there was really friendly!
The second first: “Macaco e Fruta” (the piece I chose to display) was a five-stamp print (meaning, I carved five separate blocks and put them together — think jigsaw puzzle but with stamps — to get the final print. One block was for the papaya half, since I wanted to re-print it on my normal 8.5″ x 11″ cardstock. Another block was the full papaya and monkey, and the other three were the papaya seeds — I really wanted some versatility with that papaya slice, eh? I got about 1/4 of the way through carving out the original seeds with the slice and was finding myself getting a little frustrated with how tedious it was so I just carved that section out. Plus I prefer the way the seeds look when they’re individually stamped! I think it makes them stand out more, and with only using black & white, that helps the lighter parts of the papaya sink back a little). The most stamps I’ve ever used in a piece before was two, and one of the stamps was a background color, so making this piece was really fun to watch come together.
Here’s a side-by-side of the finished print for the show and the separate papaya slice print:
I guess those were the only two firsts but I’m sure there will be many more firsts to come 🙂 It was nice to be back in a Thumbprint Gallery show (and to meet a new curator!). The atmosphere at Mike Hess Brewing was really fun on opening night. In addition to the bar countertops being riddled with crayons and loose papers for doodling with beer, there was also a biker meet up group going on over near the darts section so the show was very lively and fun!
Some of the crayon doodles along with the intro for the show and list of other local artists.
Mike Hess Brewing North Park Art Show
“The Melting Pot II” runs at Mike Hess Brewing (North Park location) until March 3, 2019.
“Macaco e Fruta” has already sold at the show but if you like the print, I can ink & stamp another just like it (that’s the beauty of hand carved stamps!), with or without a frame. If you’re interested, please let me know here. The single papaya slice prints are still available for purchase in my online store.