Jennifer Zalewski Studio

I’ve been working on more monotypes… I’m REALLY liking  the reductive/subtractive method best! I only wish I could do a preliminary sketch first and somehow get it on the plate, instead of just doodling from my head and hoping things come out for the best, lol. I LIKE being free-form and all, but I always worry my dogs might come out too “caricaturey.” Anyway, here’s my next batch…

Above is an “in progress pic” … the plexiglass plate is totally inked, then then I use rags and Q-tips to wipe the ink into an image. In this case, I was doing a beagle chasing (be chased by??) a phantom black panther. Once I got the painting the way I liked it, I pressed a piece of paper up against the wet surface, transferring the ink from plexi to paper… and this produces the monotype:

I’m sorry for the crummy picture! It looks better in person- like a charcoal painting.  I took the photo standing on a chair looking down- obviously not the best angle (duh, nice job Jen).

There is a cool back-story to this image. A friend, K, used to live in my new neighborhood and was telling me about the huge nature preserve/park a block away from me (I have since hiked it with Jack- lots of trails- really beautiful! and so close to home, I love it!). She used to walk her beagles there, when she lived in the ‘hood. Anyway, one of her beagles was terrified of the place- absolutely terrified. She happened to be at a festival and see an animal communicator, so she asked the animal communicator if the beagle dreaded going anywhere-? The communicator talked to the pup, who gave turn-by-turn directions from K.’s driveway to the trailhead of the preserve!! He then said that there was a large black panther that lived back there, and it was very intimidating and scared him a lot. K thought this was funny (panthers in Central NY?? LOL) and then kind of forgot about it. She happened to throw a BBQ a few months later and was telling the story to friends…. BELIEVE IT OR NOT, one of her friends told K that there were legends of phantom mountain lions roaming the hills locally, occassionally seen by startled hikers and such. Were they real sightings? Ghosts (Haudenosaunee legends? We live on their land…)… anyway… when she told me the story I was just blown away by it. The idea of a phantom black panther and K’s little beagle really got my creativity percolating.  I love the way it came out, especially the phantom cat!

Next up…

In one of my previous posts I wrote about Clifford’s jimmy-legs, and how his crazy kicking (and occassional midnight howls) at night led me to wonder about his inner world . What does he dream of? Do greyhounds- so domesticated, so many generations removed from the wild- ever have flashes back to their ancient roots, to times when they ran across Iranian sands as lithe, hard-coated wolves?* I’ve decided to do a series of monotypes exploring this idea.

I like the way this came out…. the ink is pretty rich, and I think it portrays the kind of ethereal-ness I was going for. It’s working title is “Dream Circle” unless I can come up with something better, lol.

Here’s the next. It’s small, a simple ROO to the moon…

This is the most recent… finished last night. Here’s the plexi plate, all inked up, wiped up, and ready to go:

…and here is the ink transferred to paper:

This one was interesting. It started out as Clifford exploring a field, but I kept re-inking and re-wiping and suddenly–before I knew it– the picture was totally different, with Cliff  bounding through the air, caught up in the Energy of the sky.  I wish the ink was a bit darker  on this one, but in spite of that, I love the way it came out, especially the texture I acheived.

Well, that’s it for now. I should have scans soon, and more monotypes on the way. It is SUCH FUN!! I’m so glad I discovered this printmaking process… it’s really blowing my mind.

Anyway, it’s 9:30PM and I’m ready for bed. Is that bad??? This is a little late for me (ugh, I must be getting old?!?!?). ;o)

’till next time…

Jen

*There used to be a theory out there that different “types” of dogs- sighthounds, molosssers, spitz, etc- each originated independently from different subspecies of Canis lupus. It’s been pretty much debunked, I think, but I still find it fascinating…