Jennifer Zalewski Studio

… and I’m not 100% in love with it. Maybe not even 50% in love with it.

I accomplished what I wanted to, in one respect… making a woodcut a BIT more painterly, without those “coloring book” lines around everything. It’s slightly- slightly- looser than I usually work. And I finished a reduction, which I haven’t been able to accomplish in almost a year, LOL.

We had our first critique evening at my Printmaking class, and the only feedback I got was that they liked the interesting shape that Lucy formed (positive vs negative space); that maybe I shouldn’t have done a border to “box” the shape in- a bit distracting-; and the professor thought my chop (signature stamp, in the lower left) was a ball, LOL.

Class has been… interesting. I enjoy the “being around other artists” atmosphere but I find that I really, really hate working away from my home studio. The class studio is AMAZING… I mean, to die for. Like 4 different presses, all the ink you could want. A silkscreen studio, papermaking studio, letterpress studio all adjoining a huge relief studio. Several Sinks, etching and solarplate rooms, a professional electric chisel sharpener the size of my microwave. But my boys aren’t there. I spend class obsessing over them, wondering what they are doing at home, if they are sleeping or crying or if Cliff has fallen and can’t get up. They are used to me going to work every day- that’s routine, and if there’s one thing about Greyhounds, they are creatures of routine. But going out at night once a week, after work, without them?? That’s strange and confusing, and it makes me feel bad when they look at me with their big, brown Bambi eyes as I try to slip out the door. You can’t sneak past them. They know.

And working at class is odd, too. There’s weirdo music playing on the stereo (not the 70′s and 80′s music “old people” like me listen to, ha), PEOPLE walking around, chatting- and I usually sit next to the same 2 gals each class, and they even talk to me while I’m working. People. Talking to me. Boring Ol’ Me. Nice, but so different than home where I ensconce myself in my hermittude,  blithely talking to my dogs, myself, the wall, LOL. It’s weird working in an environment where there isn’t any dog hair floating around to get in my ink. Where there isn’t the smell of chickeny greyhound farts permeating the air. Where I can’t sit at my drafting table and listen to the boys pace around, cast crushed looks at me and quietly cryyyy because Oh My God, We Need To Go For a Walk Right, Right, Right Now  Or Else The World Will Inevitably Come to An End!!!

Class goes from 6-10pm once a week (Lord have mercy, I’m too old to stay up that late anymore!!) but I usually sneak out by 8:30, so I can rush home, jump in my PJ’s, snuggle in bed with the boys and watch GHOST HUNTERS on the SyFy network.  The Prof doesn’t seem to mind- as long as we get our work done, he doesn’t care if it’s during class time or not. Thankfully. My best work time seems to be 6-8 pm. At home. With my wonderful, amazing and inspiring muses… Cliffie and Jack.

I feel my focus changing a bit. When I started class, I was gung-ho to work on Reduction Woodcuts, maybe even try some White-Line/Provincetown woodcuts. But I feel myself being drawn back in the Monotype direction. We’ll see how it goes. I have so many ideas but the woodcut process takes so long. Monotypes are more spontaneous, fun- different. They might be my golden ticket to creative liberation. They just might be.

Jen

It’s late Sunday afternoon. The dogs have been walked, Jack and I did a 4-mile run at the Parkway, visited friend B. and saw her new foster grey.  Cliff’s chicken dinner is baking in the oven. After a Saturday fete with the stomach bug (ugh)… Sunday has shaped up quite nicely.

It was really dreary and gray today, but boy oh boy… 38 degrees! A heat wave. I shoveled the slush out of the driveway in a long-sleeve T-shirt. And … I saw a mosquito!!!!! A mosquito!!!!!! Yes, the Long Winter may be on its last leg.

I’m finishing up my Lucy woodcut… pics to come. Working on a new block. And in the middle of an “linoleum etching” experiment… hmmm. I happened to see a very short 2 pages about it in my “Printmaking Bible” and-well-I’m giving it a go.

Jack is quite happy with himself. Yesterday morning, my stomach all a-churning from the Bug… I let the dogs out in the backyard for the morning Potty. A squirrel was out in the snowdrifts, but I didn’t think much of it… they always get away.

Not this one.

Jack mauled it pretty badly. I could barely tear my eyes away, it happened so fast. The squirrel was on the snow-shoveled path. Jack blasted towards it. Cliff happily gimped after him, oblivious to what was going on. The squirrel saw the dogs, hesitated, then took a desperate flying leap into the deep snow. Jack launched into him like a torpedo, snatching him by the back (tail?) and somersaulting him back onto the path. Jack snarling and flipping him around. Squirrel squealing, twisting, trying to get away. Cliff standing next to the fight, seemingly not noticing what was going on right in front of his eyes. In fact, at one point Jack threw the squirrel down and it tried to drag itself between Cliff’s legs, and he didn’t notice (Cliff, WTH? Is it dementia? How could he not realize what was going on?).

And then, like that… Jack was done. He had his kicks and giggles, and the fun is over. Time to pee. He trots off along the path, making his way back to the back fence. Cliff happily follows. The squirrel lays in the snow, flopping around and squeaking pitifully.

I watch it drag itself a few inches, then stop. A few inches, then stop.

Jack comes back, happily bounding up the path. The squirrel frantically pulls itself to the base of a tree, stretches itself up and tries to claw up. It can’t. Jack snuffles him, bored, comes back to the deck and asks to come in.

He has a nip on his nose. It won’t stop bleeding. Ugh.

I watch the squirrel for a bit, flopping now and then, trying to reach up the tree. My mind writhes around all the options. Do I let it suffer and die? Do I kill it? HOW do I kill it? Do I bring Jack back out there and try to sic’ him back on it, to take it out of its misery? Would Cliff help??

I get my shovel, the metal one. Go to the squirrel. Cliff hangs out with me, but doesn’t notice it at all. It lays up against the tree, it’s tail torn off, two legs look dislocated. It’s jaw is all bloody and red. The poor thing makes a mewly-noise and scratches at the bark, trying to climb to safety.

I pick it up on the shovel, lay it on the hard iced path, and put it out of its misery.

I spend the rest of the day in bed, throwing up.

Not a great day for a vegetarian animal-rights advocate, that’s for sure. But I can’t be mad at Jack- he’s a dog. He was doing what dogs do.

This isn’t the worst Squirrel story. Back in- oh, it must have been 2003- before I bought my first house. I had Lucy and newly-adopted Cliff, and was bringing them around the block back in my old ‘hood, on their morning walkie. We were bundled up, slogging down the sidewalk, when we came upon a dead squirrel on the greenway (that strip of land between the sidewalk and road). It looked newly-dead and wet, like a cat had gotten it overnight. We had lots of outdoor cats in the neighborhood so I wasn’t surprised. Lucy was VERY interested so I let her sniff it. Well all of a sudden, the dead squirrel pulled a Lazarus and jumped up alive again, totally freaked that this long black nose was in its face. I still have that picture of Lucy glued in my head… that WTF! look of shock and pure delight. Before anyone knew what was happening, Lucy had grabbed Lazarus by the nape of the neck and was flipping him up in the air, somersaulting him like a beach ball. I think she caught him and flipped him up again before I yelled and dragged them back. So the squirrel landed with a thud on the sidewalk, freaked out, and sprinted into the street–right in front of a pickup truck. His head went under the tire and flattened on the pavement but the body kept trying to run. Those poor legs just ran in place for a few seconds, next to the flat head, until the brain sparks ended and it just crumpled.

All three of us kind of stood there, in total shock. It was just … so… WTF. I mean… dude. Dude.

There are other squirrel stories, but I’m starting to feel queasy recalling them so maybe another time.

Or maybe not, lol.

…also known as the “OMG I think I totally goofed this up I’m going to vomit all over myself” stage…

Third reduction! A green border- not sure how I feel at this point. It seems a bit dark, but hoping it won’t be so glaring when the grays are added to Lucy.

I wasted a lot of ink trying to mix the right green- first I made it too blue, then added too much red, then too much white- ugh. I should have paid more attention in my color theory class in college, that’s for sure. P

So I chucked my Birch plywood and started the  Untitled Lucy woodcut (still waiting for that brilliant title to hit me) all over again on MDF. I was a bit nervous about it, because my last few attempts on MDF really blowed (blew??)…my chisels would skitter across the surface uncontrollably, leave fuzzy cuts, etc. I found that working with U-gouges on the MDF –instead of my V’s, which I usually use- really helped. I also held the chisel at a steeper angle than I would working on linoleum, which totally controlled the skittering. I’ve had a few mistakes, but nothing too bad. Knock on wood.

Here’s the first reduction… a light green:

This will be the background. Next step was light gray:

Yeah, that’s my cheapo-baren and wooden spoon laying out there. I have a TINY edition of 6 (so far, I’m sure I’ll make some boo-boos and end up with 3 or 4) and I’ve been butting heads with both of my presses lately. A huge WTF. And as much as I drool over the huge Takach Press at the University Studio (where I’m taking my class)… it’s just easier to work from home. With the Blue and Red Bombers misbehaving, I’ve had limited resources. Oh well… the baren and spoon are fine. Builds arm muscles, right?

Next came a light pink for the collar and inside of the ears. I didn’t want to do another reduction for this, so I carved some ear and collar stamps on PZ Cut Vinyl from Stampeaz and “stamped” the pink on that way…

And that’s where we stand so far. I’m starting to chomp my nails over this next reduction… a middle gray tone…then a dark green border… gulp. After that black, and I’m done! It’s a bit nerve-wracking to get this far.

In other news, we’ve had a few (rare) sunny days around the studio…

Sun! I know!!! We don’t get much of that in Central New York, especially in the wintertime.

Cliff enjoys the sun! He’s been doing reasonably well. He had a 6-month Wellness visit last week at his “primary care” vet, which included a gargantuanly-expensive geriatric blood panel. Good news is that his liver and kidneys look great! The bad news is that his thyroid really dropped. He doesn’t show any signs of thyroid disease though (being chunky, losing fur, etc) so we’re not going to treat with Soloxine at this point.

His weight dropped 4 lbs, which is concerning. He’s been getting 4 full meals a day, all home-cooked, and I was sure he would have gained a bit!! But he hasn’t. More peanut butter sandwiches and ice cream for you, Cliff!

Jack and I have been doing some skijoring and snowshoeing together, but the pics from our expeditions are no great shakes, so I won’t post and bore you, lol. He and Cliff been having a great time scavenging for chicken and pork bones along the fence behind our house. It’s driving. me. insane. There’s a huge (and well-maintained) apartment complex behind our house, but critters have been raiding the complex trash dumpster–which sits against my back fence– pulling bones and trash out, and dragging them over into the yard.  It’s so frustrating. I went over and talked to Management about it, but nothings been done. I coated the top of my fence with axle grease, thinking it might stop the Squirrel Feeding Frenzy and Food Transportation to Casa Zalewski, but it hasn’t. I can always put up a snow fence or something so my dogs can’t get back there, but I’m thinking to try one of those electronic pest repellents. I wonder if they work as good as they sound??

Anyway….  enough time on the blog, I suppose. Back to wood carving…Happy Saturday, everyone!

Jen