Behind the scenes #1
Two original CMYK silkscreen prints, affirmational and motivational. Photo by Tikva Lantigua
I decided, after going back and forth for years, working low-paying, art-related jobs, and after so many supportive words, attempts, and threats from my partner and even my father to follow through on it, I should probably embrace the art thing. Meaning that, after years of making and thinking about art, after art schools, degrees, unpaid and underpaid labor, I should embrace my role as artist. Not freelancer, not underemployed, not person who sweats their ass off in screen printing shops (even if those are also true at different times); all I need in order to be an artist is actually just to call myself an artist. The world opens.
Detail of You are Capable print.
Even though, 9-year-old me was afraid monetizing would kill the love of the game (and who knows, maybe she’s still right), I commit to sharing this thing I love with the world, and I also commit to selling work - yeah, commit, not just try. I commit to turning a. bottomless money pit of art supplies, b. time zap, and c. the only thing my 9-year-old self could see herself doing///into a way to sustain myself emotionally and financially.
That being said, selling my artwork to sustain myself was never the absolute goal, and no one needs to do that in order to call themselves an artist. But, I’ll be making the art anyway, and I have other skills to float me through the slow times, and the rest will follow (so they say). So, instead of saying “try” when what I mean is “I wanna locate the emergency escape just in case this gets scary”, I will say Commit.
Detail of You are Loved print.
Since this week was -THE week- I decided (again) to commit myself, this is what it looked like:
created a conference experience for one; watching 700 (give or take) videos on Youtube, reading articles, and adding books to my @m@z0n cart, all on the topic of printmaking and art.
Since I’ll be moonlighting as a print tech on the campus of Haystack School of Craft for a few weeks this summer (!)(as mentioned in my new News tab!), I thought I’d brush up on all the millions of steps involved in etching, including new products and better methods. Anyways, I found myself absorbing dozens of non toxic print videos and compiling a stupidly long list of notes on the recipes. Ah finally, less toxic and more accessible ways to make one of the most embodied and tactile prints - the etching! Check out some vids on my playlist here.
collected art opportunities to apply to
watched people make art online
watched early star trek: next generation
overhauled my website!
and other exciting stuff I’ll tell you about soon :D :/ :}
welcome to my blog!! I’m glad you visited,
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