Collage Calenders by Randel Plowman

I love the work of Randel Plowman a Kentucky Artist who's Collage a Day Blog is read worldwide!

 Randel has done a limited edition of two calendars--one featuring his bird collages and the other featuring an assortment of collages. I couldn't decide which one to get so I got both of them!

The calendars are printed on premium matte finish 61 lb photo paper using 8 color archival pigmented inks. Each image is suitable for framing.  There is a total of 13 pages that  make up each calendar including a page that provides information about each image and is hand signed with edition number and assembled by Randel.You can get these calendars at the Collage A Day Blog.

THE CURIE CURE Original letterpress poster

"You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals."  Marie Curie

Jessica Spring, Springtide Press and Chandler O'Leary, Anagram Press just released their latest print. Get it while you can, they always sell out!!  You can purchase the poster on etsy.

It is hot off the press! This BRAND NEW, hand-pulled letterpress print is printed from hand-lettered original typography and hand-drawn illustrations and patterns (in fact, everything was done by hand, the hard way!). This piece is a collaboration between Chandler O'Leary of Anagram Press and Jessica Spring of Springtide Press, inspired by efforts nationwide to obtain equal, affordable health care for all.

The illustration is inspired by laboratory equipment, molecule diagrams and the Periodic Table of the Elements. To symbolize Curie's revolutionary work with radioactivity, "The Curie Cure" is printed in glowing, atomic colors.

The poster was printed on an antique Vandercook Universal One press. Each piece is printed on archival, 100% rag, recycled paper, and signed by both artists.

Edition size: 138

Paper size: 10 x 18 inches

Artist Kate Timmerman at Modified Arts

The very talented Kate Timmerman has a solo exhibition titled Then and Now (1998-2009) that opens at  Modified Arts in Phoenix on Friday November 20th, 2009 at 6 p.m. Kate is a mixed media artist who has created an impressive body of work over the years. I cannot wait to see this show!  The closing reception Friday December 4, 2009 at 6 p.m.

Here' the amazing thing--you can win a painting! Visitors to the exhibition who make a donation of pet food will be entered into a lottery to win a painting. All food collected will be donated to Poverty's Pets a downtown Phoenix group that rescues, neuters and places animals.

Modified Arts Phoenix

407 E. Roosevelt St.

Phoenix, AZ 85004

602-462-5516

Wayzgoose Fun!

 photo by Rhonda Lewis

We were thrilled with the turn out of the first AZ Wayzgoose!  The fun thing is that it seemed like everyone did a little bit of everything! Lisa described it as a 7-ring circus and she was right! It was so much fun, that none of us even remembered to eat lunch.

We started off with magnetic poetry. Jeryl and Lisa did a great job helping folks lock up words in the little proofing press. The favorite line of the day was: She said go loosey goosey be silly cheese and Be a dingbat slug letterpress printer.

Photo by Rhonda Lewis

Letterpress was buzzing with coaster and bookmark printing.Mike was on the go most of the day.

 Photographer Rhonda Lewis made my favorite bookmark of the day and she also took this fab photo of the press!

Donna kept things humming in the papermaking studio where everyone made handmade recycled paper.

Gary led the making your own envelope session. Notice the festive Halloween Hat!

The hit of the day was the tee shirt printing. (see Gary's shirt above) Below, Lisa helps the Labyrinth guy with his design.

We concluded the day's activities with a little pochoir on letterpress.

It was really a fun filled day! A great chance to connect with old friends and meet new ones as well.

We'll definitely do the Wayzgoose next year so stay tuned!photo by Rhonda Lewis

You can see more photos of the wayzgoose on our flickr sites: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lisatakata/sets/72157622581803607/  and

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thepaperstudio/

STREB: BRAVE

If STREB tours in your area, go and see their show! They were in Phoenix last week and we decided to catch their show on the spur of the moment. Thank goodness we made it to the Friday show because with all the tweets and texts about the event, it  sold out on Saturday. I didn't think we'd be able to take photos but we were allowed to. The photos are blurry but the show was an amazing combination of performance, sound and video.

STREB is a little hard to put into words. It is a company based in NY that is a combination of dance, gymnastics and sheer athletisicm. Elizabeth Streb, the Action Architect and Choreographer received a MacArthur Genius Award so that gives you an idea of what an innovator she is. In the falling piece, the dancers litterally fell off beam that went all the way up to the top of the horizontal structures. It was heart stopping!

In this piece, the video projection is the moon and the dancers (those blurry orange spots) are suspended horizontally. It was breathtaking!

Botanicals & Butterflies

We are finally out of our record heat so it was lovely to stroll around the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix. We don't see many butterflies in AZ so I wanted to post photos of the Monarch butterflies and other botanicals at the garden.

Cactus in bloom.

Wildflower garden.

Lovely lantana.

Dia De Los Muertos Exhibtion

Here are some photos of our alter in the Dia De Los Muertos exhibition.This was a collaborative effort with Lisa T, Marshall S, Gary and me to create the intial piece. The community was invited to contribute thier own memorial cubes.

Marhsall did lovely pieces with patterns, cards and photos. This one honors his dad and his grandmother.

This one is a tribute to Eartha Kit, oh that origninal Cat Woman!

Ode to the most recent building imploded in Phoenix.

This year All Saints Day was especially meaningful because we attended a funeral that day for a friend of ours who was full of life and he died way too soon.