Ottawa School of Art Residency - Week 3

Week 3 did not go as planned.
That typically happens when I try to be truly spontaneous. As the Ottawa School of Art was closed on Sunday and Labour day Monday, I decided last minute to go on a road trip to visit my friends Marie and Darren and their horses in Sherbrooke, QC. A perfect little 2 day mini vacation with some fun time riding would be exactly what I needed.

I was also very excited to see little Ms Cutie Pie again. 

The car ride there was not nearly as quick as I thought it would be but I made it in the end, and arrived around noon. We had a lovely lunch and some time to catch up. Around 2 pm we went on a riding excursion and like the true Canadian experience, we rode to Tim Hortons. The horses really didn't feel like going for a ride that day and the entire trek to Timmy's was a bit of a battle of wills, but good fun anyways.

On the way back of course the horses recognized we were returning home and we got some trotting and canter in, which was of course the best part.  As we turned onto Marie and Darren's property my horse Merlin decided he would not want to wait a second longer to get back to the barn, and the canter turned into an unexpected 90 degree turn and bolt. My body went straight instead and I went flying and landed on my left hip, lower back and buttock. It was nasty enough and painful enough we thought I may have fractured something. After a night at the ER we finally found out that it was just a really bad contusion, and I was lucky nothing was broken and no ligaments were torn. I was also lucky that my friend Marie works at the hospital and was able to help with translations, explanations, finding food and just incredible moral support. Thank you Marie!!

Finally after returning to Marie and Darren's place and resting for the afternoon I was ready to head back to Ottawa the next day. The drive back to Ottawa took me all day, because I had to take lengthy breaks in between and had trouble with my phone data service. Of course I was using Google Maps for navigation. So I drove for an hour, on the phone with Eastlink for an hour, drive for an hour on the phone with Eastlink for half an hour and so on, until they finally figured out what the problem was and fixed it.

So I finally was able to return to OSA on Wednesday, and hobbling around I continued to carve on my reductive block. Worked on signing some prints and learned how to take the bus in Ottawa.

Running into some colour registration problems my goal for this large reduction is essentially to get 1 decent print that is good enough to exhibit. I had to change my registration method in the middle of printing as I realized that you really need an assistant to place this delicate eastern paper. It is too large for me to align and keep it from touching the ink before it's placed. 

Little pile of tiny bits of carved linoleum. 

This is the third layer printed on the reduction. 

On Thursday, September 8th, I did a lunch time lecture at OSA and a surprising amount of people came.  It was a pleasure to see everyone there and to answer all your questions. Thank you for all the kind and encouraging words! And thank you to OSA for making it happen!

Photo credit: Pira

Photo credit: Pira

Photo credit: Pira

My mini prints are now for sale at the Ottawa School of Art - Art Boutique, located at their Downtown Byward Market Location at 35 George Street.  Go get 'em! 

On my last day at OSA I continue to print during the Ottawa School of Art Open House from noon - 4pm. We had lots of interested people come through and watch how I printed the next layer ontop of my large 24x24inch reductive linocut.

Even though there were larger brayers and rollers available I kept using my little one, maybe it's stubborness, maybe also superstition. Things were going well. 

Detail of the inked block of the 4th layer.

The entire inked surface of my block.

This is a photo of a single layer proof I pulled of this colour and the block as is at Layer 4.



This is a quick photo of layer number 4 printed on top of all previous layers.



AAAAND another terrible photo of the forth layer. It was not a good day for photos. But I hope I will be able to take a decent photo of this stage before I print the 5th layer.



For the purpose of the Open House, OSA installed my work in their glass vitrines for one day. But not to worry. I will be back for a full solo show in the Vitrines and the Lee Matasi Gallery in March, 2017. Mark your calendars ;).



And with this my residency at OSA draws to a conclusion.

THE STATS:
3 weeks of residency:
printed 6 editions of 6 prints each
carved and printed 4 layers on a 24x24in reduction lino
taught 2 all day workshops
held 1 artist talk
worked 1 open house event
Biked a total of 150 kms
Fell off 1 horse
1 night hospital stay

upon my return to Halifax
I will have driven approximately 3800 km.

I would like to thank the wonderful staff at the Ottawa School of Art for the many opportunities associated with my stay at OSA. Thank you for making me feel welcome and for many lovely conversations.

A very special thank you to my dear friend Anne-Marie who let me stay at her beautiful condo in Elmvale, and without whom this residency would not have been a possibility for me. You are fantastic my dear!

As always THANK YOU to Scott, my ever supportive super hero of a husband. What would I do without you. I have not a clue.