The Treehouse Project

With two amazing nephews (not that I'm biased), the idea of a treehouse has crossed my mind more than once. And every now and then I need a good excuse to build/make something that isn't a print. Enter my youngest nephew's birthday this Spring. As I started searching the interwebs for inspiration, I came across some amazing structures. With my interest in architecture and natural spaces, one of my favorites is this sweet wooden treehouse pod in Whistler, Canada designed by Joel Allen.

HemLoft treehouse, Joel Allen

Alas, after talking to my brother-in-law about it, I realized that a full-sized treehouse was not meant to be right now. A girl can still dream though. So I started looking at miniature options. After seeing the incredible creations from artist Jedediah Voltz, I decided I could make something small and unique.

Somewhere Small, Jedediah Voltz

So I set out designing a tree-play-doll-house. After lots of trial and error, collecting of materials, and a fair amount of wood glue, I finished! It's complete with woodland friends, a winding staircase, rope ladder, and bucket for sharing goodies between levels. And best of all, both of my nephews love it.

Printmaking 101

When I tell people I'm a printmaker, it's often followed by the question, "What's that?" My short and sweet answer is that it's playing with big stamps. In truth, it's so much more than that. When you start learning about prints, the jargon, techniques, and terms can be overwhelming—photogravure, pochoir, serigraph, mezzotint, collagraph, linocut. And that's just scratching the surface (pun intended, for all you fellow printers). But when you break it down, all of these fancy names and techniques fall into just a few categories.

There are four main categories for traditional printmaking: relief, intaglio, lithography, screenprint. I would say that digital printing is the modern fifth category as well. I'm not sure where this image originated, but I love how concisely it visually represents these four categories.

If you would like to learn more about how all of this printmaking business works, MoMA has a super interactive guide that walks you through the basics for each process.

Winter Wonderland

Nature and art. Both beautiful, both inspiring. Even though Winter is my least favorite season, I can still celebrate the good things it has to offer. And snowflakes just might be the best.

Compound Interest's Andry Brunning created the chart above to show the 39 classifications for snowflakes. The shapes and visual complexity are incredible. To learn more than you could ever imagine on the subject of snowflakes, check out snowcrystals.com.

Aqua Art Miami 2015

Thank you to all of our Pele Prints fans who came out to see us in Miami. For those of you who couldn't make it, here are some highlights. Enjoy!

Laura Berman and Amanda Verbeck

Sarah Hinckley, Ben Guffee, Laura Berman, and Ben Pierce

Ken Wood

Ben Guffee and Brandon Anschultz

Mary O'Malley

Aqua courtyard

Our most unusual visitor

Risk

"To laugh is to risk being a fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out to another is to risk involvement.
To express feelings is to risk exposing your true self.
To place your ideas, your dreams, before the crowd
Is to risk their loss. To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To live is to risk dying.
To hope is to risk despair.
To try is to risk failure.
The person who risks nothing,
Does nothing,
Has nothing and is nothing.
They may avoid suffering and sorrow,
But they simply cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love or live.
Risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
Only a person who risks is free."
– Leo Buscaglia

I remember reading these words in a magazine for the first time when I was in college. They rang true to me then, and they still ring true to me now. They're even on my fridge at home. Whenever I feel overwhelmed, lost, doubtful, scared, or self-conscious, these words help ground me.

Hear Me Roar

I am a feminist. I believe that women and men are equal and should be treated as such. Period. 

So many of the negative connotations associated with the word "feminism" have developed out of fear. In reality, these fears are unfounded and only serve to hold all of us—men and women alike—back. While we have come a long way in the United States towards this equality, we haven't come far enough. It takes consistent and persistent effort to overcome the status quo.

With as forward-thinking and progressive as many artists are, it seems like we shouldn't need to discuss the inequality of the sexes in the art world. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. Consider these numbers:

• Women run 25% of art museums with budgets over $15 million
• These female museum directors make $.71 for every $1 their male counterparts make
•  30% of artists shown in NY and LA galleries are women

Maura Reilly's Art News article "Taking the Measure of Sexism: Facts, Figures, and Fixes" takes a closer look at the current state of women in the art world. The Guerrilla Girls, who started their crusade in 1985, are still opening eyes to this inequality. More recently, sites like Gallery Tally are holding galleries accountable for these numbers with an ongoing tally of female representation in the art world. And the New York Times took on the topic with a great article, "The 'F-Word' in the Art World," by Siri Hustvedt.

All of this said, the real problem is not just with the art world. It's a larger, systemic cultural problem. I believe the only way we can address this issue is head on...no more excuses. Society needs to put more women in positions of power (politicians, CEOs, museum directors, etc.) to help make change possible. Parents need to raise their daughters to be unapologetic about insisting on equality and raise their sons to support and respect women as equals. And above all, women need to stand together.

So You Want To Be an Artist...

"There’s no diploma in the world that declares you as an artist—it’s not like becoming a doctor. You can declare yourself an artist and then figure out how to be an artist." – Kara Walker, from Art21 interview

Ad in Popular Mechanics, January 1950

There are some professions that you just have to love to do...art is one of them. It's a tough road filled with hard work, self doubt, criticism, and, of course, little money. Many artists will tell you that they always knew that's what they wanted to be; others find their way to art along the way. Either way, I believe it's truly a labor of love.

As Kara Walker points out in the quote above, going to college for art is not requirement. In fact, there is growing public opinion that incurring large amounts of student loan debt might not be worth it for many students. But, in the end, is a personal decision that each individual must make for themselves. For the artists who do decide to get their degree, I encourage them to remember that they are getting a degree in visual problem solving, not just art. They are learning to see the world differently. This is the inherent value of an artist. Once they develop this skill, they can apply it to ANY job, career, or profession.

The odds of "making it" as a rock star artist are slim. So, the creativity of an artist has to extend beyond the studio. To sustain an art career, an artist has to be creative in how they approach their time and work...thinking outside the box and being willing to do peripheral work. For me this has meant being a good "juggler." Essentially, I juggle multiple facets of the art world: publishing prints, consulting, working as a visiting artist, teaching workshops, packing and shipping art, assisting other artists...the list goes on. The end goal is to keep my business up and running.

Each artist finds their own way. Whether they build a successful career as a studio artist or choose to work in an entirely different field outside of the arts, there is no right or wrong answer.