Linoleum Prints

This is a self portrait linoleum print on cream colored paper. This is my favorite edition out of 10 prints. You can't see it well at all here, but the lines have a faint brown tint underneath the black, which shows up on the white lines. I enjoy this aspect of the print, and also the way it looks like my mouth is oozing some kind of gas-like substance. That was a nice mistake. I printed the other images on white paper, and grayish paper that I made the other day. To make paper, I basically ground newspaper and magazine to a pulp with a paper shredder and then blender. Then you put that pulp on a screen and squeeze out the excess water. I also tried making paper out of newspaper and ground grape leaves. It looks interesting so far but it has not dried yet.

This is a copper etching that I did the other day. Here are 3 of the 5 editions. I sat outside in Rome on the Capitoline steps and drew a small cityscape. It is slightly hidden, but if you look carefully you can see the head and eyes of a man behind the domed building. This was unintentional because I found the copper plate in the print room, and it had this etched into it already. I actually sort of liked the way it came out.

Self Portrait A Day

A couple of weeks ago I assigned myself a small project to do every morning: An informal self portrait in my sketchbook. Most of them are in pen and watercolor. Here are a few of the recent ones:

Printing With Plants

I needed a change from doing self portrait monoprints. I decided to try using leaves to experiment with textures. Not only do the plants add texturous imagery, they emboss (imprint) the paper when I put them through the printing press. Here are a couple examples:

Monoprint. This is a portion of a larger print. 

Today, instead of using ink, I let the plant secrete its own pigment. I added no color here. I plan to continue experimenting with this and pushing it further. I have 16 days left in Rome and only a week to work!

Matera, Italy

This weekend (Friday until Monday) I went on my last major trip with my instructor and most of my class. Matera is located in southern Italy, next to the heel. We had gorgeous and hot weather almost the entire time. This place was amazingly beautiful. It's what one would imagine Italy to look like. It is very quiet in most of this city. We jammed packed so much into the weekend... Fun fact: Passion of the Christ was filmed here.

 

 On the wall of our patio in the hotel, overlooking the caves across the canyon.

 

This town is interesting because the homes (sassi) are carved into the rock, and are refaced in the front with stones. We discovered a cave which was overgrown, and stumbled into the complete darkness. It used to be a church.

 

These caves were the first homes of neolithic inhabitants of this region.

 

Structures built into the rock next to the cliff. That structure on the top  right of this photo is a church built into a huge boulder. It was incredible!

 

On Saturday we climbed down the ravine (la gravina), crossed the stream, then climbed up the neighboring mountain to explore the caves. It was an intense hike in the hot sun and it was definitely my favorite thing that we did the whole weekend. The whole hill smelled of oregano and wild mint. I pulled some out the the ground and brought it back to Rome and it was the best I ever tasted. There were lizards, snakes and frogs everywhere. A kid almost got attacked by a scorpion!

This is a church carved into the rock. Inside we found a cow trying to seek shade. The cattle roam free here, and so do their feces.

 

Taking a quick break in a cave at the top of the mountain.

 

Inside some of the caves were eroded religious frescoes. These used to be Byzantine churches. A lot of people carved their names into these religious icons which was unfortunate but also interesting...

 

On top of the mountain!

 

Picturesque from every angle.

 

The next day we went to Castle del Monte. Unfortunately I forgot my camera on the bus, but the important thing to know is that I caught a really cute lizard. The castle was also pretty cool. It was built in the 12th century by Frederick the Second on some hill in the middle of nowhere, Puglia.  

The little town in this photograph, Alberobello (beautiful tree) was where we got lunch. We were only there for an hour (It's just sandwiches and trinkets), but it was cool to see these homes built in this fashion of only limestone. It is a similar style to that of the Greeks, but apparently there was no influence.

 

Grotte di Castellana

The Castellana Caves, located in Bari, Puglia, was our next stop. It was a huge cave with many underground chambers. We had a guided tour, and the lady kept likening the stalagmites and stalactites to gelato, the Virgin Mary, and animals such as shewolfs, owls and jellyfish. Other than that, the cave was awesome, and it took us at least an hour and a half or two hours to walk through the whole thing. We weren't allowed to take pictures because of "copyright reasons," which meant we all took as many pictures as we wanted. After this we took a bus to a town called Ostuni, where we had dinner. We got back to our hotel in Matera at midnight. See? It was a jam packed weekend.

More Monotypes
                              

Magnolia Ficus Tree

MUNICH, GERMANY

I headed to Munich this weekend on a whim to visit my friend Genny. We had an incredible time!

This is a path of gold stones marking the side path of the Germans who refused to salute a monument devoted to Hitler on the main path.

Of course we had to drink the classic German beer and eat the classic soft pretzels. Delicious!

The English Garden, a beautiful Park behind Genny's apartment.

One night we stumbled across Michael Jackson's shrine. His shrine covers the monument of another musician. That poor guy... The hotel that Michael Jackson dangled his baby out the window happened to be right next to this. 

Watching the sunrise over the Austrian Alps.

Dachau Concentration Camp.

This was a concentration camp for political prisoners (those who opposed the Nazi regime). We could see from afar the building which housed the crematorium and gas chamber. The iron gate reads, "Work Makes Freedom."

Here you can see where the barracks once stood. That is one of the seven watch towers, to the right.

We needed some good German beer and mac and cheese after visiting such a heavy place...

On the way back to Rome I got to view the beautiful countryside from the plane. I also flew over the Austrian Alps. There were tiny towns tucked in between mountains and roads winding up snow covered mountains. 

Monotype Print

 

This is a monotype print I did today on plexi glass with printing ink.

Experiments

This is a self-portrait print in my sketchbook done with lithography crayon and watercolor on plexiglass.

This is a print done with lithography crayon and watercolor on plexi. Based off Poggioreale, the town I visited which was destroyed by an earthquake in the 1960's. 

A quick watercolor I did today, unfinished because it started to rain.

Overgrown ruins with poppy flowers. 

A self portrait print made by scratching printing ink off plexi. Very simple, and a technique Matisse experimented with.

Self portrait print made by wiping printing ink of plexi plate with a tarletin cloth. I have become enamored with Degas lately, and most of his prints were produced in this way. I also made another self portrait using this method. I plan to continue until I improve!

Sketching Outdoors

Today I was outside in the sun wearing shorts and short sleeves. I did this quick watercolor sketch of my friend Youbin, and of this church next to the Roman Forum.

                    

I am also currently working on a series of monotype prints on plexiglass.

Copper Etching

These are prints from etched copper that I completed yesterday. It is of the leather tannery in Morocco. I am currently experimenting with adding pastel over another print. The yellow around the edges is acid that I forgot to clean off. In 50 years this print will be eaten away but until then it will look kind of cool...

BARCELONA

We were only here for two days, but we explored the entire time.

Gaudi's Park Guell.

Extremely crowded but his architecture is so badass. This building reminded me of a marshmallow.Barcelona is great because it is so lively with music and wacky architecture. It was nice to be in a place that didn't have too many straight-lined buildings. We also went into his house, which had a lot of wild furniture designed by him.

Sagrada Familia. Church designed but Gaudi, but he ran out of money, so it is still being built today. Stalk-like columns growing up and bursting on the ceiling.

Sagrada Familia.

It is impossible to capture the beauty of the stained glass on camera. The light shown through the glass and onto the floor. I stood there for a long time staring at it because it was so incredible. This church was the perfect fusion between Gothic and Modern architecture. 

Building designed by Gaudi.

I love his curvy, skeleton-like style. 

Parc de la Ciutadella.

I stumbled across this park. There were giant wooly mammoth statues, ponds, music and dancing. It was a sunny and warm paradise. We spent a while sketching here.

Fes, MOROCCO: The love of my life

Some old croissants in a glass case with flies and bees all over them. Funny.

The King's Palace

Behind an open-air mosque

"Poterie de Fes."

In this picture, the workers take the chiseled pieces of pottery (tesserae) and create designs for mosaics.  It is still a thriving business in Morocco, as there are elaborate mosaics even in train stations and restaurants. 

Outside of this small factory, pieces of colorful pottery were driven into the dirt road. I snatched a few and got distracted by the sunset. My people almost drove away without me. Great friends!

This is only a part of the shop which sold tons of gorgeous pottery. Trying to decide what to buy was the most overwhelming thing ever. I got a really nice pot with silver relief. There were also some damn nice ash trays, which I didn't buy.

After the pottery place, Hassan drove us to the top of a mountain overlooking Fes to see the sunset. It was so beautiful. There were also Roman ruins at the top. On the way up he blasted Beyonce and Arabic music, which, as you can imagine, I enjoyed immensely.

Hassan then took us to a shisha (hookah) bar before dinner, where I tried my first taste of famous Moroccan mint green tea. I had only read about it in the guide book, and didn't realize how popular it was here. It is a symbol of hospitality, and almost everywhere it is served automatically. The water is boiled, and then boiled again with fresh mint and green tea. Then the Moroccans add a generous amount of sugar. It was DELICIOUS. I drank it everywhere. This was the only time we were ok with drinking Moroccan water. Otherwise we stuck to bottled water. Here is Hassan pouring us the tea. 

Moroccans and Europeans don't eat until later. Hassan told us he he could take us to a lady who would teach us how to cook and then feed us for 150 dirham (about 15 euro). Apparently it is common for people to open their homes to feed tourists. So Hassan drove us to this house, where two cute little boys and a girl greeted us. We also met their mother, the chef, who could speak no English. I was actually surprised at how much English was spoken in Morocco. I thought they would only speak French and Arabic. Anyway, Hassan then told us that this was his family, which I could have guessed, since his kids looked a lot like him. They were so awesome-cute, obedient and helpful. The kids helped us peel vegetables. We all helped make a large salad, lima bean and lamb dish, and fruit salad. It was delicious.

 By the time dinner was ready, it was about 11:00, and we were all exhausted, but of course we had to stay later for the mint green tea. We all ate together off the same plate, which normally I would consider strange and gross, but here it was ok. Hassan shared a water cup with his kids, but we got our own glasses. We wee overwhelmed by their kindness and generosity.

Me with Mohammad and his sister (She had a tricky name which I can't remember). They were so nice.  I don't know where there little brother Lalil was at this moment. He was a sassy 6 year old with a naughty smile. 

The Medina

Bou Inania Madrasa.

Founded in AD 1351-56. Functioned as a school and mosque.

The Medina.

So we walked into the medina and it was a whole other world. It smelled of rotting meat and garbage in  many areas, but like spices in others. I loved how real and raw it was. It was unlike any other place I had ever been. Things were surprising here, because the culture was so different. 

Lots of pack mules

A cart full of live, crawling snails.

The carpet place and annoying salesman. "I HAVE NO MONEY." And they still didn't believe me. At least they gave us mint green tea.

This place made scarves by hand. The guys tied them around our heads.

The leather tannery.

You can see the vats of dye used for coloring the leather. Before we walked on this rooftop, a guy who worked there gave us all fresh mint leaves to cover the smell of nasty meat.

This was the store that sold the leather from the tannery. I purchased a pair of Moroccan slipper-shoes which I knew I wanted before I arrived in Fes.

On out second day, we had a different tour guide, named Rashid. Hassan introduced us the night before in a hookah bar. He was very nice, and could speak 7 languages!

Later I decided to walk around our hotel when I had some free time. A group of boys walked by and asked, "How many camels? I want marriage!" 

The colors in Morocco could take your breath away.

Berber woman's cave house. Built in 14th or 15th century, and passed down through the generations. The lady served us mint green tea and I bought a fossil from her.

 On our last day, Hassan took us to a market and told us to sit down in this restaurant. It smelled so good, like barbecue. 

Hassan bought us these kabob sandwiches. I was very grateful, since I have no money. 

He also bought us tons of fruit to eat, which was great because I thought I would contract scurvy.

The COLORS

After Morocco I also got some food poisoning, but it wasn't too severe. The food poisoning was totally worth it though because Morocco was the best place ever! 

PARIS

Arc de Triomphe de l'Etoile. We really wanted to go up to it, so we ran across many lanes of traffic, almost getting hit, only to realize there is a passage that goes under the road. We climbed the arc.

This is the view.

I went back to the Louvre, and saw lots of Rembrandt's (some shown above), Vermeer's, and Van Dycks. The Louvre is the coolest thing in Paris.

The day before we went to Musee D'Orsay, but could not take pictures. I saw a Degas exhibit, many Monet's, Van Gogh's, Renoir's, Cezanne's Manet's, among others. 

I was staying in Paris with our Friends Mary and Carol Dorgan. They were so kind and generous to me and made me feel right at home! On our last day, Mary drove us to Normandy to See Monet's house and garden (above). The h ouse was so charming, cosy, and bright, using colors seen in his paintings. 

Mary and I in the garden.

The pond where he painted his water lilies.

Mary also drove us to see where Van Gogh lived. We also saw the church he used in a famous painting of his and where he was buried. It is very beautiful outside of Paris in the countryside. Then we flew home to Rome!