Michelle Ward/GreenPepperPress Blog

I found this quote in my stash of favorites.  Good isn’t it?  Makes you think.

Off to swim……..

I think this heat would make me really crabby if it wasn’t for our NEW POOL!

Lucky for us it’s been installed and filled for a week now and we are floating around ENJOYING the warmth of the sun.

Being around the pool all day and playing lifeguard to my 3 and whatever friends are over leaves little time in the studio but I am making headway on three major projects.  I’m taking a quick trip home to visit my family in MN and then I’ll be posting the new rubber sheets.

My very first set of rubber sheets – The HomeWard Collection went online in May 2002.  Is it possible it was THAT long ago?  I started with 4 sheets and now it’s at 18.  The new set of sheets comes with a new direction, and new name for the collection.  You may have noticed I’m getting larger with my images – that is because my own interest is working big – on pages, and paper, and on canvas with paint.  As I’ve said before, the benefit of designing for unmounted sheets is that you can get big.  I was just looking through some sites that carry my mounted stamp designs and I’m still surprised that one 3" x 3" stamp can cost $10 or more.  Maybe people think unmounted is pricey but when you think of what you’re getting it works out cheaper.  Imagine what is would cost you to buy a mounted image that is 3" x 10"!

Coming soon…….

Last week I HAD to get the Rolling Stone with Captain Jack on the cover.

IRRESISTIBLE. 

And in the mail, Handcrafted 2, from Stampington.

Those are my hatboxes on the cover! 

Inside are a few cards – gosh, when was the last time I stamped a card?  Also inside I was surprised to see the Pear Trio collage – my first spackled canvas.  Seems like a hundred years ago since I made that but it holds a special place in my heart as I was commissioned to make an identical piece for an art collector (couldn’t part with this one).

I’m not good at parting with my pieces – don’t want to have to price them either.

After some digital trials, I had to GET REAL with these images.  You can see I carved some really big elements so I could use them with paint in my journal.  Written around the birds and branches are the words to SONGBIRD, written by Christine McVie.  A beautiful version can also be heard by Eva Cassidy ~ hauntingly sweet, and in the top ten of my all time favorites.

While I’m in the process of learning digital design, I find it’s a great resource for trying things out.

Here are two journal pages that only exist on my hard drive.  They began as painted pages and

then I started applying custom PS brushes using some of the new images that will be available in

rubber next month.  Playing with composition and scale digitally saved alot of copy paper – my

former process was to draw the designs, then copy them in several sizes so I could put them to

use and see if they worked as stamps.  The cool thing about designing unmounted rubber is that

you can make the images as large as you want – no restrictions on having to fit a wood mount.

Look for some HUGE stamps from Green Pepper Press soon!

Everything is coming up roses!

Lots of good news today.

Feeling blessed.

(More digital selections added on left)

I was cleaning out my kids backpacks (we just finished school last week) and their folders were covered in doodles – mostly band names and logos.  My folders looked the same, way back in junior high.  As a side note, it’s pretty cool that some of the band names I found on my kids folders were the same as the ones I had drawn…KISS, Queen, Zep…

What I wanted to point out today is that my love affair with fonts began with Rock and Roll.  Think about it….studying the lettering, trying to draw the logos exactly like the album cover was an introduction to fonts.  I loved when a band kept the same typography for every album.  Some bands changed their lettering every year which was such a nuisance.  Type and logos go hand in hand. 

Band recognition. 

I love alphabets.  I’ve designed several over the years, and have collected dozens as stamps, stencils, and punches.  I’ve carved 4 sets of alphabets.  Now I collect fonts for my latest obsession with digital art.  I don’t know where I’m going with the digital art but it’s a really fun adventure as I’m teaching myself how to use it.  My dream would be to get into designing band merchandise, or maybe album covers.  How cool would that be?

Once again, it circles back to loving Rock and Roll.  Crank it up.

Dale Chihuly paints HUGE.  Gotta love a man who paints with a broom.  Paint flies out from a squirt bottle onto a canvas.  He’s quick, he’s random, he thinks HUGE.

His glass is HUGE.  I’ve been a fan since seeing an installation years ago.  I love his dvd set…..glass globes floating down the canals in Venice.  You can see the man and his team in action.  HUGE tendrils, wild color, daring, dangerous, fantastical, fun.

Starting this weekend, you can see Chihuly’s latest installation at the New York Botanical Gardens.  Tickets must be purchased ahead for a specific time and day.  http://www.nybg.org/chihuly.php

At his site you can see his paintings: http://www.chihuly.com/drawings/working/001.html

Then go see his gallery of glass.  And if you’re not in the New York area here is his schedule for 2006:  http://www.chihuly.com/schedule.html