mini profile on artist Mark Beam

And now for something completely different! I love all kinds of art. I love thinking about art, talking about it, making it, reading about it and writing about it. I love art that makes me think and smile. I love this piece conceived by artist Mark Beam and printed by the Valgal. Mark generates really wonderful art that makes you laugh, smile and remember. I love that about his work. Long ago these pieces had a base that Mark had molded. They were blue. It made the can more of an art statement. But I always saw these in a kitchen, displayed in rows. It would be great if it was a stark environment with gleaming granite counters and rows & rows of canned smut behind glass and chrome shelves. Or maybe a country kitchen with red and white plaid table cloth fabric and Mom serving up a batch of smut. Maybe I see it this way because I printed these labels in the kitchen of my friend Patti up here in a remote area of Topanga. She was out of town and said I could use her place. I had a kick stand on the silkscreen so I didn't require assistance and I printed these babies out in a couple of hours. It was not the most complicated job but when you print something that is recognizable it must be clear, clean and legible to the naked eye so you need to keep the screen real clean. Especially since Mark included a bar code and a nutritional breakdown in a very small text. I remember that we had a discussion about whether to keep the deckled edge on the paper which I loved and felt kept it in an artsy vein. This is beautiful rag paper with a gorgeous torn edge. The date on this project is 1990, 17 years ago! I think this art is fun, clever and very well done and I loved being a part of it. We made an edition of 20 and Mark signed, dated and numbered each one.

Please click on image to view larger.

Artist Profile: Peter Lodato

Another artist profile in my series of artists that I have worked with.

I really enjoyed working with the artist Peter Lodato. I felt a natural ease with him and I attribute it to him being a native Californian. It would usually take us at least a month to make a print for an artist. When you factor in all the components it is at least a month! When you make a fine art print you must proof it first. So we would print the art on just a few pieces of paper and once the artist approves and makes changes that are to his or her satisfaction we begin the process all over again on over 100 sheets of paper. So you know the art intimately by the time you are finished. Most of the time you are happy to be done and you need to not look at it for a while. I didn't feel that way with "Red Room". I love this print! This is a typical silkscreen print and by that I mean it is flat planes of colour that are combined with blends (the blending of two or more inks to create blended skies, etc.) I mixed all the colours on this and I love his colours very much. This is just a feel good piece of art to me and I would hang it in my house if I had the wall space and colour scheme to match. He is a very nice artist and easy to work with and for. I can't stress enough how working at Wasserman Silk Screen changed me as a person and artist and how I feel privileged that I got to work with all of these people in the late 80's early 90's. It was a fun time in LA when people loved to buy hand printed art.

My pix look weird because most of these prints are huge and it's hard for me to photograph them. I laid it on the floor as it would be hard to attach it to the wall without harming the print. Please click on Peter's name and native Californian to read about this amazing artist.

Jerry Wayne Downs

I have been wanting to write some posts about artists that I have worked with in the past and I keep getting deadlines which makes it difficult for me to think about writing. This year I wanted to dedicate a post every other week for a while to some of the more interesting and unique artists that I have had the pleasure of working with and for. Today I am featuring the art work of Jerry Wayne Downs. This is truly an amazing print, not just the subject but the print itself is astounding! That is due to Jeff Wasserman the master printer. Jeff has to channel the artist to paint and see the way the artist sees to totally capture the artists vision. Jeff paints on mylar so that every line and brushstroke is exactly as the artist dictates through the original. Then he exposes the emulsified screen with the mylar separations in a vacumn table to a high powered light. The screens are then washed out and the emulsion washes out of the areas that have been painted on the mylar. I only printed on this one piece for Jerry but the image is so special and impactful that I wanted to share it with all of you. One great thing about being a printmaker for well known and special artists is that you receive a printers proof as part of your pay so my collection of prints is vast, unique and wonderful and I hope to share more with you in the future.

I included 2 views because it is such a large print I couldn't capture the whole thing in one shot. The 1st view is a wider view and the 2nd is more of a closeup view.