The real news

On to the exciting things that have been happening in art-life!

The beginning of May, Evan and I had a joint opening at SOVA on H street, in DC. We called it "Third knock on the door". The theme was folklore and storytelling.
A close and talented friend of ours had had her own show there earlier this year, and we met the owner through her. It's a great place to show. The owner is a great guy, the venue gets a lot of traffic, and is overall a varied and interesting looking space.
Artists reading this: SOVA's always looking for new blood. Try contacting them, get some art up! It was an amazing opening, one I hope to replicate in the future.

The show's still up, and probably will be for a few weeks yet.


Illustration:
'Firebird with cherries'
8"x10" Watercolour and sepia ink
May 2010

A few impending things...

These next few months are going to be pretty exciting for me. The next issue of Steampunk Magazine is coming out soon (with two of my illustrations in it)!
And I've managed to nab the job of illustrating the cover of Crossed Genres' July edition, themed 'Lies'. I am so excited about this. Cover art is something I've been wanting to do, and Crossed Genres happens to be a truly excellent publication that I really respect, both for its past art and literary content, and also for its imaginative method of running.

My biannual graphic design contract is edging closer, which will mean a lot less dealing with grump customers and a lot more feeling like I'm actually in my depth.

Illustration:
'Basking in Lamplight'
3" x 5" Watercolour and graphite, sketch
February 2010

My brain is getting in the way of thinking.

I have difficulty working with music or sound around me.  Or rather, I have difficulty conceptualizing... once a sketch is down and I'm onto the grunt work of rendering, I can listen to anything.  This is something I am just realizing.

Despite five years of art college, it took until now for me to recognize this pattern in myself.  I honestly thought that the reason I tended to do most of my work in silence was because I was too lazy to turn on music, or an audio book until I was several hours deep into a project.  I also though that the reason that I didn't like spending time in the noisy Print studio at school was because I am antisocial. 

It took until I was living with Evan full-time, working in the same studio space as him for the problem to truly surface.  He loves music, and works best with his MP3 collection, a podcast, or an internet radio station playing in the background.  He does a lot of insanely tedious work for a graphic design firm, so he seriously needs it.

I know why this is, too.  I have Asperger's Syndrome (as I've probably mentioned before) and tend to automatically visualize everything.  If there is a music track playing, my mind is working to visually map that song, with colour, imagery, and geometric shapes.  If someone's speaking, my mind is creating a tableau based on whatever they're talking about, overlaid with a running transcript written in a pleasing serif font.  This ties in with the synesthesia so common in us Aspies, apparrently.  Also, sometimes I just hallucinate stuff, for no other good reason!  My brain does not like to think that I am lonely.

The net effect of this sort of all of this?  I become almost blind when there's too much sound going on around me.  I'm seeing what I'm hearing, and I'm finding it almost impossible to focus on whatever is in front of me.  So even if I'm doing fine, inking and listening to music, someone talking to me over that can make my entire workspace go invisible. 
I love working in coffee shops, because they remove me from the constant temptation of internet time-wastage, while also getting me out of the house.  This is where I write best.  Unless it is too loud there. This is highly frustrating.

The best solution I can think of is to find myself a quiet, private place to get started on my work in.  Where that is, I have no clue, as I live in a townhouse with no backyard to speak of.  Anyone else out there with similar issues, and perhaps suggestions?

SOZD*!

Today is 'Support Our 'Zines Day'!  Something I was informed of upon waking this morning, by an incredibly exuberant Eimhin.  He, not the procrastinator that I am, has already posted a wonderful and comprehensive list of 'zines-of-amazingness on his own blog, which I recommend that you peruse.  But there really is no possible way to over emphasize the importance of literary magazines, both in purveying excellent literature (and visual art, comics, and poetry...) and in promoting artists, burgeoning and established alike.  So take a spin about these bizarre and marvelous publications, and if you can afford it, show them some love.

GUD Magazine
Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet
Crossed Genres
McSweeney's 
Weird Tales
Leading Edge
Brain Harvest
Electric Velocipede
Sybil's Garage
Tin House
Flash Fiction Online
The Cafe Irreal
Fantasy Magazine
Strange Horizons
ClarkesWorld
Shimmer
Steampunk Magazine

If there are any others I have missed, or simply have not heard of, please tell me about them in the comments!  There are few things as satisfying as discovering a good new source of fiction.

I listen to not nearly so many Podcasts as Evan, but I am a generally huge fan of the readings over at Telltale Weekly.  Alex Wilson's voice and inflection are perfect for these readings, and his content selection is excellent.  It was through Telltale that I first found out about Kelly Link, actually (you must listen to 'The Girl Detective' as read on the site) which has, of course, led to all sorts of  fascinating developments in my life.

*SOZD still sounds to me like a state of drunkenness.
Somewhere between dameschwipschen and completely toasted.  Probably not the ideal state for reading, but to each one's own.  Go for it.

All that talk of not having any art done...

...and I forgot that I hadn't posted this sketch here.  Done in my Canson sketchbook, one fine afternoon whilst sitting about at the Hardbean Cafe downtown. 

A larger version, as always, can be seen on my DeviantArt page.

Graphite.  5 1/2" x 8"

How to lose me as a customer

I'm finally getting back to work on my gallery website.  I tried it first two summers ago, and was ultimately defeated by my own ambition.  This time, no flash is going to be involved at all.  Just a simple, aesthetic layout in Dreamweaver, using Lightbox2 to showcase images.  My writing will go up on it too.
What spurred me to get on it again?  Well, my domain name registration expired.  I'd been waiting for this, because I originally got it using GoDaddy, as it had been the only registry I had heard of.  Then I got blasted with some of their ridiculously gross, sexist commercials.  Decided I didn't want to send any more money that way.  I canceled (after having them unsuccessfully try and charge my credit card for re-registry behind my back) and now it has been several weeks of waiting for my domain to free up so I can register with DynamicDolphin.  Is it supposed to take this long?  Seriously not amused.

But anyway.  Here is a doodle from one of my sketchbooks, done in café Tryst a few weeks ago.  Ballpoint pen and white coloured pencil on recycled brown paper.

The tide is rising...

Evan and I just got back from downtown. We went to see the high tide, which is 1 to 1.5 feet above average. Accompanied by heavy rain, it's the cause of the 'coastal flood warning' that's been in effect from Tuesday morning, and will remain in effect through Thursday morn.

After crossing the drawbridge into the city, we were immediately confronted by a massive puddle, at least 100 feet long, more than a foot and a half deep, and spanning the entire breadth of the road. The storm drains in Annapolis are a little counter-productive. Whenever the tide is high, or there has been a tad more rain that usual, they back up and flood into the street.
The dinghy docking area, normally consisting of a small brick park with trees and benches about three feet above the waterline, was entirely immersed. Water lapped against the stairs on the far side, dampening the bronze children of the Kunta-Kinte memorial. Waterborne debris littered the plaza, and we spent some time fishing out and disposing of the inorganic matter.
The closer to the docks we got, the higher the water level. An Camaro and an SUV sat side-by-side in the lowest point of the dockside parking lot. Both were submerged up to their headlights.
The waterline sat less than a foot below the dock, sometimes coming into corners so violently that we were hit by the spray. Not that this mattered much, the constant chill rain--illuminated occasionally by distant flickers of lightening--kept us damp enough.
We took the side of Dock street opposite the docks on the way back (which proved to be a mistake). The Navy yard was surrounded by a veritable moat, and we joked that the single grey boat sitting in the parking lot was there for such occasions. A car passed us, and the shock of its passage sent a wave of brackish water over our shoes.
There was no saving our feet, really. An ankle-deep pool in the sidewalk pretty effectively drenched Evan, and swamped over the ankle of even my waterproof hiking boots. We arrived home soaked but elated.

It's easy enough to enjoy, because it's mostly spectacle. Despite the high water, there's no possibility of damage to businesses, homes, or people. In 2003, long before I moved here, hurricane Isabel did major damage, flooding all of Dock Street and up to the Hard Bean Café and Riordan's. 2009 is predicted to be a relatively average to light hurricane year. Considering the state of the storm drains, however, and the unusally rainy six months we've been having, it might not take a hurricane to cause real trouble here.


Illustration:
"Cthulhu before R'Lyeh"
India ink on bristol board.
6 x 11"
Copyright Lisa Grabenstetter, 06/2009

Thematic redux (Plumed equine)

A re-examination of a subject I drew back in highschool. There used to be a long, elaborate story it went with, but now all that I remember is its environment. Long, domed flint shores that ran into a translucent sea. Enormous mosses and lichens towering overhead. Plumed equines running about beneath. That sort of thing.

Colored pencil and walnut ink on hemp paper.
8 x 8"

Tried out a new technique with the penciling this time. Not sure if I'm going to stick with it.
Feedback would be immensely helpful.

The Magnetic Crow

Just because, it has been neglected.
This was actually drawn for this site, before it ended up on my thesis card.
Expect it to show up somewhere soon.

On literary magazines.

Something I neglected to mention here. Two of my pieces were selected to be published in the newest edition of GUD (Greatest Uncommon Denominator) magazine. I just received my contributor copy in the mail, and it is really quite sweet.

Now, publishing your stuff in magazines really does not pay much. It's really about the exposure, and being involved in something as beautiful and independent as a lit mag like GUD. And so, I am extremely thrilled about this. Really, go check it out. Even if you don't have the extra income to spend on a copy right now, get a peek at the free content. 'Time cat' is an awesome game.

A crust of ice.

We finally got a little snow here in Maryland, and though it doesn't even approach Cleveland standards I'm willing to feel it's better than nothing. A few inches, total, and shelled by that evening in a crisp layer of ice. This is what I remember best from growing up around here, the days when you awoke to a two-hour-delay because the trees, road, and everything else had been encased in clear ice overnight. The brilliance of sunlight refracting through the ice-covered twigs. The occasional, heartrending gunshot from the forest as a tree broke in half under the ice's added weight.

I took the opportunity of being somewhat stuck inside for the past two days to finish this image. I started work on it in July, lost it among my possessions for a long time and then rediscovered it a few weeks ago. It's probably the most ambitious watercolour I've attempted since entering college five years ago, and I'm still ambivalent regarding the outcome. Any comments are critique would be much appreciated.

9 x 12" on Strathmore. Ballpoint and Watercolour.

Happy Winter, All!

A lot has been going on in my life of late, which has prevented me from being fully participatory on the internet. Nevertheless, I make my attempt.
Happy winter all, and best of luck struggling through the hard times the economy is presenting to us. May it improve soon.


Image: Perchta and the Wild Hunt.
My part of Evan and I's joint Winter holiday/New Year card.
Watercolour and ink.

My BFA is coming!

If anyone who reads this wanted "tangible" evidence that I am freaking the hell out of my mind right now, take a gander at the show card for my BFA. As much as I enjoy doing this sort of thing, I would be highly appreciative of not having such a close and stringent deadline for it all.
I would also be appreciative of not having the spring show this week, finals next week and my BFA the week after that.
And on top of all of that, I am attempting to fabricate some more work for a Steampunk show in Texas next month. This is why I am non responsive.

Any and all who are in Cleveland, though, please stop by my BFA while it's up. I'm putting a great deal of effort into it, and payoff would come in the form of impressed 'ooh's and 'aah's from the largest possible audience.

That plus a degree, I want one of those too.

Some art, and where I'm going for now.

Next week is SGC (Southern Graphics Conference), the largest printmaking convention...probably in North America. Big deal. Lots of neat artists, lecturers, panels, demos... very excited, me. This will be the second one I've attended. The last was held at the University of Madison, Wisconsin. This one will be at VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University) in Richmond. Very close to home for me, and also close to my little sister, who's going to William & Mary, and whom I hope to see while I'm down there.
In any case, I'll be gone from Wednesday morning (early) through Saturday night (veryvery late.) What I'm going to is probably much more interesting than the fact that I'll be gone, so I'll be sure to make an account of what I found there when I get back. For one, I'm looking forward to a little springlike weather, in counter to the wintery deadlock that Cleveland has had to offer thus far this year.
Before I go, here are a few items I've been working on. The one up top is a sketch of a little hybrid critter that's part squid, part goat and part thorn bush. Just something I doodled in my notebook whilst awaiting the arrival of Nancy Stahl, the lecturing illustrator I went to see last Wednesday night, during the snowstorm. It was very informative, she is very famous, and more about that at another time, as well.
At the bottom are some sample enamels I've been working on, just to practice technique. The larger ones are photo transfer, done in different colours and baked at different lengths. The little ones are just experiments with flux and opaque enamels.

That is all. Happy Easter and Purim and Vernal Equinox (belated) everyone.

Getting to know Bitstrip

It's still pretty awesome, though.
And my roomie Lin is on there too.

More random personal comics to come in the future. Effortless creativity is fun sometimes.

Of enameled thickets and chimaeric hybrids

A little bit of mine own art on mine own art blog, eh?
Five of these are of a series of enamels I completed for midterm. 'Completed' being used loosely, here, because I feel like at least three of them need a tad more work. Hint: the green ones are overfired (how I like it) and the red ones are way underfired (they also need sanding.) I believe they will enlarge if you click on them.
Also, a sketch of a night jar chimeric plant hybrid. Because right now I'm all about the combination of animals+minerals+plants+machines. Reading too much damn Michael Maier, that's what it is. Yes.
Maybe just reading too much in general.
To come: some several-year-old ballpoint pen watercolours that I never scanned for some reason, and a four-plate drypoint print on the aforementioned chimeric obsession.

Storefront

For anyone who's interested, I'm slowly building a small presence over on Etsy.
There are only two items in the shop at the moment, both digital prints, both actually impossible for me to make/ship at the moment, considering that Cleveland is currently under several feet of snow.
But check it out anyway. Future plans are big, as I hope to work on jump-starting myself by drawing little hour, or half-hour vignettes every day and posting them up there for cheap (like, $15-20 dollars for a handmade piece cheap.) So keep an eye out for that.
Also working more on getting the banner up on this site, as well as that one.
You'll know when I finally drag my butt through the motions of making one.

Cheers!

Soon:
Photos of my roommate's car half buried under a snowdrift. Blizzards during spring break = hilarity!

Alchemy

If I don't post this now, I will forget. A two-and-a-half month dry spell, then four in one day. I'm afraid this is what I do.
This is the third state of a print I have been working on for a while. I might have posted the first state here... I'm really not sure. In any case, it is a drypoint print, on arches cover cream, 9 x 12". The title is 'Avia Sophia'. It is, as I implied, still in progress, but I am fairly happy with where it is right now.
Refer to the title of this post for purposes of interpretation.

Enamel

Or email, in German. I'm taking a class called 'The printed image in enamel', my first involvement with the medium. It is highly enjoyable. I particularly love the different variations achievable through the manipulation of flux. The accompanying pieces were created using a liquid hard flux, a powdered flux, liquid white, opaque grey and just a touch of a pale translucent blue.

I am a terrible blogger.

No wonder nobody reads this.
I'm trying to get back on track, but my BFA coming that might take a while. In the meantime, here is a piece I did for my expanded print final last semester. The idea was an 8 x 11 image that could be printed out on any standard desktop printer. The challenge was to make it somehow user friendly, interactive, to give people a reason to print it out. So mine is stationary, though as anartist I have trouble surrendering complete control to my audience. Therefore I have already begun the letter for you. Y'know, to help you along.
Troy (the teacher) was going to make a multi-page pdf out of the class' finals, and send it to everyone he knows. I believe he did. So this is totally, 100% open-source. It's only a 72 dpi image here, but if you want a full resolution copy of your own for printing, leave a comment. We'll talk it out.