Spring Break

Sorry for my absence, I'm just winding down from my big Southwest Spring Break Adventure.



This will be a long one, so click below for the full text and pictures:

Carrie flew down last Friday from STL. After she arrived, we went to the airport's car rental center to pick up our car for the week. I'd reserved the car on Hotwire a few months back. When we tried to get the car they said they didn't have any Compact cars left, but they could give us either a 12 passenger van or a Mid-sized car for $5 more a day.

We tried to reason with the lady that we had a reservation for a certain price, and it wasn't our fault that they didn't have the smaller car available. Surely they could just give us a mid-sized car for the same price. But NoOoOoOooo... That woman resented us for getting such a great deal on Hotwire and basically forced us to pay the extra money. After going back and forth for a few minutes I finally gave in and handed over my credit card, figuring I could always complain once we got back (Note: Hotwire is currently reviewing my complaint.) The agent tried to make us feel better by giving us a Hyundai Sonata instead of a Chevy Malibu. Here I am with our sweet ride:



The first stop on our trip was Durango, Colorado, where we met up with Carrie's college roommate for lunch and a stroll on the river walk.



It's been a while since we last saw Jenni. She's married now and just had a baby last fall named Bennett. He's a cutie:



We stayed the night at Jenni's and after a yummy homemade breakfast we navigated our way off their mesa and got on our way to Utah.

Originally, we had planned to drive south from the Durango area, through the 4 corners, into Arizona and then up to Utah. But Jenni's husband suggested an alternative route that was a little more scenic but supposedly faster. There was snow in the forecast for Utah and it seemed safer to take a more southerly route... but who am I to argue with scenic drives?

We did see some really pretty stuff once we got a little farther into Utah!





And then the clouds came... And the snow.



By the time I took over driving duties, we were in a full-on ice and snow storm. Our route took us through the Dixie National Forest in Utah at elevations of 8,000-10,000 feet. The higher we got, the worse the weather was. The road was completely covered in snow, my windshield wipers were frozen up with ice, and I could barely see through the windshield. I had hopes that once we got out of the designated forest area, that the roads would be better. But it was a long, slow, scary drive.



At one point I had to get out and clean off the wiper blades and window. I made the mistake of stopping on a hill. So when we got ready to go again, the car wouldn't move. The wheels were spinning on ice and packed snow! I had Carrie take the wheel and then I did something stupid. I got behind it and PUSHED from the back bumper!!! Thankfully, the car didn't roll back on me. In fact, I somehow managed to summon the strength to push that bad boy out of the rut and up the hill. (Thank you Jesus!) Once the car got going, I did another stupid thing. I ran along side of the car, opened the door, and jumped in while it was moving!!! Seriously, I almost didn't make it.

Here I am reenacting my pushing the car as I ran along side of it:



Thankfully, the roads DID get better once we got out of the National Forest, for a little while anyway. There were some parts after that where it didn't even look like snow had touched the ground. Here's an incredibly relieved but still somewhat worried Carrie somewhere in Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument:



Just when we thought the worst of the weather was behind us, we ran into more snow and bad roads. the deer and the turkeys were sure enjoying it though!



I was never so happy to get to a destination as I was that night. A trip that should have taken 6 or 7 hours took about 9! Blech. The bad thing was, by the time we got to our cabins, all the nearby restaurants were closed. We drove a little ways to Ruby's Inn and found their restaurant open. It felt so good to eat.



The next morning, we slept in a bit and then drove over to Bryce Canyon National Park. We knew that it was supposed to be cold at Bryce, and also knew that it might be snowy, but for some reason we didn't translate that into, "We're not going to be able to do much." We enjoyed an orientation video at the visitors center and then set off to explore some of the trails into the canyon. Of course, all of the trails were covered in ice and snow, and we weren't exactly prepared to hike in those conditions. We were almost too cold to get out of the car to take pictures from the scenic view areas, but somehow we managed. It was pretty, we just wished we could have gotten down in it.






With our day at Bryce shorter than expected, we headed on down to Zion National Park, keeping our fingers crossed that the weather would be nicer. It was only about a 1 1/2 hour drive, but somehow during that time the snow disappeared and the temperatures warmed up more than 30 degrees. Driving into the park was beautiful!!!








We checked into our hotel and went back to the park to look around. We tried going on the first leg of the Emerald Pools trail but somehow ended up doing the whole 3 mile trail. It was nice though, and not too difficult elevation-wise.




The next morning we set out to tackle Angel's Landing, which is one of the more popular, but also more dangerous trails in the park. The trail ascends 1500 feet over a distance of 2.5 miles. At the end, you climb up a narrow fin of rock, in some places only 4 feet wide, with more than 1,000 foot drops on either side of you. There are some chains in the rock to help you get to the peak, but no guardrails. Since 1983, 6 people have died hiking up to Angel's Landing (including a STL man in 2007).

Now, I really wouldn't consider myself a thrill seeker, but when scores of people write that this is the best trail in the park and one of the best trails in the National Park System, it makes me want to get to the top. I was a little bit worried though, since I can be afraid of heights and this definitely fell into the "If you're afraid of heights, don't even consider doing this" category. We were told that there was a landing, about 2 miles up, where you could stop and turn around if you didn't want to make the final crazy climb, so we decided to go for it.



I'm not exactly the most active person in the world, and I definitely had to take a lot of breaks as we worked our way up to Scout's Landing. Fortunately, pictures provide an excellent excuse for taking breaks:




Since it was such a steep climb, there were a lot of switchbacks cut into the rock. The steepest series of switchbacks are called "Walters Wiggles" and they get you Scout's Landing.


There were probably a couple dozen people hanging out at Scout's Landing when we got there. We could see just a few brave souls heading on to the last scary climb to Angel's Landing. As we sat and enjoyed some snacks, we were attacked by some crazy ground squirrels who were after my Luna bar wrapper. One of them even climbed inside my bag! Carrie kept telling me to zip up my bag, but I didn't want to because it was just so darned cute. I was hoping it might accidentally come home with me.



After a rest, I hopped up and said, "OK, let's go!" I charged ahead to grab onto the first set of chains that would help me scale up the rocks. Carrie reluctantly followed, but after about 15 feet, she decided not to continue. She had new shoes and she didn't trust them to get her up the side of the cliff. It didn't help that there was another group of people following close behind, rushing her a little bit. I didn't want to leave Carrie behind, but I also wanted to say I actually finished the trail. I continued on for a little bit more, then got to a landing where I was able to clearly see the final steep climb up. I realized that it would probably take me another hour to finish the trail and get back to Carrie, and I didn't want to leave her down at Scout's Landing by herself, worrying about me. So I took a few pictures, turned around, and went back down.



Going down was a lot easier than going up, but it still took a little time. By the time we finished, we were ready to eat and rest a bit. Then we went on the anti-climactic 3 mile Watchman Trail later in the day.





It was cold in the morning, and our legs were SO TIRED from our hikes. So we decided to just do an easy paved river walk before we left the park.




We left around 11 and started our drive to the GRAND CANYON!!! The drive down into Arizona was a little boring. There were a lot of Native American folks selling stuff in booths along the road. We got to the Grand Canyon and it was incredibly busy.

I was expecting it to be pretty touristy but still found it a little annoying since the other parks had been so quiet. We walked along the rim some and took a few pictures. Here's me being unimpressed with the Grand Canyon:



And here's Carrie loving it!



We saw that there was an evening ranger program a mile or so down the rim, so we started walking towards it. It got dark and quiet and all of the tourists disappeared. It was actually a little scary there for a bit, but we eventually found our way off the rim trail and got to the program. The program was about the beauty and danger of the Grand Canyon. The ranger was really great but the presentation was mostly about stupid people dying at the Grand Canyon. We were really paranoid the rest of the time we were there, expecting that every yahoo who got too close to the edge to take a picture was going to fall off and die.

We tried to walk down the Bright Angel Trail into the canyon but didn't get very far. It was pretty icy and muddy and it looked like people were having to crawl on their hands and knees to get back up to the top. No thank you! We walked down far enough to take some pictures and see some mules and then we were out of there.




Thursday evening we drove to Flagstaff, Arizona and checked into a hostel there. It is a place that Carrie had stayed at years ago. It wasn't too bad, but it was very loud with trains going by and a bar across the street. We just happened to be placed in a room by the street and I couldn't sleep at all! The good thing about the hostel was that we got to watch LOST in a TV room with 5 strangers. It was great.

Friday morning we had breakfast in Flagstaff and then drove back toward Albuquerque on I-40. It was about a 5 hour drive, but we broke it up by visiting the Petrified Forest National Park. Carrie had been here before and said it was "interesting", which secretly meant that it was a little boring. It was pretty fascinating to see all the trees that had turned into rocks. And the landscape was very pretty in parts. But other than that, it was just a bunch of rocks laying around. We still managed some pictures:





We got back into Albuquerque Friday evening and Carrie stayed until this afternoon. It was a nice trip but I'm glad to be home, where the most walking I'll do is the 500 feet between my house and Tamarind.

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LeRoy Neiman

Apparently YouTube entries do not count as a real blog update, so here is something of substance.

Since last week, LeRoy Neiman has been working with the printers at Tamarind for a benefit print. For those of you who don't know, Neiman "is an American artist known for his brilliantly colored, semi-abstract paintings and screen prints of athletes and sporting events." (Thanks wikipedia!) He is also known for his wicked handlebar moustache!!!



Now 81 years old, LeRoy got his big break back in the day when a co-worker named Hugh Hefner started a little magazine called Playboy. He became an artist for the magazine, and has painted and drawn almost every athlete and celebrity imaginable over the past 50 years. He was the official artist for five Olympics and was often filmed drawing live sketches at the Super Bowl and other events. Here's a few of his images (courtesy of his official website):





While some artists might scoff at Neiman's art, they are most likely just jealous because of the MILLIONS and MILLIONS that he's made off of the sales of his work. Apparently, Neiman's prints and paintings are primarily bought by self-made Southern and Midwestern businessmen who aren't usually big into buying art. Having one of Neiman's pieces is definitely a status thing.

Anyway, Tamarind is still desperately trying to raise money for the new building and they got the idea to invite Neiman to make a print. Apparently he's never made a real limited edition lithograph before and was delighted at the prospect. He spent most of last week working on a stone in the studio. On Tuesday night he was the guest of honor at a fancy dinner with the UNM president, then got to sit in the Governor's box at the UNM vs UNLV basketball game. (We got to go too, but our seats weren't quite as close.)



LeRoy drew during the game and was announced to the crowd midway through. It was a good game and UNM won 59-45. Here's me and Patrick getting fired up. Go Lobos!



By the weekend, LeRoy had finished his drawings and they started proofing. Here they are on Saturday trying some different colors.



And here is a close-to-finished version of the print.



Today, they busted out the old flatbed press so that LeRoy could do some monoprints. Here's his ink setup.



And here he is working on a monoprint of LeBron James (from the Cleveland Cavaliers).



Tomorrow night we are having a reception at Tamarind for Mr. Neiman. I guess the benefit print will be unveiled there. Also, there's going to be lots of legislators coming through, so Marge wants us to be printing at night and looking happy and busy, but also a little sad because we need a new building.

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Still My Favorites

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5+5+5+5+5= YAHTZEE!!!!

Seriously.
All I want to do is play Yahtzee.

In the park



At Tamarind


At home


In the bed, on the floor, on a towel by the door...

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A is for Amanda, B is for Boredom, C is for College Art Association

Things slowed down considerably after the first critique. Some artists were chomping at the bit to start working on their next project. Others (like my artists) decided that they needed a good week or two to mull things over. I was grateful for the break from printing... for a few days anyway.

Patrick's girlfriend Chelsey came down for the weekend and we hung out quite a bit. I somehow managed to convince them to join me for a minor league hockey game in nearby Rio Rancho. It was the New Mexico Scorpions versus the Colorado Eagles in hot CHL action. So exciting!!!



The game was fairly lopsided with the Scorpions losing something like 5-0. But the good news was that they were having Skate with the Scorpions after the game. We hurried down to the bowels of the Santa Ana Star Center to get complementary skates, but I was the last person to get a pair. Patrick and Chelsey watched from the stands as I took a few runs around the rink:



Unfortunately, getting the last pair of skates also sometimes means getting the last pair of skates that may or may not actually fit you. The things were killing my feet, the ice was rough from the hockey game, and I was certain that I was going to bite it. I didn't stay on very long... just long enough to take a few pictures in front of the mascot.



I was hoping to make some progress with my artists before I left for CAA on Tuesday but still didn't get a whole lot accomplished. I set out Tuesday evening to Dallas and had an okay flight but an awful encounter with the SuperShuttle out of Love Field. I had prepaid for the shuttle under the assumption that a taxi into downtown Dallas would be much more expensive. But after I waited AN HOUR for the shuttle to pick me up, and after finding out the taxi only would have cost between $5-10 more, I was regretting the decision.

CAA is the College Art Association and they have a conference every year with art panels and things. The main attraction is the interview center where schools interview for teaching positions. In the past it was common for people to go to CAA without an interview lined up, show around their portfolio, stalk interviewers at their hotels, and hopefully leave with a job. But nowadays its a lot different. Not as many schools seem to be interviewing at CAA, it's all done online, and if you don't already have an interview lined up, there's not really much reason to go.

My main purpose in attending the conference was to hang out with my old grad school buddy Kathy O'Connell. Here is Kathy in her power jacket and fashion accessory wheelchair:



Also staying with us was Ms. Charletta Nicole Hogan, who was a few years behind me at the University of Wisconsin. Nikki and I share a love of Mountain Dew and Powdered Donettes.



I somehow managed to convince both Kathy and Nikki to draw on some litho plates for me:



The hotel we stayed at was The Adolphus, which despite being a conference overflow hotel, turned out to be way more awesome than the actual conference site. Of course, I may be biased... since this hotel was built by my boy Adolphus Busch (of Saint Louis Anheuser Busch King of Beers fame). Here's a picture of me and big A:



The thing that was great about the Adolphus, besides being nearly 100 years old, was that there were A's on everything! Even the pillow shams:



I liked to pretend that the A's stood for "Amanda", while Nikki preferred to think they meant "Alabama".

I went to a few conference activities, and finally got around to hitting up the JFK 6th Floor Museum.



But mostly I just hung out in the hotel room, cracked the litho whip on Nikki and Kathy, and enjoyed several excellent meals.

Here we are enjoying a lovely lunch at Dakota's Restaurant:




And this is our last dinner together at Truluck's, courtesy of Kathy's lovely mom, JackieO. (P.S. Look at the size of my SHRIMPS!!!)



Although it wasn't exactly busy at Tamarind before I left for CAA, it was still nice to get away and enjoy the company of my old friends in Dallas.

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Critique #1 (Nicole & Jenna)

I just got back from a lovely dinner with my Tamarind friends (minus Yuli who has been besieged with dental problems). It always amazes me that I can spend 60 hours a week in the studio with these kids and still want to hang out with them afterward. But as Valpuri put it, "It's not like we have any other friends here."

Everyone else (again, minus Yuli), unwound after a long and stressful first project by going together to Bikram Yoga. While I don't mind occasionally doing yoga in the privacy of my own home, I'm not that interested in going with the others. I argue that my recent kidney donation prevents me from doing crazy hot yoga. But after a year and a half, that excuse is starting to wear thin.

Yoga or not, it did feel good to finally be done with these first projects. We had our critique this afternoon and it was nice to finally have all the artists and printers together so that we could see (and hear) what happened with the collaborations.

Nicole
My print with Nicole ended up being a CMYK print, but it was still quite a challenge. We did CMYK prints last semester, but I don't think I ever actually wrote in detail about them. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about... CMYK printing is what is usually used for newspapers and magazines and pretty much any other printed items. If you've ever looked on the bottom of a cereal box, you'll notice a calibration bar with four colors: Cyan (bluish), Magenta (hot pink), Yellow, and Black.

Below is an image I found on the fancy interwebs that illustrate this concept. On the left you see the different color separations. On the right you see how the image changes as the colors are printed on top of each other.



So Nicole had this image of a building that she wanted to use. It was very important to her to capture all of the different variations in the brick. She wasn't interested in hand drawing or working on the plates or stones directly. I suggested some different ways we could get where she wanted, but in the end she pushed for CMYK and that's what we did. Even though it seems like more of a commercial and maybe more of an easy way of printing, it was still pretty hard. My first problem was that the colors were too lean or transparent. The colors were mixing, but I wasn't achieving the right levels. Nicole was pretty disappointed with the first proof so I spent the next day making another one.

Here is Celina contemplating the prints. The one on the left is the second (darker) version of the print. The one in the middle is the first (lighter version) and the one on the end is just a mess-up where I printed the wrong ink on the wrong plate.



After discussing it with Rodney and Bill, I decided to leave all the transparent base out of the inks and just use opaque colors mixed straight out of the can. They were still printed pretty lean, but I was able to match the colors much more closely this way. We printed half of the edition on gray Rives BFK and half on white German Etching paper. I like the effect of the gray under the inks. Here is a closer look:



I was pretty happy when the edition was done:



Jenna
Jenna and I got off to kind of a late start. She was also working with Ana and they met before we did, so she kind of already had an idea of what she wanted to do. For me, she tried working with the tusche on the stone. This was the first version of her print (as it looked on the stone before etching):



After seeing the proof, she decided that she wanted to work into it a little bit more. So I counteretched the stone and she went back at it with more tusche, some litho crayon and some rubbing crayon. Which resulted in this (in ink on the stone):



This turned out to be just one run on gray Rives BFK paper in a blue-black ink. Jenna expressed some interest in maybe watercoloring over the print, but has yet to do so.

Otherwise...
Things are going well. Patrick and I spent about 20 hours in the studio this past weekend, and my little guest house was in shambles. I finally did my laundry, picked up my messes, went grocery shopping and found time to update this blog. It's nice to actually have some breathing room again. For the next collaborations, I have Nicole again, and then Karl. We have four weeks to complete the prints this time, which is nice. But I'm planning on going to the College Art Association conference in Dallas next week. So that will cut into the planning stages a little bit. Hopefully by the time I come back, my artists will have their ideas completely ironed out so that I can get cracking on the proofing.

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