ASC, 50 unique pieces of art, and 7+yards of wrapping paper

Making 50 (yes, 50) unique pieces of art was no easy task.

After being selected as one of the 9 artists representing The Arts and Science Council of Charlotte in this year's Community Supported Art Program, I was elated beyond words. What an honor! And what better company to be surround by than the other, 8 selected, madly talented artists?

To break it down, this program is simply fantastic. Nine regional and local artists are selected through a juried process. These artists get a commission from the ASC to make 50 pieces of art. Only 50 shares go on sale. These 50 shareholders buy shares for 9 pieces of original art from these selected artist. Pretty cool, right?

Upon applying, I proposed to the jurors that I would create pieces of art--all different, all nature-inspired, all hand-printed. I would hand-dyed the papers, hand-print them with my stylized bold graphic prints, sign them, and then float mount them so that they would be ready to hang. The topper (drumroll please) was that each piece would be wrapped in hand-printed wrapping paper with a hand-written, hand-printed card with a corresponding hand-printed envelope. WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?

I finished the prints in record time. Did I really? I'm the biggest procrastinator around! Now, onto the framing. This proved to be rather tedious as there were precise measurements and cuts involved. This took me the span of three weekends to completely frame all 50 piece. Note--I wish I never be a framer in my second life.

I then bought the largest roll of paper I could find. I took it home and rolled it out, spanning the width of my entire house. I hand-printed 7 yards (which I learned while wrapping, was not quite enough. Oops). I let that dry over night and then began wrapping each piece, tying ribbon around each package, securing it with a card. The presentation was gorgeous and couldn't be beat.

But the most gratifying part of the entire process was to see all 50 shareholders unwrap my piece of artwork at the kickoff event at Birdsong Brewery. Most unwrapped the packages with so much care and attention and treated the paper as if it were art. And to see their faces when opening their original Liz Saintsing was incredible beyond words. I got to speak with a lot of the art enthusiasts about my process, inspiration, and creativity. I also got to meet the other 8 artists selected and enjoyed some stories along with some great, locally brewed beer.

So, a huge thank you to the ASC, the 50 art enthusiasts, and the 8 other artists represented. Without people like you, my art would not be possible.

50th Anniversary of Festival in the Park and Blue Ribbons

The 50th Anniversary of Festival in the Park could not have been better--wonderful weather, new and repeated customers, funnel cakes and corn dogs. I mean, does it REALLY get any better?!?
My father helped me with the grueling setup all day Thursday. This involves erecting a 10ft x 10ft wall under a tent. We had a few (maybe more than a few) road blocks and hiccups along the way but nothing a skill saw couldn't fix! We (my dad) even made the Charlotte Observer! http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/09/18/5183842/festival-in-the-park-50th-celebration.html
(I swear, I was behind the wall, drilling, hammering, and bolting it into place. He's really just standing there, supporting it!)
I had a little scare with a scattered thunderstorm Thursday evening. I realize weather is a chance we all take as vendors at outdoor festivals but I have had my entire booth destroyed--all the art work, time and money invested, all gone. But I've learned from experience, and the tent was secured, my artwork was protected, and I was show-ready by Friday afternoon.
But the biggest, most flattering news is that I won a blue ribbon for 2 Dimensional Design!! Wow! I could not have been happier when the judges came to my booth Saturday afternoon and awarded me with the honor. I even got a cash prize!
I showcased a few new products of which the little onesies and tiny tees were a huge hit. I sold all but 3 onesies, and sold out of my stationery and dish towels completely. The booth looked really lively and colorful and was well received by the crowds.
So, thank you to everyone who came out and supported me and all the other incredibly talented vendors. I can't begin to tell you how much your support and enthusiasm means to me. And a HUGE thank you to all the hard working festival folks who volunteered their time, helped me watch my booth, and made this year's Festival in the Park a memorable, successful event. I look forward to next year.
 

My Hand-Printed Stationery Is Now Available at Paper Skyscraper in Charlotte NC!

I am THRILLED to announce that my hand-printed stationery is now available at a phenomenal, Charlotte store--Paper Skyscraper. This has become a Charlotte institution, consistently getting voted "Charlotte's Best Gift Store", "Best Place for Stylish Gifts", and "Best Place to Buy a Present". The owners have quite a knack for finding quirky, eclectic items. So, if you find yourself in the Dilworth area, please swing by and visit my birds.
For more information on the store, visit http://www.paperskyscraper.com

 

My Home Featured in Charlotte Home + Garden!

Friends,

I am thrilled to announce that my home and studio space have been featured in the latest edition of Charlotte Home + Garden. I am honored and thrilled to be a part of their spring publication.

You can read the article online at
http://www.charlottemagazine.com/Home-Garden/April-2013/Colorfu-Character-Liz-Saintsing/...or, if you’re in the Charlotte area, you can pick up a copy at your local store…or, if you’re in my neighborhood, you can swing by to see my place in person!

Your support, enthusiasm, friendship, and patronage have helped me earn this privilege with Charlotte Home + Garden. Know that I am grateful for it all. Happy Spring!

Welcome Home! Silk Screening an Accent Wall

A good friend of mine recently came over to my house.  She hadn't been over in quite some time--she has an 8 month old and travels incessantly for work (which are all good excuses in my book).  My house looked quite different since the last time she had come over.  I had been busy remodeling rooms, painting walls, reupholstering furniture, and doing fun, creative things to my space.  Upon entering my bedroom, she gasped and squealed, "This is amazing!".  She was referring to my accent wall which I bravely painted a metallic silver and hand-printed it with a silhouetted, floral pattern.  In her defense, it is quite stunning.
So when her and her husband bought their first home together, commissioning me to silk screen their bedroom wall was the first project on her list.  Once my friend selected the print she thought would work best in their space, I enlarged the image and created two new screens--a small screen with a delicate print, and a larger screen for a bolder pattern.  The two would be printed together, giving the wall a real sense of depth and dimension.
To save time, they painted the accent wall a light shade of mocha prior to me coming over.  Once I arrived, I got to work immediately!  I began the project by measuring the wall and placing tape in the places that I would print the largest screen.  I started at the bottom of the wall and worked my way from left to right.  I printed about five images on the bottom of the wall, washed my screen out, let the ink on the wall dry, and then repeated this, working my way up the wall until the wall was filled with floral prints.  I took a paintbrush and filled in the areas where I wanted the branches to connect.  I let that dry.  Then, I printed the smaller screen with the more delicate branches, filling in the all the negative space.  Once that dried, I repeated with the freehand painting.
All in all, it was an ambitious but manageable project I tackled in a day.  I was really pleased with the outcome and how the different sized screens translated on a larger surface.  More importantly, my friend and her husband were overjoyed.  I truly hope they enjoy their original Saintsing accent wall for years and years to come.  Welcome home!                                                                  

My Friend's New Bedroom Wall

My Bedroom Accent Wall--The Inspiration

The Prolific Roy Nydorf--200 pieces, 4 decades

I can still recall the first time I ever walked into the printmaking studio at Guilford College.  Climbing the stairs to the second floor, entering the well-lit room, hardwoods creaking beneath my feet, and smelling the toxic solvents for the first time.  And I can vividly remember meeting my printmaking professor, Roy Nydorf, as if it were yesterday. 

He started out our freshman orientation by flipping through a portfolio of prints he had collected over the decades, briefly explaining how each print was created—dry point, mezzotint, aquatint, sugar lift—intermittently rubbing his beard, his fingers coated with turquoise. 

I remember his keen eye during critiques, his gloveless hands retrieving a plate in the acid bath, and the way he sparked my interest in a medium I knew nothing about and had never heard of prior to 1997.  That’s what great professors do.

I found the etching process fascinating and addictive.  I was eager to discover how crucial the timing of the acid was.  I was anxious to feel the rush of adrenaline when pulling a print for the first time after having cranked the press and felt the release of the plate, flipping back the blankets, lifting the corner of the print.  And I was as equally hooked on the meticulousness of the wiping of the plates—the seductiveness and methodical, circular motions.

It didn’t take me long to know that I wanted to concentrate in this medium and explore as much as I could under Roy.  I found myself asking him if I could have the honor of being his Teacher’s Assistant, which he said yes to my junior year.  He taught me so much.  So you can imagine my utter disappointment when he announced he was taking a sabbatical my senior year.  Tears were indeed shed.

Many years later, the Greenhill Gallery in Greensboro, NC, offered Roy a retrospective.  This included about 200 of his pieces and spanned over 40 years of creative, artistic exploration.  So when one of my closest girl friends and senior thesis graduates, Carol DeVries, asked me to meet her for lunch and a gallery tour, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.  Coincidentally, Roy’s wife, Terry Hammond, and two other Guilford alums were there, and we shared some laughs, great stories, and caught up.

It was only until I started walking the gallery that I realized what a phenomenal accomplishment my old professor had achieved.The entire gallery was dedicated to him and his work.  It was beautifully curated and a perfect chronology of the evolution of his work.  There were surreal paintings that were dreamlike in nature, with floating figures drifting lightless.  There was a series of ephemeral butterflies rendered in pastels that looked so real that, if you touched them, their delicate wings would crumble.  There were wooden carvings—one 10 feet in length and carved entirely from one piece of wood with painted, red lips—that were so mature and unexpected.  There were paintings—portraits and landscapes alike that detailed time in the Italian countryside and desolate North Carolina highways after a summer rain.  And then there were etchings I was so familiar with because I had personally seen Roy meticulously wiping the plates in the studio—The Black Cat and the a la poupee heads. 

I consider myself blessed to have been able to see this awe-inspiring show.  But I consider myself even more grateful for having had the opportunity to study under such a well-rounded, gifted talent who taught me so much about the printmaking medium and more about myself as an artist. 

Thank you, Roy, for being the artist, visionary, and mentor that you are.  You will never know how you impacted my life. 

    

Fun with Paper Dyeing

I recently became obsessed with dyeing paper.  So much that I began devoting many daily hours to the soothing tranquility the process offers me—my hands playing in the warm waters, the anticipation of what color the dye mixing will yield, and the calmness that takes over my body while watching the paper absorb the colors.  It has been good for me.  It’s made me slow down a bit.

On a recent trip to the fabric store, I picked up some fabric dyes on a whim and thought to myself, “this might be interesting”. The anticipation of doing something new and outside my comfort zone has always made my heart beat a little faster.  I couldn’t wait to experiment with the water and dye ratios.  I couldn’t wait to find out how long it would take the paper to absorb the richness of the dye.

I used an orange dye on my first trial and embarrassingly walked around for two days with orange fingers.  Note: The dyes will stain your hands!  Wear gloves!  For the rest of the day, people kept asking me if I had just eaten Cheetos.  Don’t make that same mistake.

Soon, the process evolved to somewhat of a meditative period for me and I began to look forward to it.  Time in the studio seemed to go by so quickly but productively.  I could dye the papers without my brain going a million miles per hour.  I could find utter enjoyment out of such a simple act and it could yield beautiful results.

I dyed four papers at a time.  It took any where from 30 minutes to an hour, depending on how intense the dyes were and how much water I used.  I was pretty casual with it, never once measuring anything or getting fussy about the tonal range of color the dyes created on the papers.  Sometimes the dyes were inconsistent but I didn’t allow myself to get caught up in the obsessive details.  I just allowed the two elements to do their own, natural thing.

I saved each batch I used just in case I want to revisit the colors.  On a recent antiquing trip out with my mother, we came across some old glass bottles and jars.  They were absolutely perfect for storing the various colored dyes.  I color coded them using paper samples from each batch so they are easily identifiable. I can use and reuse them whenever I like.  Thanks, mom!

These hand-dyed papers will be on display in my booth at the New York Gift Show in August.  And for the next few months, I will be gearing up for it.  Hard.  I plan to have a new line of imagery, paper prints, and a bigger, better, badder booth.  I plan to take New York by storm (minus the Cheeto-dyed fingers!).