Sunday Studio

Something tiny little is brewing in the studio these days...

Friday Inspiration: Summer Sountrack

Stumbled upon this sign on a hot Thursday night in Austin, Texas.

As the last days of August fade away, here is what has been on heavy rotation on my studio playlist this summer:

• This House is Not For Sale | Ryan Adams
• My Winding Wheel | Ryan Adams
• Styggo | The Dandy Warhols
• Woman Woman | AWOLNATION
• I am the Wolf, You are the Moon | Craig Wedren
• Hey | The Falls
• Bad Habit | The Kooks
• Inside Out | Spoon
• Steve McQueen | Brian Fallon
• Welcome Home | Radical Face
• Heroes (Acoustic) | Davis Bowie
• Charlie Brown | Coldplay
• This is the Last Time | The National
• Sagres | The Tallest Man on Earth

Saturday

Wanderlust...

Currently in the studio and thinking about Florence and Paris and London and...

Night studio

{1:29 am} something brewing in the studio...

Fragments

(Spread No. 16, Sketchbook No. 14) fragments of woodblocks on vintage paper, 14 x 7" opened 

Sketchbook No. 14

(Spread No. 7) woodblock proof and lithograph, 14 x 7" opened

(Spread No. 8) photocopy on graph paper and woodblock proof, 14 x 7" opened

Some pages from my recently completed Sketchbook No. 14 which took far too long to fill. It spanned from October 2013 to September 2015-- nearly 2 years! It has never taken me this long to complete a sketchbook. I've been using softcover Moleskin notebooks more and more. The process is different though: I do much more writing, planning, and research in the Moleskines. Time to get back in the habit of using sketchbooks as a place to experiment, document, and collect!

Website update!

A long overdue website update. What's new? The full process and final edition of the color reduction prints Ode to Pluto, a new and ongoing drawing series Not a Circle, and the dizzying Razzle Dazzle book.

I've also updated and expanded the Sea of Lines drawing series and the Ephemeral section!

Check it out!

Purple Process

I've been feeling like my circle prints were reaching an end, and that I needed to go out with an ambitious final series. I very rarely print in color, and I very rarely make editions. However reduction prints are so uniquely time consuming (and self destructive) that I felt I needed to do an edition.

The woodblocks are 10" in diameter and are printed in 4 colors. I printed the first layer and then cut away each successive layer to reveal the color underneath. The layers cannot be reprinted, as each new series of marks changes the surface. At first I thought of the marks as gathering clouds or a storm front, but the layers of color now remind me of a small galaxy or the city lights at night.

Purple on the press and purple on my feet...my studio shoes matched the very vibrant layer 2.

Friday the 13th

Not a Circle (III) | ink on vintage paper | 7.125x10" | copyright Kate Castelli 2015

Studio playlist (snow-day edition...blizzards make for productive days in the studio...)

This is the Last Time / The National
Uptown Funk (featuring Bruno Mars) / Mark Ronson
Hollow Moon (Bad Wolf) / AWOLNATION
Better Man /Leon Bridges
Future Starts Slow / The Kills
I Put a Spell on You / Annie Lennox
I'm on Fire / Bruce Springsteen
Shots / Imagine Dragons
What Makes a Good Man? / The Heavy
Same Mistakes / The Echo-Friendly
Sign / Harriet

Tiny Little Process

Some sketchbook pages related to my Tiny Little circles series of woodblock prints. 

Sketchbook circles

I've kept a sketchbook for as long as I can remember. The practice intensified in undergrad and my sketchbooks became vital and dynamic extensions of my work. My studio practice changed in grad school and I started using softcover moleskins (they come in a 3 pack) as a sketchbook and notebook. I'd record critiques, observations, research, sketches and layouts. The sketchbook became less precious and more of a deposit of ideas and notes.

I've continued to use the moleskins post-grad school and they are currently filled with lots and lots of circles. The above pages are related to my horizon line series of woodblocks.

Progress/Process

Five

I got asked 5 Questions...find the interview (and the answers) at Boston Hassle!

Begin (again)

Cut. Shellac. Carve. Ink. Print. Repeat...The possibilities of a stack of circles.

Printing (finally)

I finally got the chance to print the woodblocks I have been working on over the last few months. I spent a few hours listening to the Rolling Stones, proofing 5 circles, and getting my hands dirty. Not a bad way to spend a cold, grey Friday.

Circles and circles and circles

Pages and pages of circles in my sketchbook...

The Frequency of Falling

Slowly getting back into the studio. I've been musing in sketchbooks, cutting some woodblocks, sourcing new and different ephemera to print on, and figuring out what is next...

(a printing day is order...soon)

Intersections

The first day of November is grey and blustery. It makes for a good day in the studio with a sketchbook, intersections, and a wood block.

On the line

Hanging prints to dry on an impromptu line strung across the studio.