I mentioned last week that I had finally dropped samples of my books to some local spots. One of them came back with a yes in an email and I was over the moon - I told everybody and was doing a little happy dance every time I thought about it. But then yesterday when I rang them to discuss it further with a different person the answer was a straight out no. Well I'm not sure I reacted that well to be honest - with a rather stilted, cold voice I asked why. I didn't agree with the answer I received so I then fired up a bit. I guess I was just defending my creations but I know I could have handled it better. After I got off the phone I was angry about how they had handled it by saying yes then no but underlying that I was hurting and it was time to face the fact that I, and my work, had been rejected.
Now me being the sort of person I am I needed some time to reason it through in my head. Then I discussed it with my partner and after that I did a quick bit of research on the internet. It turns out that rejection is good for you - it helps you grow as a person. There are also several steps you can take to deal with rejection - one of which was writing about it (a blog entry was suggested!) and another was to do something you enjoy (leading to my hand pain...I will explain soon!). I also have a strong tendency to put everything in perspective - yes I am not feeling crash hot about this but come on now - in terms of world peace and natural disasters this isn't even a blip on the scale. So I have levelled off a bit but I am also coming to the realisation that this new arty lifestyle of mine will come with fabulous highs but also some horrible lows.
Moving right along to my hand now. For about two weeks I have been concentrating on making books, doing blogs and webpages and basically getting my books out there. This is all well and good because if I don't sell some more of them I will have to find another source of income! However, book number three has been ignored during the last two weeks as a consequence. But after yesterday's call all I wanted to do was get carving and today luckily enough was a kid free work day so I could indulge. I have just finished a lino in one short sitting and I do feel so much better (so the wikiHow article was totally right) but my hand is just so sore. Recently I wrote an article about Ezy Carve lino and how it meant you could complete a lino in one sitting...I am reconsidering that statement now! Here is that article below. Have a great day.
The Pilbara Echo, 12 February 2011
Printmaking made easier
It wasn’t that long ago that I started studying printmaking and I still find now that people tend to fall into three categories when you mention that you are into linocuts.
The first category has no idea at all what printmaking is (me two years ago). To bring these people up to speed printmaking is an art form consisting of the production of images, usually on paper but occasionally on fabric, plastic etc, by various techniques of multiplication. Linocuts in particular are kind of like a stamp principle – take a design, carve it out, ink it up and print it on paper, repeating if desired.
Back to the categories of people though, the second category straight away reminisce about their linocut high school experiences and how they loved the outcomes but how hard the lino was to work with, and isn’t it crazy that students were trusted with those carving tools in the first place.
Then there is the third, and by far in the minority group, who just nod and say ‘Ezy Carve’.
Now I didn’t get to do linocuts in high school and I am pretty sure it wasn’t because of the carving tools as we had plenty of weapons available to us in woodworks. However, the first time I studied printmaking at the TAFE it was with lino. So even though I was a tertiary student I can echo what every secondary school student thought – this sucks. I don’t know how many times I cut myself and I could never take corners in the right way so rather than smooth cuts I had some pretty serious gouges. Besides this there was the terrible ache in my wrists – linocuts are hard work.
Then one day when I was browsing in Hedland Emporium I came across a strange looking substance sitting next to the lino in the art section. It was the same size as the lino, same shape, same thickness but it was rubbery. I had no idea what it was but I thought I’ve got nothing to lose (my wrists were still sore at that point) so I bought a sheet and took it home.
Oh my goodness. The joy, the relief, the absolute pleasure at just having the carving tools wiz around the surface, going in the direction that I want them too with so little effort that I can carve a whole sheet in one sitting. I had discovered Ezy Carve.
I did try and research Ezy Carve for this article because I am aware that I sound like an advert and Ezy Carve must be a brand after all. However my trusty information source (Google!) didn’t turn up much information at all. Perhaps it is enough just to know that Ezy Carve is out there (at any reputable art supplies store for between $7 - $10 for a sheet 30 x 30cm in size) just waiting for future printmakers to find it and treasure it as I now do. Then they too will fall into that third, and may I suggest exclusive group, who are out there trying to make the world a better place, one print at a time.
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