Oh, baby! I've been silkscreening!

It's been a LONG time since I wrote a post. What have I been up to? Last year my artistic endeavors were focused on our DIY wedding. This year, my time is gearing up for a baby. I've been learning to sew and have broken out the silkscreens again. Onsies galore!

Lots of people have raved about these and want to learn how. While there's better internet tutorials out there, here's the basic process. 

1. Buy or make screens. I have traditionally made them using special silkscreen fabric and canvas stretchers. I only wanted to make two more blank screens so it was just made sense for me to buy two pre-assembled screens vs buying 5 yards of the fabric. If you plan on making several screens, definitely consider building your own. It's WAY more cost effective. 

2. Duct tape the heck out of the the screens so water won't ruin the wood. 

3. Cut out the stencils. I just hand sketch something on an envelope (see picture) and then cut it out with an exacto. The parts you cut out are the where the ink will show through. 

4. Using painter's tape, tape the stencil to the outer part of the screen. 

5. Setup other supplies. This includes laying down 2-3 tablecloths or sheets that you don't mind printing on. Sometimes ink bleeds through. I just used tablecloths I found at goodwill. You will also need:

• Silkscreen ink: You can get some at art supply stores or online supply stores like Dick Blick. I have a small sampler set that works well. 
• Squeegees: The ones with the round edge are best for fabric printing The ones with the square edge is better for paper printing. 
• Spoons or spatulas for mixing or applying color to screen. 
• Plastic containers (optional): I save cream cheese containers in case I want to to mix colors together. 
• Scrap Fabric: It's important to have one to test the print. 
• Painter's Tape: I use this in two ways. 1) It holds down fabric or paper so it won't come up when you lift the screen after printing 2) You can use it to mark the placement of screens on the clothing or paper before you start printing. 
• Paper: Paper can be inserted under a piece of clothing to avoid bleeding into the fabric or surface. 

6. Layout the fabric or paper you will print on. Make sure they are spaced well. Lay the screen (not yet inked) down to center the print, and mark tape around the screen so you know where to line it up when you start printing. 

7. Apply paint to screen and test print on the scrap fabric. 

8. If you like what you see, keep going.

9. Almost done! Clean up. Let the paint dry. Before washing, you should heat set the print. Here's a video about heat setting. 

The Root Cause

Happy New Year. Well, almost.  

"Today has a good beet." - Monica Joy 12/30/2013

Earlier today I was reminded of an important belief: Doing it is much better than thinking about it. I had fallen out of my running routine and have been getting back to it over the last few days. This morning I decided that the only way I knew for sure that I would complete my cross-training workout was to get out of bed and do it. My partner Jeff always says, "I really regret going to the gym today...said no one ever." This is always a true statement.

When I arrived at work this morning I reflected on how much better I felt. I didn't have my daily goal on my mind, because I already completed it. I wasn't plagued by the fear that I would be too tired to do it after work. I just did it and felt great for the rest of the day. 

About five years ago I had an Experience that shifted my self-perception. I realized how important my word and commitment to myself is. I can do anything, as long as I GO FOR IT. Sure, some things will never come naturally but with intention and commitment, I can learn to do so many things. 

This belief is the "root" of my many endeavors over the last few years. I run because I once believed I couldn't. During my long runs (especially during marathon training) I have come across many of the reasons why I believe I can't do something. Here's the thing about that...

"Ode to World Run Day" - Monica Joy 11/10/13

I have a choice about whether I am going to believe those things or not. 

You have that choice too. If you are "thinking" about that goal you haven't started or that thing you have been putting off doing, STOP. Create a plan and start today. It will only get harder as time goes on. Don't waste your energy on the fear. Use your physical, emotional, and mental energy to complete your goal. 

I moved to Austin in April and knew there would a transition in my life where I couldn't focus on my art. I needed to champion my goal of building a wonderful life here.  I have had an amazing 8 months here. I love my job, the relationships I am developing, and the art classes I have been taking. I am obsessed with our year round farmer's market and all of the wonderful produce I get there. I am in love with beets, and this is reflected in the silkscreening and embroidery I have been focused on here.

"The Roots of a Crewel World" - Monica Joy 2013

About mid-day today I realized that I needed to take my own advice and re-examine my artistic goals. Setting aside my papercutting for other things was important, and has also set me back in my fears about pursing this passion. I took my own advice today and committed to a papercut and blog entry. You can't "beet" that!

Happy New Year.
Monica

p.s. If you need some support with your goal, feel free to contact me. If you haven't read it, "The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz may be just what you need to read right now. 

I Feel Everything In My Heart

Today's Poppies II, Monica Joy, 2013

Adventures in papercutting continues. I have been committing to some studio time, and some goals to establish the business aspects of being an artist. Thank you again to all who have given me feedback in my recent work and even purchased a piece or two. 

My love of puppetry has not waned, and this song inspired ideas for my next endeavor while I was running yesterday. If you are listening to it, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. 

It will be some time before I create my next show. For now, it's a papercutting frenzy at my desk. 

You can view some of my work at my Etsy store, Open Heart Papercuts. There are only handful of pieces there, thankfully because some work has sold and a few more are being prepared for exhibition. I plan to create an online portfolio and website by the end of March.

So why did I call it Open Heart Papercuts? Well, I recently created my artist statement, which explains a lot about my papercutting and the re-occurrence of the heart. 

Artist Statement

Have you ever done something or gone somewhere or met someone and thought, “Wow, this just feels right?” That is how I feel when I papercut and make shadow puppets. For me, every papercut and puppet is labor of love and a journey of learning to let go of control. It involves vision, planning, risk, adventure, and an unrelenting optimism that everything will work out as it needs to. If the results are not as I intended, I have no choice but to take the process as a learning experience. Unlike my dabbling work with clay or oil painting, I cannot repaint over or fix mistakes. Once a piece of paper is cut, it is cut. I can choose to proceed and let go of my expectations or vision, or I can choose to be frustrated. I choose to let go because I love the learning and creation process too much.

The choice to love and remain optimistic in the papercutting process reflects the way I choose to be in life. It is a struggle, but it lets light in dark moments and I know I inspire others to reflect on their choices to stay in a positive or negative space. I find this mirrored in my papercuts. I try to let the light in, while preserving the integrity and structure that the darkness brings to the story or shape. I cannot have the light without the dark.

I am learning how these concepts affect objects as well as figures and stories that I cut. Figures and people are and have always been prominent in my work. Human expression and form is an inherent passion. I pay homage to my influences (e.g. Modigliani, Matisse, and Frida Kahlo). I strive for my creative experience to be one of gratitude, as well as an opportunity for me to learn about an artist, anatomy, and concepts.

Always in My Heart, Monica Joy, 2012

The human heart has particular significance to me. Many experience butterflies in their stomach when nervous or emotional. I experience butterflies in my heart. Whether I experience the lighthearted or heavy, I feel a physical sensation in my heart region. It feels light in loving moments and heavy and painful in more difficult moments. I feel everything in my heart: the rejection of friends or lovers, the moments I choose to forgive, falling in love and being smitten, and when I need to make difficult choices. I feel everything in my heart. One might say that exhibiting a nude or being naked is a vulnerable experience, but to me, exposing my heart is the most vulnerable experience.

I open my heart to share these ideas with you in dialogue and in my papercuts. It is my hope that my work inspires you to consider the relationship of the positive and negative, and the choices one has to create light from darkness.

Monica Joy
February 2013

Reunited and it feels so good!

Self-Portrait with Cupcake, 2012

Something very meaningful happened this week. I was reunited with my first paper cut...and yes, it feels so good.

Many months ago I reflected on my new adventures with paper cutting and how eloquently it compliments my love of shadow puppetry. I admit that while puppetry is a true joy, I am finding my artist identity as a paper cutter. I am thankful for the feedback and support I have received from friends, family, and community arts leaders. I am thankful that I have had the opportunity to show my work in the community. I feel honored that 4/5 pieces I have shown that were for sale have sold. That's 80% for you data geeks out there.

So let's start out this blog with the big thank you's that have been on my mind for some time.

• Thank you, Bridget, for lending me your self-healing mat so I could experiment with cutting on a better work surface. Thank you for your friendship and your inspiration. 
• Thank you, Bridget (again), Levi, and Jen for being my creative companions in puppetry.
• Thank you, Jeff and John for for being the supportive partners that you are. 
• Thank you, Jennifer, Noel, and Amelia for Beulahland (our first puppet show venue).
• Thank you, Ginnie. You have fostered a safe and beautiful space for local artists to show their work at The Arts Council of the Southern Finger Lakes. Thank you for seeing my work on Facebook and encouraging me to show my work there. In addition, thank you for adopting my first few pieces in your very own home.
• Thank you, Alex and Raghav for inspiring and supporting more ridiculous adventures in puppetry.
• Thank you to those I know and do not know that have inspired, followed and offered feedback on these pursuits.
• Thank you to those I know and do not know that have purchased my paper cuts for yourselves and/or your loved ones. I am not sure if you wish to be publicly acknowledged, but you know who you are.
• Thank you all for being.

Reawakening as an artist this year has been an amazing journey, and I have not felt this "at home" with myself since I was 16. It is much more fun and powerful being an adult artist with patience and peacefulness than it is being an angsty teenage artist.

As I mentioned, this week I reunited with my first paper cut, The Intricate Mistake. So here's the story.

In my early attempts at college (studying art therapy, circa 1998), I attended Mount Mary College in Milwaukee, WI. I took a 2D design class with Sister X. I am not covering up her name. I honestly can't remember her name, but I remember her curly, gray permed hair. She looked like a typical nun. "Uh hmmm," was the sound she made every few seconds. At first, I thought she was expressing interest in listening or looking at some one's work. I realized soon after that "Uh hmmm" was a tic. "Uh hmmm, Uh hmmm, Uh hmmm," she sounded every few seconds. She taught me silk-screening and I remember falling in love with the Ben Shahn alphabet in her class.

Early in the semester we were handed two square pieces of paper, one black and one white. Armed with my exact-o, I felt inspired to paper cut a primitive woman. I remember cutting on my dorm room floor like it was yesterday. I remember feeling proud of what I did and thinking I would be able to make some cool silkscreen from it.

I returned to class and discovered immediately that  I did the assignment incorrectly. I had made a mistake, an intricate one. I do not even know what the assignment was, but it was far simpler than what I had started to work on. She never intended to shut me down from paper cutting. Her feedback was that I did the assignment wrong. I can not 100% affirm that I swore off paper cutting due to that incident, but I can confirm that I never did a paper cut until 14 years later.

My friend, Matthew saw the paper cut and framed it in his apartment for many years. At my request, Matthew looked through his archives and found the Intricate Mistake this week. So here it is. A simple and very meaningful piece. Thank you for finding this, Matthew!

The Intricate Mistake (my first paper cut!), circa 1998

When I started paper cutting in June, I shared some of those initial paper cuts. The first one shown in this blog entry was originally drawing from what I remembered of The Intricate Mistake. I'm sure you can see the similarities.

First 2012 Paper Cut

Heart you all!

And Push....12DoJB The Puppet Show

Oh BOY! Grab yourself a Bie-Beer and enjoy the show!

12DoJB- The Puppet Show Link

Here's my disclaimer and credits:

First, this puppet show is our self-directed attempt to learn the art of story boarding, puppetry, audio and video editing, and ridiculous storytelling. Naturally  we didn't make the music and drew from the implied and recognizable musical influences. The audience is intended for our friends and family to enjoy and support us in our growth. This is a FREE puppet show and we welcome critique and feedback in our learning process. Thank you for your support. YouTube provides an opportunity to share our learning and creative development with those afar, yet near and dear to our hearts.

Story Development: Monica and Jen

Shadow Puppet Construction: Monica and some assistance of Bridget, Jen, and Levi.

Puppeteers: Bridget, Jen, Levi, and Monica

Audio Selection and Editing: Monica

Video and Editing Crew: Lee and Michelle

Stage Construction: John and Jeff

Inspiration: Alex

Supply and Shipping Fund: Raghav

Love and Support: You all know who you are and you are awesome!

What to expect when you are expecting?

Excerpt from "12 Degrees of Justin Bieber -The Puppet Show"

Nope. I'm not pregnant if that's what you thought when you read the title. I've been "birthing" a new puppet show with some friends, and promise to introduce this bundle of joy to the world on Friday, December 14th. Stay tuned.

The idea was "conceived" in August, with some development and rehearsals in October, and last night we filmed it!

Perhaps you've heard the stories or seen the strange images posted on my Facebook wall. You might be asking, "Why is Monica so obsessed with Justin Bieber these days? What is this all about?" So here's the context you need.


Well, shortly after my stint at Bread and Puppet I was given an interesting proposition by my friend Jen. Jen fell in love with Shadow Puppets over the summer when she volunteered to work on my first vignette, “How to Make Vegan Cupcakes.” Her enthusiasm arrived in a conversation with an old friend from high school, Raghav. Last year, Raghav got a divorce and started agreeing to support and participate in a variety of projects. Among his funded projects is 12 Degrees of Justin Bieber (12DoJB).

Essentially, Raghav is supporting an impressive young writer named Alex. Although I have never personally met him (or Raghav for that matter), Alex is clearly an experimenter in all things that are awesome. In 12DoJB, Alex is testing the flexibility of Pandora. He has 160 hours get Pandora to play a Justin Bieber tune from both a Slipknot station and a Peruvian Pan Flute station. Sounds ridiculous and brilliant right? Believe me, I’ve done the research and this task is no small feat. This is only for professionals who are dedicated to listening to the good, bad, and the ugly. His entertaining and educational blog, http://12degreesofjustinbieber.tumblr.com/ is a source of inspiration for this show.

So Jen asked Raghav if he would support us in doing another puppet show. He asked us to make him an offer. Jen described Alex’s project to me one evening. The next day I spent all morning reading his blog, laughing out loud and entertained by the images running through my mind.  Halfway through the blog I called Jen. Inspired by Alex’s blog and the impressive scope of the project we set out to create a small puppet show (less than 10 minutes long) based on this project. Naturally our fellow puppeteers, Bridget and Levi couldn’t resist the opportunity to collaborate on another brilliant yet brief puppet show.

So that’s all I’m telling you right now about the show. We “conceived” the idea in August, did some initial storyboarding in September, rehearsed and made an amateur film in October (best birthday weekend ever!), and filmed it last night. Our friends, Lee and Michelle are now in the editing stages. (Thank you, Lee and Michelle for rocking this out!)

This vignette will make you fall in love with shadow puppetry. You’ll laugh. You’ll possibly shed a tear. You’ll be confused (especially if you watch it with no context), and it’s very possible you’ll realize how weird we all are!

You’re dying to see it aren’t you! Be on the lookout for a post Friday, December 14th in the evening. That is the first time we’ll watch it as a puppet troupe. Why December 14th? Duh! The 12DoJB holiday party in Portland, OR is that night! Our friends, Raghav and Alex and anyone else at the 12DoJB Holiday Party will toast to it's ridiculousness! Unfortunately no, I’m not performing it in Portland or going to that party. I’m sure I’ll meet Raghav and Alex someday though!


p.s. THANKS again to Alex and Raghav for inspiring this. Thank you to Bridget, Jen, and Levi for birthing this with me. You are the best people in the world, and so fun to work with. Thank you to John and Bridget for opening your home as the official headquarters. Thank you to Don for lending us the video camera initially. Thank you Lee and Michelle for being superb additions to the group last night and for filming and editing the show!

Monica Joy: Apprenctice of Puppetry and Connoisseur of Fine Outhouses

Huge puppet from our Friday performances. See video below.

At dinner tonight a friend asked, "Oh Monica, how was your two week puppetry excursion?" Well it's been weeks since I returned and I realized I haven't reflected or documented my experience yet. There is so much to think about that all I could say was that I developed a preference for a specific outhouse over the other options. Yes, it was a special composting toilet maintained by a company called Clivus. I was not the only one who favored this outhouse, it was a shared and celebrated commodity. Like a giddy school girls giggling about their boy crushes, my fellow apprentices and I would smile and giggle saying, "I just used the Clivus." Totally ridiculous, but I'll tell you my apprenticeship was full of appreciation for such commodities.

There's actually quite a bit I could share about the experience. I wrote in my journal everyday with descriptions of my day, stories of triumph, documentation of learning, and recounts of experiences that brought back nostalgic memories. 

So perhaps I should recap what I did. In short, I took two weeks vacation to apprentice at the Bread and Puppet Theater company in Glover, VT. I had some experience with the company ten years ago (see Accepted blog post), and was honored and excited to be an apprentice. In this blog post, I'm not interested in recapping all of Bread and Puppet's history or their significance in politics and puppetry. I really want to just share some videos, pics and highlights from my two weeks there.

The Location

Banners outside of B & P

B & P is located in rural Vermont on a farm owned by the Schumann's who founded the company. Decorated with amazing "cheap art" and prints from visiting guests and their onsite print shop, the farm houses a communal farmhouse where 70ish people (yes, there were a lot of people there) roam the kitchen daily and engage in their share of communal activities (gardening, harvesting, cooking, cleaning, making aioli, recycling, etc.). The apprentices and volunteers all lived in tents of course, and the staff and puppeteers lived in the house or in other nearby shelters (e.g. old B & P school buses). Also on the land were a few gardens and livestock for sustenance, the Paper Mache Cathedral & Dirt Floor Theater (where we rehearsed and performed our Fright night shows), a gift shop, museum, art space, storage space, costume room, print shop, outdoor fields for the Sunday afternoon circus and pageant, miscellaneous living and creating spaces, and outhouses, featuring the ever so amazing (school girl giggle), Clivus composting toilet. As mentioned, there are several old B & P school buses that decorated the land for storage, merchandising, or living spaces.

Outside the Puppet Museum & Gift Shop

 

Dirt Floor Theater and Paper Mache Cathedral

Banner on DF Theater/PM Cathedral

Cheap Art Bus

My Neighborhood, Las Palmas

The People

I met so many people from so many places (both states and countries), of all ages and backgrounds, and with just as much confusion as I had in the first 24 hours at  B & P. Thankfully I learned on my second day that in a nutshell, "there are really no rules at B & P but someone is always making a mistake." Given that, information, I could relax in the fact that I could just be present. I had to drop some of the inherent control that I have to need to know what is coming next so I could be prepared and have my mental stuff together. Most were artists, musicians and actors who illuminated the post-dinner coma with an eclectic jam session. Oh how I love fiddles and accordions and random brass instruments being played with such joy on the porch of an old farmhouse. The juxtaposition of this life versus my typical daily grind was memorizing and exhausting, but definitely amazingly beautiful on a hot summer night in the hills of Vermont. 

Circus Act at B&P...look at all the instruments!

The Puppets and Politics

I'd like to save the stories of what we worked on for another blog, and how different aspects influences my thinking. Instead, I'd like to just shared a few photos and a video of what I was working on. When I find my fellow apprentices with their library of documented performances, I'll share those parts. For now, here's the magnitude and aesthetic of what I was working with. Perhaps if will inspire you more to read about Bread and Puppet.  

Backstage at the Circus

Lion Costumes

So you can see how big some of these puppets are compared to me!

Some Interesting Thought and Highlights

• The Importance of Music: On Tuesday evenings, the community comes for shape note singing. I attended one week and while I couldn't follow along with reading music, let alone music that was coded with shapes and Fa, La, So, Me's, I was in awe of the beauty of singing old hymns and rounds. We even sang the "Rose Rose Rose Rose.. Will I ever see thee wed?" song that I so fondly recall learning from my mom and my Aunt Bobbie, Joanie, Susie, and perhaps Kathy and Mary were there? We sang that song in a round one night on the balcony of our shared condo in Maine. I was so swept away with that family memory resurfacing at B & P that I thought about how important it is that I keep music alive with my immediate and future families.
• Getting Higher: I did face a fear of mine. I walked on stilts. I will never forget Anli, the German woman who so forcefully strapped me into those stilts and relentlessly supported me in succeeding. I was thankful it was sunny and that I had sunglasses on to mask the tears and panic I had on my face the whole time. Heck, I even kept crying when I was walking independently on those stilts, after I had accomplished this fear. I really had thought about quitting before I even stood up for the first time, but I practiced what I have been working on for years. I thought, "Monica, what kind of 1st world problem is this? What kind of story are you going to make this? The story of you quitting and feeling bad about not following through when there is no reason not to, or will this be the story of you saying 'to heck with it' and just doing it and living to tell about it." I am happy with my choice. Due to rain, I didn't have time to get on stilts again but I'm thinking about seeking out an opportunity to continue with this training. Tip: The secret is to keep moving. Being paralyzed by fear is not helpful when stilt-walking or anything, so just march to the beat of your own drum and you'll figure it out.

That's all for now...more to come, including the new show I'm working on that is less than political and doesn't involve big puppets. 

Lastly, here's a short video clip of the big puppet during a technical rehearsal.