#prinkmaking

Process vid for a new stink bug print!! (They're up on my shop now!)

“While Milwaukee might seem like a modest locus to host the weight of William Kentridge’s South African, anti-apartheid, historical outrage, one of his characteristics is shapeshifting: his flickering narratives meld to the human conditions of any circumstance or locale because suffering and survival, conflict and accord, are universals.”

#1 / Inspired by

This is inspired by Scooter, and the first dog in the Year of the Dog series. In his youth, Scooter was so ferocious about catching rodents and lizards around his house — it’s because he is a Yorkshire terrier.

The breed comes from Yorkshire, a county in north England where, during the 19th century, had a thriving wool industry. There were a number of mills and textile factories, which inevitably were the stomping grounds for rodents. Yorkshire terriers were developed specifically to to keep the rats and mice in check.

I kinda dig that there’s a bleak, grimy, dirty story behind beautiful textiles. Seems to apply for many corners of the industrial revolution. While people were innovating new ways to produce things at scale, they were certainly getting sloppy about keeping things clean. Or workplace safety. Or worker’s rights.

Anyway, for this print, I had an image in my head that ties together three things, in addition to the Yorkie:

Yorkshire County / England

Textile industry

Rats

You can’t get more English than the image of climbing roses, and a white rose just happens to be the symbol of Yorkshire. The oval frame and dark colors help link it to the time period of the 19th century. 

A side note about color: I have always thought that the color palette in the works of the Wiener Werkstatte was so dark, somber, and just blah, even though they were supposedly really groundbreaking and radical. But, after doing this piece, I think finally get it. The zeigeist of that time period just embodies these dark, dirty, grandfatherly colors — coal, navy blue, brown, grey, black, muddy ochre, and maybe a spot of muddy wine — it might be that those were the inks commercially available or that the industrialization of everything gave it a film of grime. Whatever the reason, I see the beauty in it now. When everything is so austere, the spot of muddy blue looks simply beautiful and full of intention. [*steps off art history soap box*]

To make this print, I carved two separate blocks, and actually made a jig to help with registration. The prints are still drying, but I will list them on my Etsy soon.

I can’t wait to work on the second dog in the series!