Sometimes I get annoyed at things labeled 'handmade' that really aren't. Computer printed cards and "limited edition prints" are my personal pet peaves. But it seems that for many mediums, there's simply a lack of understanding. How can you really grasp difference between a screenprinted card, a letterpressed card, and a digitally printed card, or a handbound book versus a commercially bound one, if you don't even have a vague understanding of the mechanical processes involved?
So it was really refreshing to see some shots from the
Ink & Spindle studio showing their printing process. (Their site has a few images;
their flickr has many more)
 Fantastic work, a studio to die for, and ethical working methods. I think I'm in love.
I was in Eugene last week, and because of the heat wave we ended up driving out to one of the forks of the Willamette River. I brought my camera along and took some shots of Queen Anne's Lace and other wild flora. I have been wanting to do a wedding suite featuring Queen Anne's Lace -- it's on the way, with matching Thank You cards -- but ended up with birth announcement cards, too! Very classic and traditional, in pink and blue. I silkscreened them on my standard 100% recycled, eco-awesome, cream pinstripe textured paper, and on a whim tried them out in my laser printer. Turns out my favorite paper is printer friendly, so I can make imprintable cards! How cool is that? Perhaps the best part is that the design lends itself to just about any color. Want something less stereotypical? Green? Purple? I can do them in any color you'd like. I can also do custom printing on the inside very affordably -- laser (b&w), inkjet (color), or screenprint (the possibilities are endless). They're available right now on my Etsy, and I'll be at Craft In The Village on Friday, and Crafty Wonderland on Sunday. Come get some! And look forward to more imprintables from Carly Bodnar Studio...
There's something magical that happens when I actually get to print a design I've been working on. No matter how detailed my color mock-up is, complete with a scan of the paper I'll be using, and just the right color to approximate the ink, it's always better on paper. I've been doing test prints of some of the designs I've been working on for my August 1st official launch as a wedding invitation designer and printer, and they've been coming out great. Incredibly satisfying, the act of printing.  I don't know if that's just me, being an artist of tangible things. I like to get my hands dirty in my work; if it's someone else's, I like looking at an angle to see the shadows under each brush stroke, being able to visually feel their imprint on the piece. It's the reason no digital print, no matter how exact, precise and 'perfect', can ever compare to a hand-pulled print. It's that special something.
I finished putting together a set of wedding invitations late last week, and thought I would share. They turned out quite nice -- very simple, but that's exactly what they wanted.  Joel and Jessica came to me with the photo you see in the shot to the right. They were having what would probably be categorized as a destination wedding, but also a fairly small gathering of mostly family. They didn't want to go over the top on the invitations, like many destination weddings do. They just wanted one piece to announce the basic information, and were going to use the web for everything from RSVPs to directions. I had paper in mind that I thought might be perfect -- Neenah's Peppered Bronze in a laid finish; the variegated color of the paper makes it look incredibly textured, but it doesn't present problems when it comes to screenprinting on it. Jessica liked it, and paired it with French Speckletone envelopes in 'Chocolate.' For ink we simply used the color of the opposite paper, and a clean script for the text. The result is a compact little treasure, equally comfortable in a frame or on the fridge of its lucky recipients. On a separate but related note, the rock garden is growing like crazy and blooming all over the place. It made for the perfect place to snap some shots of the new invitations.
 invitation openI'm making measurable progress on my updated website. But since its ETA is still unknown and likely farther off than I'd like, I thought I'd share the photos of the wedding invitations I designed recently. Krista's wedding was loosely butterfly-themed, with a palette of dark purple and ivory. From there, she let me fly free on the design. In my paper-shopping adventures, I found this gorgeous feltweave textured eggplant paper, perfect for this project. This was used for the main invitation, printed in custom-mixed lighter purple and white gold inks.  invitation closed rsvp postcardThen, for the RSVP postcard, map, and envelope, we chose from the vast array of iridescent cream/ivory/off-white papers available, printed with the same custom mixed purple. Her wedding was also going to be a small, intimate gathering, and the invitations reflected this. The physical dimensions of the assembled package was kept small, and the invitation itself involved folding and a self-closure element, making it an unusual size. Part of the joy of wedding invitations is in the recipients' experience of opening them: Krista's tiny shimmering envelopes would announce themselves as little mail-borne treasures, and reveal layers of interactive discovery. That was the idea, at least. To make something awesome and beautiful without going all-out on the budget end of things. The small size of things, in addition to being intimate, kept material and postage costs very reasonable. And judging by the positive response Krista's been receiving (even from male coworkers!) I think it's safe to say that they turned out pretty nice.
It amuses me that I've taken on so many shows in a month that is so short. At least I'm keeping busy! So here's the gauntlet of show cards and info (in chronological order, for your convenience):  First to open is the Robot Love show at the newest and itty-bittiest gallery in NoPo, Good. It's a group show in which I have a painting. Look for my standard fleshiness with a touch of disturbing technology, and, um, arachnid-ness. (That's just how it came out.) I'm excited to see the range of artists that the gallery and its owner, who's very cool and talented, btw, have attracted. The gallery is located at 4325 N. Mississippi Ave. The show opens on the 6th -- that's this Friday -- with the reception running from about 7 to 10. (If you want to run into me, hang around till the end. I'll be swinging by after I get off work at 9.) If you miss the opening, normal gallery hours are Thursday 4-7 pm and Saturday noon-4pm.
 Next up is the 4th Annual Love Show. It's still put together by the Launch Pad, but this year it's in conjunction with Chris Haberman/Portland City Art, and it's gonna be huge. So huge, in fact, that it's not going to be held at the Olympic Mills Building, just a few blocks away. See if you can find my piece among the work of 200+ artists. I'll give you a hint, it's a screen print. The Olympic Mills Building is located at 107 SE Washington. (Careful: Google maps seems confused about which street is Washington.) The opening is the 13th, that's next Friday, from 7pm to midnight. Plus, it's doubling as a charity event: bring some canned goods or buy a piece of art and help out the Food Bank and Buckman Elementary. Normal hours for the show are tentatively Monday through Friday, 8am to 6pm, and "some" Saturday hours. See the show's website, www.launchpadgallery.org/loveshow4, for specifics.
 And last but not least, my very own solo show at Seven Virtues. I'm calling it "Wet Paint" because it's all new work. So new that it's not even done yet! (No, really...) Paintings small and large and a handful of limited edition screen prints guarantee a variety of price points. Physical show cards are in the mail -- but only if I have your address! If you want one, email me your mailing address and I'll send one on its way. Seven Virtues is located at 5936 NE Glisan, right on the corner. The show will be up by Monday the 16th, but the reception will be on the 19th (that's a Thursday) from 6-8ish in the evening. Come have some coffee and chat with me!
I've been getting flack for not updating (you, M) but I've been busy. Isn't that always how it goes, though? From now on, assume that my absence either means that I'm on a glorious vacation far from computers (unlikely) or just busy. So, a run-down of events from the last couple of weeks, and other things I've been meaning to post...  - I have a new valentines card, "Cardiac Brocade." It's pretty. You want one and you know it. Pick one up at carlybodnar.etsy.com.
- I went to the Gift & Accessories show two weekends ago, and it was quite enjoyable. It's not open to the public -- only buyers -- but I got in as a prospective exhibitor. Yay for dressing professional and bringing my business cards and samples. Chatted it up with the owner (I think) of the company that does the west coast gift shows about my thoughts on retail vs wholesale for my line. Felt competent. I also met the other card makers that were there, and chatted for quite a while with Kristin of Sydney Designs. She does these great cards using vintage wallpaper. And necklace pendants. Check her out.
- I'm also working on wedding invites for a friend of mine. It's been fun to experiment with different paper layouts and folding options. And of course browsing for the right paper is always great. We just decided on the final paper choices, and they're going to be beautiful
- I went to the Portland Bridal Show this past weekend -- again, for professional reasons (the opportunity to gawk at beautiful things didn't hurt, though) and got some great card ideas for the future. One company featured a line that was all done with screenprint, which was nice to see, too. I don't think I'll ever be an exhibitor at a bridal show, though. Way huge and hectic. I'll suffice with word of mouth. Which apparently works just fine, because I may already have another wedding lining itself up.
- This just in: I just made my first Etsy sale. Yay!
A couple days ago I finally finished this room screen painting project that I've been working on for FOR. E. VER. But it's done, and gorgeous. I'm very satisfied. And its owner took it home and loves it as well, which is even better. And now, I'm obligated to post pics -- which really deserve a full view.  As if getting a project done isn't sufficient reward in itself, I also got about a third of my painting studio back (the screen took up the whole end wall) and I can get back to painting in oils (the screen was all acrylics).That's not to say it wasn't fun, though, and a nice departure from my "normal" painting style. It was also really fun to make something specifically designed for someone's personal space. The person who commissioned it left it very open as to what I was to do, except that copper is her favorite metal. So I took a poster she had of the Eiffel Tower being built and used that as my starting point. It inspired me to look at the Art Nouveau style entrances to the Paris metro, and other architectural details from that period. I only realized later that it would go particularly well with many of the paintings she has throughout her place, which are sort of Impressionist style.This project actually reminded me a lot of set painting, which I haven't gotten to do for years now -- without the reassurance that "it only has to look good from far away." Needless to say it brought out my perfectionist neuroses, as evidenced by the fact that I painted most of it with a quarter inch brush. But it turned out great. And I actually finished it, which is (sadly) more than I can say for many of the project I start. Oh, before I go I should post a pic of my latest greeting card. I'm working on some other designs, but I don't expect them to be done particularly soon. But the ones that do exist are all available for purchase now in singles and 5-packs on my etsy: carlybodnar.etsy.com. Enjoy!
I currently have copious amounts of glorious, glorious paper. Paper is the only thing I enjoy shopping for in person. Otherwise, I'd much rather shop online. But paper... I can paper-shop for hours (as evidenced by today's 30-min errand that became a 2 hour paper-shopping extravaganza). I cannot accurately describe how much I like touching every open-stock stack and comparing every shade of cream or burgundy and every texture. To make it even better, my two paper stores are right across the street from each other. It doesn't get much better than that when it comes to picking out new paper. Anyway, had to share. I'll have photos of new cards very soon, but until then, here's the final version of the Anatomic Valentine cards. I went with the burgundy because it had the best combination of writeability (if that's a word -- I liked the navy, but it would be too dark to write in without a gel pen) and contrast with the ink. And it just seemed right. I also upsized them to A2 size, which shows off the design a little more. You can buy them here: CarlyBodnar.com/shop or carlybodnar.Etsy.com.
There are so many wonderful-to-ogle things in the blogosphere... I'm getting sucked in, I feel it. It's like when I used to LiveJournal, and got sucked into the goings-on of my friends' lives, except that this feels so much more legitimate. Pretty things are legitimate! Anywho, I had a really great printing day last week, following a really great paper-shopping day, the result of which was a bunch of great Valentine's day cards. But then I got sick. So I'm just getting around to posting pics and links and such now, many days later. The first thing I must share is my drying rack -- not for its fabulousness (yarn, clothes pins, and scrap lumber, oh my!) but simply because I've been whining about not having one and now I do. Sort of. So here, bask in its glory:
Not worth picturing but which makes me giddy with pride is my new, genius registration system that makes everything line up wonderfully and resulted in absolutely no registration errors during my batch of card making. The only errors were due to bad ink passes (totally my fault) and that brings my success rate to something like 98%, up from around 64% not too long ago.
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Back to the cards, though, because that's what you should be ogling. Most of the batch was gold on burgundy, which looks really great. But I also tried to find a color that worked well on the red paper I picked up. Less success there -- tried a salmon-y color and straight white, neither of which had the same pop that the gold/burgundy combo did -- but they're available too, if you like them. The shop page on CarlyBodnar.com is working now, so you can get them there. So go get some!
 Printed a test batch of valentines day cards. (The design wraps around the back, fyi.) Very cute, although gold ink was frustratingly sticky. (Typing will be very limited because right after printing, I cut a chunk out of my finger with a kitchen knife. Left hand, thankfully, but still makes lots of things difficult.) Now I have to track down large quantities of this card stock I printed them on -- it was given to me by a friend, so I have no idea what it is exactly, or where it came from. Once I find it, they'll be for sale, but not just yet...
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My studio has vertical beams that run down the middle of the space, and the remnant of the house's original chimney, which makes it hard to make the most of the space. Boxes and piles have a tendency to collect along the dead space around the beams. So I took that area and turned it into a work surface with storage underneath. It's not yet what I would call clean, but now at least I have a well-lit place to do small paintings, drawings, pen and ink, etc. without having to clear a spot and sit on the floor.
Capping off the month so far, yesterday I had Kate from Katie Joy Photography over. She's an up-and-coming photographer who will be shooting her first wedding in only a couple of days, and just got a new camera. We know each other from our day jobs, but it was great to interact with her on a professional level. I needed some professional/head shot type photos, and I also wanted to get some action shots in the studio. We looked through a few, and they looked promising -- the studio shots especially looked great. I'm so excited to see all the shots!
