July 2024
The Meriwether
As we have reached July, not only are we celebrating the Fourth of July but we are also celebrating one year of The Meriwether! In July’s edition we will be looking back at three new pieces of art I have made since the first edition of The Meriwether came out one year ago.
Turner
medium: graphite
11 in. x 14 in. - Gathering sheep off the coast of Maine on a small island, this young boy can be found quick instep behind his father. The crook that he holds in his right arm has unseen notches at the bottom, that represent each visit this boy has made to the island. His father wields a similar crook and they move forward, side by side, directing sheep off the rocks and moving them across the island to be shorn. This is a strong family tradition for both father and son. They have grown up coming to this remote island. In this drawing, Turner, inspects an old sheep bone found on the path.
She Votes?
11 in. x 14 in. - wood block carving
Think of a poster with a woman wearing underwear on it, my guess is your first thought probably wasn’t a poster encouraging women to vote. This poster, I hand carved from a wood block and then ran in through a printing press. I was inspired to combine the contrast of posters featuring women from the World War II timeframe. Images like Rosie the Riveter encouraged women to join the work force by using the phrase “We Can Do It!”. Whereas other posters from the same time frame warned men about “loose women”.
This poster encourages women’s rights while also emphasizing their sexuality. Unlike in the poster’s from the 1940s it does not objectify, instead it empowers women and altars old ideas of femininity.
Below is a video of the poster being printed.
The Horse Race
7 ft. x 3 ft. - wood block carving
This piece I started by digitally drawing a sketch from the photos I took while attending horse races in England. I wanted to capture the speed and tension in a singular moment of both horse and jockey. I then transferred the sketch to a 7 ft. x 3 ft. piece of wood and hand carved out the negative spaces of the sketch. Carving with a gouge that was 1/4 of an inch thick, it took 60 hours to carve this piece. It was then inked with a roller and a canvas was placed on top of the woodblock. My professor then rolled over it with a steam roller to transfer the ink onto canvas. I then repeated this process and printed this onto gauze as well as the canvas. Below is a video of the carving and printing.
Thank you for reading the one year edition of The Meriwether.
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