Quote from MLK

I've been helping Farm Sanctuary, creating graphics for them to use on social media. This great Martin Luther King quote was posted today on Facebook by Gene Baur who is the founder of Farm Sanctuary:

Reflecting on one of my favorite #MLK quotes for some #MondayMotivation.
Posted by Gene Baur on Monday, January 18, 2016

Tracey and Jon Stewart and Farm Animal Rescue

article link: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/jon-stewart-tracey-farm-sanctuary

I was at an event last Saturday where Tracey and Jon Stewart were being honored for opening up a new sanctuary for rescued farm animals. The new sanctuary will be an extension of the Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, NY.

The video below says far more than I can about the extraordinary work that the Farm Sanctuary and other NY sanctuaries (ie, Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary). Warning: the video below shows the horrid conditions that these 200 animals were rescued from.

Big Steamroller Printing Day on Sunday

This past Sunday, October 5, was the day that the steamroller project came to its ultimate conclusion—the printing of the huge woodcut blocks with a steamroller.  It was a beautiful day in Garrison, NY and we had a great turnout. There are some really wonderful (and nicer than seen here) photos of the event on the Garrison Art Center Facebook page and a really nice photo essay on this blog (link).

My plates went first and there were logistics that had to be worked out after mine and another set of plates were printed unevenly. After that, they rotated the direction of plates in relation to the steamroller drum which yielded better results. So, they very generously offered to print my plates again at the end of the session so that my 2nd print would benefit from the kinks having been worked out after the first printings.

Below is a step-by-step photo sequence that explains how the printing was done:

Here are some of the blocks waiting to be printed.

Inking up the plates with a huge roller.

Cutting the vinyl blanket to size before it's put over the underboard.

These are my 3 inked plates (triptych) side-by-side
on top of the vinyl blanket and the underboard.

Laying the proofing paper over the plates.

The top blanket layer goes over the paper.

The top MDF board covers the layers of
blankets, plate and paper.

Sweeping the dust and dirt from the roller drum.

Driving over the boards to print the plate sandwiched
between top and bottom boards, blankets.

Pulling the proof after printing.

Head Trap, Woodcut, 96" x 48" (8' x 4')
The second print had better ink coverage. Some areas were over-inked but overall it was pretty cool having a print this size.

Steamroller Project Work-In-Progress

Initial sketches (in book) and further sketch for the three 32" x 48" panels

I've been working away on the woodcut project for Garrison Art Center's Rolling on the River event. Above you can see the initial sketches that I was working with to create the composition that I am using for reference to carve the images.

I have three 32" x 48" panels which will form a 4' x 8' triptych print. The composition was designed so that each panel could stand alone as well as work in combination with the other panels to form a larger unified image. This was done partially for logistical reasons (fitting the panels in my car as well as easing the ability to hand-print later on—if I wish to—when I won't have a steam roller on hand).

Below, are images of the middle and left panels on the floor with my sketch reference handy to guide me as I carve the image into the wood. The wood that I am using is 1/2" birch plywood.

The bottom pic is of the right panel with ink applied so I could see the image more clearly and add details and refinements with more clarity. I'm still working on this but it gives me an idea of how the other panels will look and where I need to modify my approach as the image comes together.

Sketch reference on top of middle and left panel. Carving in-progress.

Right panel with ink applied so that I can see the image more clearly. Still working on details but the cow image is emerging.

Inspiration: Käthe Kollwitz

Käthe Kollwitz, Lithograph, Tod (Death), 1897

Käthe Kollwitz, Etching, After the Battle (Schlachtfeld), 1907

I recently took a stone lithography class with Devraj Dakoji at the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop (RBPMW) and he has been (patiently) helping me print my stone from that class. I am very much a novice lithographer but I have been so inspired by the work of Käthe Kollwitz that I knew her work would act as a guide as I put litho crayon to stone.

Kollwitz's masterful use of shadow and light to evoke emotional responses to the plight of the people she depicts is as visually powerful today as it was over a hundred years ago. Her artistic subjects were derived from her world, what was going on around her: war, famine, disease and the gut-wrenching sorrow seen in the human condition during very difficult times.

I admire everything about Kollwitz's work: her ability to expertly render her subjects with empathy combined with a skillful hand, her expertise as a printmaker using the medium to maximize the dramatic and visceral reaction intended for the viewer, and her devotion to relaying the wrongs that she felt compelled to reveal through her art.

The two works above are a couple of my favorite pieces of Kollwitz's, especially the poignant etching, After the Battle, which by showing very little through use of a bit of light, speaks volumes about the poor woman on the battlefield searching for her loved one. I get chills and endless inspiration from this piece. Kollowitz's lithograph, Death, was my launching point for what I was trying to achieve with my own lithograph, The Road, shown below. I debated even showing my novice attempt at lithography but I thought it might be more relevant to a post about inspiration if I showed what the inspiration lead to.
So here is my humble and first lithographic homage to Käthe Kollwitz:

© 2013 Elana Goren
Lithograph, The Road

New Etching Series

I've been working on an etching series featuring animals being stalked by human shadows alluding to the deadly fate that they face daily in the human world.

By experimenting with textures and different acid resists I was able to achieve the eerie atmosphere in the prints that define the series.

This series was created with a mixture of effort to tap into my most gut-wrenching feelings about the plight of non-human animals in a human world as well as hints of satisfaction that I am finally dealing with political issues in my artwork that deeply matter to me.

It's not always easy to deal with deeply emotional and/or political issues when my muse is calling but again it's not very satisfying for me to skip lightly on the surface with little to say about what's down deep. I wonder how many other artists deal with this struggle.

UPDATE: The Huffington Post has been running a series of articles on a new book by Jonathan Safran Foer

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/aaron-gross/jonathan-safran-foers-con_b_333698.html

called Eating Animals. As Huff Po contributor, Dr. Andrew Weil, puts it, "Foer makes it clear that factory farming is the exceptional human activity that debases and destroys everything it touches: land, people, communities, and most of all, the innocents at the nexus, animals."

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-weil-md/the-moral-ferocity-of-eme_b_335811.html

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-weil-md/the-moral-ferocity-of-eme_b_335811.html

Solo show coming up

I realize it's been a while since I posted but I've been getting ready for a show coming up which has kept me pretty busy. I'll be showcasing a new print series of etchings along with some of my drawings and paintings. The show starts next Sunday, September 27 and runs through to November 14. If you're in the Peekskill, NY area, please come to the opening on Saturday, October 3 from 3-6pm at the BRC Gallery at the Bean Runner Cafe, 201 S. Division St, Peekskill.

Eyes Void of Hope

I've been experimenting with textures in my aquatints and the results can be surprising and interesting. I used a burlap texture for this subject, a cow who spends her days with her head locked in bars that do not allow her to turn around, move very much at all. Her eyes are truly void of any hope, or light, or anything beyond her misery.

UPDATE: For a good article on the plight of farm animals in the U.S. look at this in The Atlantic.