Choi to the World

beautiful design vol.1

I've decided to start creating a feature that will appear on Tuesdays called beautiful design. The hope is to feature items that are beautiful to the eye in more ways than as decoration. Design can be beautiful for beauty sake or it can be beautiful in use or service. I love art for art sake but I also love design made beautiful for function or aid. I live between two worlds. Day to day I am immersed in my American life that I love for its diversity and priviledge. I also have travel bug that bit because of my love of diversity. It has taken me as far as the "third" world. It has been nearly 10 years sice I visited the exquisite Vietnam. That trip, my stay there was profound. I was not there as a tourist but rather as a resident. The beat and beauty of that life still course through my veins.

I have always been drawn by the flavors of design that emerge from far off places, I think I was born with it. I certainly inherited it from my globetrotting grandparents whose mark on my life is indelible. I have volunteered and worked in the Fair Trade movement that I believe so much in. That belief took me to accept a 3-year design postion in Vietnam that I never fulfilled because life's flow often has other plans.

So because what makes my country so beautiful is so important to me the whole world and its people are equally important to me. I truly feel like a global citizen. While I can't travel now I can gather beautiful objects from anywhere and store them here for me and anyone else who'd like, to peruse.

So I have been wordier than I wanted, as usual but without further adieu my first picks. Since I am talking about my global love I thought I'd start with a circle. One of the best inventions and designs really, and so eye pleasing, it is timeless and quite perfect.

Elegant simplicity available at LilaClarejewelry.

The SOS Stool. I'd love to have one of these. Designed by RIT Professor, Josh Owen.

Another chair. It certainly appeals to my cut paper sensibilities. By Louise Campbell. An older design now at MoMA. There are some other truly inspiring works at her site.

To me the most beautiful...

The Q Drum. It is simple and elegant. It's design makes obtaining safe drinking water easier and safer for the people in the world who need it the most.

 

xerox lithography

This has been dogging me for months and I finally have it figured out, well I haven't tried it yet but at least I have a recipe.

I have a large painting commission that involves a lot of text. I wanted to transfer it to the canvas rather than hand letter it all. I did this in college but couldn't remember all the steps involved. I have done google searches and forum posts to no real avail aside from gel medium transfers and the citrasolv xerox (toner) transfer method found here, which is akin to methods using acetone or wintergreen, but I was looking for something that would transfer ink that would stick to the toner on the xerox so the image color could be changed and matched to painting. Seems someone may have been looking around the time I started my search and was as desparate as I, only she looked in a printmakers' forum where she got the answer below.  There is also this newsletter article which outlines the xerox lithography technique as well. The research is done now on to the experimentation phase, and to the art supply store for gum arabic, the magic ingredient missing from my memory. I am so relieved, deep breath in----deep breath out.

Below is a concise overview for reference, thanks to Mr. Maestro Nick.

1. Make a fresh xerox
2. You want to make a thin gum solution, so add 1 part gum arabic, 1 part water in a bowl.
3. Use a sponge or sponge brush to wet the copy onto the glass with toner side up. It needs to be wet, but the paper will degrade if you do too much. Just enough to wet it. The gum will help to protect the open paper. Be gentle.
4. Roll up some oil based ink and roll your brayer over the copy gently. It might roll up with your roller so start from the center and roll to the edges.
5. You need to keep sponging to remove the excess ink and to keep the copy wet, so sponge, then roll, then sponge, then roll.
6. The toner will appear glossy from ink when it's ready. Sometimes this is very quick.
7. Once it's wet, it's very fragile, so be careful when peeling the inked copy off of the glass. Run this through the press onto paper or fabric under some good pressure. I usually set it on a plexi plate, but you don't have to.

Hope this helps. It's called xerox lithography if you want to search elsewhere for this.

Best of luck! When it works it works great!

Maestro Nick
INKubator PRESS, Kansas City, MO

Things are amiss and gremlins afoot

Something has gone all willy-nilly with my blog design so I had to revert to an old design holder from quite a while ago while I figure out what is going wrong. I made a new banner and color scheme that was looking so lovely and fresh and clean and then something herky jerky happened. Somehow it occured on my live blog instead of the test blog, naturally. While the elves try to get back on solid ground I have put an old design to work. I need to get my blog design stuff more orderly. Seems to be my mantra, got to get more orderly...got to get more orderly...got to get more orderly...got to get more orderly...

Color of the Year for 2011: PANTONE® 18-2120 Honeysuckle

 

 

So here you have it. Patone's color of the year. I love it. I've downloaded the swatch library and I'm ready to go.

Now my only question is this, since Pantone the self described, "...worldwide standard for color communication and inspiration since 1963" has communicated that this rosy shade is their color of the year and therefore OUR color of the year, why the heck is their Facebook profile picture purple? (*link updated) Come on, Pantone get with the program. Honeysuckle pink is, "A Color for All Seasons Courageous. Confident. Vital. A brave new color, for a brave new world. Let the bold spirit of Honeysuckle infuse you, lift you and carry you through the year. It’s a color for every day – with nothing “everyday” about it."  via www.pantone.com  Come on Pantone, get infused already! It's time to get your pink on!

 

Image transfer research

So I am working on a fairly large commision for a painting with a recipe on it. I am really excited about this project, it is something different and it is for the best new person I met in 2010. She has made an incredible impact on me.

Back in college I learned how to do an image transfer using xerox copies paint and solvent. I don't remember the exact technique and it has been dogging me. I have searched and searched to no avail. I have come across Citrasolv and I am intrigued. It looks as though this will be what I'll use but it still not exactly what I had in mind. You have to watch this video is this stuff great or what? And it is safe, safe, safe!

1:11 1/1/11 a good place to start

It is a new year, I can't quite believe where the end of this past one went, let alone the whole year or two. Now is not the time for looking back with regret or disappointment. I have to celebrate the little accomplishments and try to build upon them for the coming year. So I had to just take a little peek at my plans for last year at this time and reflect upon what did come to pass.

I did get my work published for the second time in Paper Cuts: 35 Inventive Projects. I continued to teach my successful pop-up class at Genesee Center of the Arts and Education. I participated in one art fair, Artsit Row at our local and best public market in the country. My first pop-up book was represented in a major show of pop-up books at the 23 Sandy Gallery. Most times these few things along with occasional sales in my shop seemed to consume all the time I had and some time I really didn't have. I look back pleased and energized for the new year.  While, I have so many intentions for this coming year, my goal is to remain more deliberate yet still relaxed. I can have a tendency to get frustrated when I don't get all that I imagine accomlished in the real world. I must admit my goals aren't too lofty since I still do have a toddler who's cuteness cannot be ignored, nor should it be. He is my greatest work and inspiration. I hope to look ahead with the wonder and imagination of my sweet son as my inspiration and motivation.