Archive for the ‘Abstract and Just Plain Weird’ Category

Gate

Saturday, November 6th, 2010

Gate by Amy Crook

Gate by Amy Crook

It’s been many years since I did much printing, but I still remember the smell of the different inks and the strange and interesting results that could come from just inking up a plate and seeing what happened when I ran it through the press.

This piece was made with a 3″x3″ square of acrylic, edges smoothed down to keep it from cutting right through the paper. Then I hand-inked the blank plate with water-based monoprint inks, which always reminded me a bit of finger paint in consistency. Each resulting print is one of a kind, so though the transfer from plate to paper is similar to intaglio, no two monoprints are ever alike.

This particular image reminds me of a cave or gateway into somewhere mysterious, with that bit of a glow among the stalactites at the top, and a very spiky path ahead.

Gate, 3″x3″, monoprint on watercolor paper.

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
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A Circle in Time

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010

A Circle in Time by Amy Crook

A Circle in Time by Amy Crook

Insomnia brings art experiments! I had a ton of trouble sleeping last week, and around 3am one night I got bored with sitting around in bed and started wandering around the apartment, looking for things to do.

I had put this quote on the white board, plucked from the Storm Constantine book I was re-reading:

“A circle in time; we begin again.”

So I picked out one of the little pre-torn squares of soft, thick watercolor paper I had left from my printmaking days, pulled out a pan of Japanese watercolors, a brush, and a matching blue fountain pen, and this was the result. I waited until the watercolors were mostly dry — but not fully — before writing in the quote, so it blurred and became as much image as text.

A Circle in Time, 5″x5″ watercolor with pen and ink on Arches cover white paper.

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Things I'm a Fan Of
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The Tree Breathes

Thursday, October 14th, 2010

The Tree Breathes, detail, by Amy Crook

The Tree Breathes, detail, by Amy Crook

This is another one-of-a-kind print done using my tiny etching plates. I almost forgot completely about it, ironically because it’s framed from having been in a juried show once long ago. I gently pulled it out of its matte, and then used more archival corners to re-attach it to the matte after I scanned it, and then put the whole thing back in its frame.

I think the tiny tree is my favorite of all the tiny plates I made, though I only used it (or any of them) a few times.

The Tree Breathes, 1″x2″ etching on 8″x10″ watercolor paper, $499 framed with free shipping.

The Tree Breathes by Amy Crook

The Tree Breathes by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
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Dancers

Thursday, October 7th, 2010

Dancers by Amy Crook

Dancers by Amy Crook

This is the last of my large monoprints, it’s amazing to think I’ve finally made it through the whole portfolio. I’ll have to figure out what else to post pretty soon, heh.

This one I wasn’t sure about posting, the symbolism is so obvious, but it reminds me that I don’t have to keep telling myself that story — that the choices aren’t be invited or be miserable. Instead, I can invite someone myself, or pull a Billy Idol and dance with myself, or even go do something else entirely. There’s a whole world of options that you don’t see when you’re stuck in the story of always being the outsider, and limiting your choices to the ones other people give you.

Dancers, 18″x14″ monoprint on 22.5″x15″ watercolor paper

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art, People, Figures and Faces
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Symbols

Monday, October 4th, 2010

Symbols by Amy Crook

Symbols by Amy Crook

This is another print that combines tiny etching plates with double-inking to make a unique print. The 3 images in the middle column were all inked once, wiped clean,a nd then inked carefully a second time to give them a duochrome look, while the two plates to the left and right were inked just once in the same pure colors that are used on the others. Really there’s four colors present: blue, yellow, red and black, very primary.

Each plate has its own symbolism that, when combined with the others, invites the viewer to construct their own narrative. Do your eyes start in the golden sand dunes, or up with the floating cruciform figure? Do you puzzle out the dancer on the left first, or the ankh on the right? The central image is completely abstract, drawing the imagination to fill in why it’s surrounded by these other, smaller satellite images.

Symbols, 10″x10″ etching and monoprint on watercolor paper, $399 with free shipping.

Symbols, detail, by Amy Crook

Symbols, detail, by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books
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Halflight

Tuesday, September 14th, 2010

Halflight by Amy Crook

Halflight by Amy Crook

This simple abstract monoprint has some soft texture of the water-based inks sinking into the paper at the bottom, streaked with red hiding among the charcoal grey. Brush strokes appear as streaks of light coming down from above, bringing out the purple in the grey.

Halflight, 3″x3″ monoprint on 10″x10″ watercolor paper, $199 with free shipping.

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
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Shadows and Balances

Sunday, September 12th, 2010

Shadows and Balances by Amy Crook

Shadows and Balances by Amy Crook

This is another monoprint created with layer upon layer of ink, running the paper through the press several times. I inked some of my small etching plates with the monoprint ink, which obscures the actual image etched on the plate and turns it into just another abstract shape in the composition. A total of 7 plates were used in this piece, some of them blank and some etched.

Shadows and Balances, 18″x26″ monoprint on 22″x30″ watercolor paper, $399 with free shipping.

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
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