Archive for the ‘Abstract and Just Plain Weird’ Category

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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Red

Friday, September 10th, 2010

Red by Amy Crook

Red by Amy Crook

As promised, this is my other piece that’s simply called Red. Like last week’s piece, the reds are dark and intense, though this time they’re offset not by white paper but by the yellow ochre painted border. The different shades of red are also different textures, you can see some of the flash glare on the painting where the paint’s glossy, compared to the deep matte color of the bottom section.

This is actually quite a large painting, two feet by three feet, and although the edges are unfinished, I think it hangs just fine as is.

Red, 24″x36″ oil painting on canvas, $1299 with free shipping.

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Daily Art
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Red Death

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

Red Death by Amy Crook

Red Death by Amy Crook

This piece has a bit of a story to it. It’s a large monoprint, with a very small etching plate near the center of the paper. The two more random images were created by mixing up the blood-red ink and then smushing it between two plates, and then printing the result. I love the way the bottom image looks a bit like a heart (of the anatomical sort), while the left image seems to hold a whole world of secrets, a landscape of crimson mystery.

The etching plate is part of a series I started and never finished, depicting Neil Gaiman’s Endless from his Sandman comic series — but not the people, the ideas they represented. This plate was, I think, the most successful, the image for Death. I did print a single edition of the plates by themselves, and I’ll post those next month sometime (very Halloween appropriate).

Together the 3 images seem to tell a story, or to invite the viewer to tell their own story. I think every piece of art has something to say to the viewer, but not every person gets the same message. I’m always curious what a piece says to other people — what does this one say to you?

Red Death, 22.5″x16″ etching and monoprint on watercolor paper, $699 with free shipping.

Red Death, detail, by Amy Crook

Red Death, detail, by Amy Crook

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art, Series and Books, Things I'm a Fan Of, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
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The Texture of Faith

Monday, September 6th, 2010

The Texture of Faith by Amy Crook

The Texture of Faith by Amy Crook

This print uses 3 of my little etching plates, two of which have been double-inked so that there’s a primary color in the actual etching, and a secondary red on the surface of the plate. The top two plates are both found objects of a sort, the smaller one is actually part of a larger plate that I cut up and kept pieces of to use in other prints. The paper has a beautiful texture of its own, lending an extra dimension to the abstract images, and giving a rich desert for the tiny cruciform figure to wander in.

The Texture of Faith, detail, by Amy Crook

The Texture of Faith, detail, by Amy Crook

There’s a lot of meaning that could be inferred here, but this is one of those pieces that’s hard to quantify for me — I can talk about this technical aspect or that process, but the end result was something unexpected. There’s hints of stories and ideas hiding in the abstract, brought out by the smallest image at the bottom.

The Texture of Faith, 15.5″x23″ intaglio and monoprint on imported Mexican bark paper, $499 with free shipping.

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Daily Art
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Torn

Monday, August 30th, 2010

Torn by Amy Crook

Torn by Amy Crook

This is another large monoprint that involves many layers of paper and ink. I had originally done the face as part of a larger figure, but wasn’t happy with the result, so I tore up the sheet of paper to make more interesting shapes and re-used parts of it in the top layer of this print. The red is actually all ink rather than another sheet of paper, a large printing plate covered in it. The bottom shape was layered with the torn paper under the ink, and then on top another layer of paper and ink was laid down, this time with large sheets of acetate for the medium rather than a plate.

These prints are all one of a kind, and I no longer have access to the press I did them on, so they’re not something I can make again. Each one involves a unique process of things coming together, ink and ideas, paper stock and plates, to create an individual work of art.

Torn, 22.5″x31″ monoprint and chine collé on imported handmade and watercolor paper, $499 with free shipping.

Categories: Abstract and Just Plain Weird, People, Figures and Faces
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