Building Blocks: TRANSIT’s Print Community

Mark your calendars! 

A month from tomorrow, Thursday October 4 from 6-8:30pm, is the gallery reception for the annual TRANSIT Print Invitational in conjunction with Chicago Artists Month 2012. Last year's show was a genuine blast--a highlight of the year--so I was thrilled to be invited to participate again this year. October is a big month for TRANSIT--they will also post an application for their first "outbound" residency, 2 weeks studio access and a housing stipend to work at the Hamilton Wood Type Museum in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. I couldn't be happier for the growing success of the good folks at TRANSIT!

​Last year Monkey-Rope Press contributed 3 CTA prints and both of the Bicycle Pugilist prints to the show to fit the transit theme. This year, I thought it would be fun to push the idea of transit to extra-planetary lengths: on Saturday, I printed bright portraits of three of NASA's Mars Rovers: Sojourner, Opportunity and Curiosity. 

​Proceeds from the show support the residency program, so if you are interested in purchasing a print, come to the show in October! If you don't live in town, don't despair--after the prints debut at the opening, I will post them to the Etsy store for broader access.

​Hope to see you there!

Mars Rover Sojourner​

Mars Rover Opportunity​

Mars Rover Curiosity​

Nursery Prints

This past March my sister gave me some pretty spectacular good news: she and her husband are expecting their first baby in October. I was thrilled right away--this is something they've wanted for a while, and for that alone I was beside myself excited--but slowly, the reality of it dawned on me. There is going to be a brand new person in my little family! ​It still makes me giggle with excitement to think about it.

My sister is a huge Beatles fan; when we were growing up, there was a period where she almost exclusively wore Beatles t-shirts, packed her lunch in a Beatles lunchbox, and being the big sister she commanded that my brother and I were only allowed to sing back-up. To this day, when I hear "Help!" on the radio I only sing along with the back-up.  She asked if I would be interested in making prints for the nursery, and when she told me the idea I couldn't wait to get started.  On Saturday, I printed a pair of prints from hand-carved linoleum blocks featuring lyrics from the Beatles song Golden Slumbers. I ended up with more than needed, and posted the extras to the Monkey-Rope Press Etsy store. Click through the images below to go to the Etsy listings, or click here for the discount listing for the two together.

​Golden Slumbers

Sleep Pretty Darling​

Two-Color Linoleum Cut Class: July 28

I'm excited to announce that I will be teaching the 2-color linoleum cut workshop at Evanston Print & Paper Shop again in late July. 

I'm excited to announce that I will be teaching the 2-color linoleum cut workshop at Evanston Print & Paper Shop again in late July. 

"Linocut is a relief printmaking technique similar to woodcut or a wood engraving, where a flat surface of linoleum is carved with a knife or gouge tool and inked as a printing surface. In this Two-Color Linocut Workshop, participants will be guided through design strategies for relief printmaking, develop an understanding of the printmaking medium as well as the materials and equipment used in the process, and will get to take home a small two-color linocut print that they have designed, carved and printed themselves on a Vandercook proofing press. No previous printmaking experience is required!"

To sign up please contact eileen@evanstonprint.net or call the studio at 847-475-7674. It's going to be a great time, I look forward to seeing you there!

Looking back, looking forward

Brain Frame 5 blew my mind in March, particularly Sara Drake's performance The Romance of the Tiger Lady. Kelly Parsell's review on Make-Space says it all better than I could. Well said, Kelly! Prior engagements kept me from Brain Frame 6, but I'll be at 7 even if I have to drag myself on my knees.

My first two-color linocut workshop was a dream. Look at that awesome registration! Way to go, ladies!

Evanston Print & Paper's Eat Your Words Edible Books competition was a pun-filled delight! My contribution: Les Miserapples.

SPACE, the Small Press and Comics Expo, in Columbus Ohio! I debuted a new mini-comic, Mare Cognitum, and offered digital prints of illustrations from In the Sounds and Seas for the first time. It was an awesome show full of genuinely talented and friendly people. Would that this group of folks could get together more than just once a year. Since that isn't the case, I'll have to settle for returning next year. 

STILL UP AT THE CHICAGO PRINTMAKERS COLLABORATIVE: the annual $20 print show! You want high quality, affordable prints? Stop by before June 16th! 

Photo c/o this excellent review in TCJ. NATO hype had me paranoid at home during the awe-inspiring Comics: Philosophy and Practice conference at the University of Chicago, but I watched it eager-eared while taking notes at home--so grateful they offered a live stream! The whole event was great, but the panel shown above was gobsmackingly inspiring. Lynda Barry is right: everyone loves a fucking monkey.

* * * * 

COMING SOON:

This is the big one, y'all! Be sure to visit me on June 16 & 17--10 days away!--at CAKE, at 1104 S Wabash on the 8th floor. No new work to debut (darn!) but I'll be there, trying not to geek out with paralyzed excitement by the talented people in the same room. Seriously, check out the panel list and the other exhibitors. How I snuck through the gate on this one is beyond me. 

ALSO, keep your eyes peeled here for information on a new 2 Color Linocut workshop that I'll be offering soon this summer, date (likely in July) TBD. 

Pavilions and Summer Sunshine: Spring Wedding Invitation #3

I am proud to share the third and final of this season's hand-carved, hand-printed wedding invitation prints! The couple gave me delightfully free reign to design their wedding invitation, with no limitations or guidelines beyond a few modest typographic preferences. They are very thoughtful people, and shared that they are moving through the wedding planning process striving to strike a balance between political awareness and social responsibility as they get married at a time when not all citizens have that freedom, and wanting to have a ceremony and reception that would be joyful and celebratory of their love and commitment. 

With this highly personal spirit in mind, I incorporated decorative elements from the beautiful late-19th century park pavilion where they are getting married for the opening panels of the trifold design, which opens up to a bright tree behind the ceremony and reception details. The warm mustardy yellow, green leaves and blue text were summery fun colors to work with, and I was tickled to have the opportunity to challenge myself with the folded design and small serif type to carve. I couldn't be happier with the end result, and I wish Eleanor and Hayden all the happiness in the world!

This 8.5" x 11" tri-fold invitation was printed at the Starshaped Press studio on a Vandercook proof press from hand-carved linoleum blocks on French cover stock paper. Designed, carved and printed by Marnie Galloway. April 2012.

Style & Advertisements: March Wedding Invitation #2

We're still reveling in wedding season here at Monkey-Rope Press!

It was a real pleasure to collaborate with the couple on this month's second invitation project. Both partners had a clearly articulated aesthetic: inspired by Mad Men, they wanted an invitation that was reminiscent of print ads in the 1950s, but with details that reflected their modern fashion (tattoos, etc). While Monkey-Rope Press's linoleum-cut print method cannot duplicate the distinctive watercolor illustrations of so many 1950s ads, I was able to use the composition and typographic design of some mid-century advertisements as a launching off point for my own design.

Printed on a concrete-gray cover stock paper, these 5-color, 2-sided 8.5" x 11" invitations were printed at Evanston Print and Paper Shop on a Vandercook proof press using hand-carved linoleum blocks, including hand-carved text. Three cheers and great happiness to Carl & Ashleigh!