artHound

tiny prints ~ small doses

December 8, 2015 in artwork, hanging around town | No comments

Part of the fun in researching botanical poisons for As Potent as a Charm, was coming across bits and pieces of information, quotes and symbols. Tiny prints and commentary are gathered here in a collection of nine little pieces. There’s a crown for the Queen of Poisons (Aconitum) and a dagger to mark a botanical poison; Belladonna for dark, alluring eyes or castor oil to brighten the whites a la Cleopatra; the atropine dose from my hound’s recent surgery and intriguing quotes from disparate sources, including Agatha Christie’s comment on her frequent method of (fictional) murder: “I prefer to poison them.”

Tags: as potent as a charm, belladonna, castor bean, linocut, printmaking, relief print

the Solanaceae family

December 8, 2015 in artwork, hanging around town | No comments

Black sheep and skeletons in the closet . . .
even the plant world has its share of family secrets, eccentrics and deviants.

Consider the family Solanaceae, commonly referred to as either the nightshade or potato family: members of this unwieldy clan run the gamut from the meek to the murderous. In each of the six Solanaceae prints the virtuous shares space with the disreputable.

Look for mandrake (Mandragora officinarum) and the potato (Solanum tuberosa), deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna) and Petunia, henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) and eggplant (Solanum melongena), bittersweet (Solanum dulcamara) and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), along with tobacco (Nicotiana) and chili pepper (Capsicum). With about 2,690 additional species, the history of the Solanaceae family’s interaction with humans is one of dramatic trial and error, malevolence and goodwill.

left to right:

Loves Me Not
Deadly Nightshade, Atropa belladonna
Petunia

Deceitful Charm
Jimson Weed, Datura stramonium
Chinese Lantern, Physalis alkekengi

Bittersweet
Woody Nightshade, Solanum dulcamara
Tomato, Solanum lycopersicum

Scuttle
Mandrake, Mandragora officinarum
Potato, Solanum tuberosa

Best Laid Plans
Henbane, Hyoscyamus niger
Eggplant, Solanum melongena

Smokin’ Hot
Tobacco, Nicotiana tabacum
Chili pepper, Capsicum

Tags: as potent as a charm, botanicals, linocut, printmaking, relief print, Solanaceae

Ricinus communis

December 7, 2015 in artwork, hanging around town | No comments

The Castor Bean plant from this year’s garden found multiple uses in the As Potent as a Charm exhibit. The framed artwork is a print of a fresh leaf on mulberry hosho using oil based ink; the display leaves were overlapped, coiled in newspaper and dried.

Tags: as potent as a charm, castor bean, leaf print, printmaking, ricinus communis

As Potent as a Charm in the BOX gallery

December 5, 2015 in artwork, hanging around town | No comments

As Potent as a Charm

BOTANICAL
bad seeds
black sheep
& skeletons
in the closet

While there is little that is whimsical about poisoning, there is definitely plenty of drama and mystery in horticultural mishaps and misdeeds. Lovely plants may be leading double lives; happy blooms and tasty vegetables have cousins that are downright deadly. Herbalists differ on the merits and dangers of various herbs. The fascinating stories from botanical history, folklore and science invite and inspire imagery.

The ongoing series, As Potent as a Charm, explores the malevolent side of familiar plants in a collection of black and white linoleum block prints. Although the concept is botanical, allusions to dark tales and malfeasance hint at a narrative within each visual representation.

The series title, As Potent as a Charm, is a phrase taken from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story, Rappaccini’s Daughter. The title character, Beatrice, tends her father’s botanical collection of lovely, yet lethal plants. While ‘as potent as a charm’ refers to the specimens, it could just as well describe Beatrice who, as the story progresses, becomes just as lovely and lethal as the flowers she nurtures.

Tags: as potent as a charm, botanicals, linocut, Nathaniel Hawthorne, poison, printmaking, relief print

December Exhibits at Summit Artspace

December 3, 2015 in artists of rubber city, hanging around town, summit artspace | No comments

Three new exhibits ~ opening tomorrow!

Summit Artspace Gallery
Kaleidoscope 2015 – the 13th annual juried show

the BOX gallery
Thread & Mud

the (little) BOX gallery
As Potent as a Charm

December 4 – December 31, 2015
Summit Artspace
140 East Market Street
Akron, Ohio

Opening receptions, Friday, December 4, 5 – 8 p.m.
Downtown Akron Artwalk, Saturday, December 5, 5 – 9:30 p.m.
First Night Akron 2015, Thursday, December 31, 6 – 9 p.m.
Gallery hours: Saturday & Sunday, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. (closed December 26 & 27)

under the mistletoe

November 24, 2015 in artwork | No comments

Oh, the holidays – even they are fraught with pretty poisons! The crow sits patiently under the mistletoe, Viscum album, in Biding Time – hoping for a kiss? Among the mistletoe lore and legend this riddle (author unknown) caught my fancy:

a riddle
I lived my life between the worlds
Neither earth nor sky would call me child
The birds were my companions
The wind and rain my mentors
Daily I grew in power and strength
‘Til snatched out of time by the trickster.
answer: mistletoe

Tags: as potent as a charm, crow, linocut, mistletoe, printmaking, raven, relief print

holiday owl

November 19, 2015 in artwork, miscellany | No comments

Took a break from malevolent botanicals to print up some book-themed cards for The Learned Owl in Hudson, Ohio. Featuring an owl that is both wise and whimsical, cards will be available individually and in sets.

Tags: books, linocut, owl, printmaking, relief print

sinister shrubs

November 12, 2015 in artwork | No comments

Three of the prints in the As Potent as a Charm exhibit will feature common landscape plants (see perilous plantings for line drawings) who keep their toxicity well hidden. The proof print above is of a Rhododendron in A Deceptive Welcome.

The block in progress shows the ubiquitous Yew, Taxus baccata, in Pleasant Valley; Oleander, Nerium oleander, guards the gate in Be Still.

Tags: as potent as a charm, crow, linocut, Nerium oleander, oleander, printmaking, raven, relief print, rhododendron, Taxus baccata, yew

As Potent as a Charm

November 5, 2015 in artwork, hanging around town | No comments

There is nothing like a carton of postcards to bring reality into focus: As Potent as a Charm will open in just a month!

Tags: as potent as a charm, linocut, printmaking, relief print, the box gallery

Solanaceae at night

November 4, 2015 in artwork | No comments

There is a latecomer to the Solanaceae family prints – the group of five has expanded to six. The ‘table’ prints can now form a triptych, with the addition of Deceitful Charm. This piece includes a sphinx moth fluttering around a mysterious pairing of Jimson Weed, Datura stramonium, and Chinese Lantern, Physalis alkekengi.

Tags: as potent as a charm, Chinese Lantern plant, Datura, linocut, printmaking, relief print, Solanaceae