words + pictures from the studio of Joan Colbert
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Oh, those Best Laid Plans . . . which seems an apt title for another pairing from the plant family Solanaceae. That’s Henbane, Hyoscyamus niger, causing the chicken to be a little, uh, chicken. This is the fourth print of unlikely familial pairs from the nightshade family. Although the related vegetable isn’t visible in the above detail, the logical partner for henbane is (what else?) eggplant!
image: Best Laid Plans, block print
Tags: block print, chicken, egg, eggplant, henbane, linocut, printmaking, relief print, Solanaceae
Just completed – another mixed media piece in the Imprints series! The client’s only specific requests were the finished size and the inclusion of a compass rose. The tiny compass rose print guided the overall theme and inspired the title of Imprints/Directions.
image: Imprints/Directions, mixed media, private collection
View more pieces in the series on joancolbert.com.
Tags: block print, compass rose, mixed media, printmaking, relief print
Of the five planned botanical prints of Solanaceae pairs, four combine a poisonous plant with a vegetable. The remaining one is a floral, featuring Deadly Nightshade and Petunia. The edition of Loves Me Not is finished – and it’s a good guess that the romance is too! There’s no doubt that Atropa belladonna (Deadly Nightshade) is heartless, but the pretty Petunia? In the Language of Flowers it actually symbolizes anger and resentment.
Tags: belladonna, block print, deadly nightshade, linocut, petunia, poison, printmaking, Solanaceae, wasp
Things are heating up both inside and out! Smokin’ Hot is the most recent addition to the Solanaceae prints, combining the fierce Capsicum (chili pepper) with its deadly cousin Nicotiana tabacum (tobacco).
For more information on the series visit As Potent as a Charm on my website.
Tags: block print, chili pepper, linocut, printmaking, relief print, skeleton, Solanaceae, tobacco
It’s exciting to finally begin printing the pieces in the Solanaceae group, the newest in the As Potent as a Charm series. Solanaceae contains both botanical bad guys and garden favorites, so each will feature an unlikely pairing, such as the Tomato, Solanum lycopersicum, with Woody Nightshade, Solanum dulcamara, in this yet to be titled print.
Tags: block print, linocut, poison, printmaking, Solanaceae, tomato, woody nightshade
“Fill your house with stacks of books, in all the crannies and in all the nooks.”
Dr. Suess
There are a few additions to the Books in Print series, started last fall, all of which are on display at the studio at Summit Artspace. This has been a fun little diversion – even though many of us enjoy the convenience of digital books, there is something about groups of books collected on shelves or in stacks. Their warmth invites us to choose an old favorite or something new, to leaf through the pages or settle in for a long read.
On the subject of books: Last fall also saw a couple new Little Free Library additions right here in west Akron. Fellow artist and friend, Don Parsisson, designed and built a Cape Cod wood-shingled library (Little Free Library #17708) in front of his home.
photo ©Don Parsisson
Around the same time, Angel Falls Coffee Company installed an A-frame version, designed by artist, Steve Levey, adjacent to the coffee shop. It will be maintained by the Highland Square Branch Library.
Tags: block print, books, bookshelf, linocut, little free library, printmaking
Bookshelf
block print
Several new prints are now available at Don Drumm Studios & Gallery. These are just the beginning of a small series of bookshelf images – the plan is for an eventual bookcase of prints!
Books
block print
Vols. I, II, III
block print
Tags: block print, linocut, printmaking
PorchRokr, the Highland Square festival that features bands on the porch and art on the lawn, is coming up this Saturday. Visitors can purchase Square Cards, good for art, food or music from participating vendors.
This year’s Square Card items from Joan Colbert Studios are tiny pieces of original art (ACEOs – art cards editions and originals). Measuring just 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches, most are mixed media or prints. Choose your favorite!
above: Worker Bees, block print
Tags: aceo, block print, linoleum print, mixed media
Even though the initial three prints in the monkshood series, included in the Upstairs Downstairs exhibit earlier this year, worked fine as a triptych, I knew then that five was the magic number to complete the set of Aconitum inspired images. The ‘queen of poisons’ is probably best known as monkshood, but it also answers to leopard’s bane, devil’s helmet, blue rocket and mousebane (in addition to the previously depicted women’s bane and wolfsbane).
After many initial drawings of devils, the final sketch has him perched like a gargoyle, while the leopard eventually wound up on an overhead tree branch. Both drawings have been transferred to linoleum blocks and cutting has begun – printing can’t be far behind.
Tags: Aconite, Aconitum, block print, linocut, linoleum print, relief print
Joining Monk(s)hood are two additional prints, finished and framed and not a minute too soon!
Monk(s)hood
Aconitum napellus
Insomnia
Wolfsbane
Aconitum lycoctonum
The Night Wolf
Women’s Bane
Artist’s Statement
Recently added to the current series, As Potent as a Charm, are three new prints based on plants of the genus, Aconitum. There are over 250 species of Aconitum, known as “the queen of poisons,” with common names for individual varieties derived from mythology, literature and appearance. The English name, Monkshood, describes the signature hood-like shape of the flower. Other names refer to its lethal qualities, including women’s bane, wolfsbane and mousebane. While humans and wolves require contact to succumb to the power of Aconitum, purportedly the smell alone is enough to kill a mouse.
The exhibited pieces are linoleum block prints. Initial drawing and design decisions are a large part of the process – determining the balance of light and dark and the ‘readability’ of the work is integral to the success of the final image. After the drawing is reversed and transferred to the block a variety of tools are used to cut the surface, leaving only the area to be printed. The relief prints in this series were hand printed with oil-based ink on Strathmore 500 Series vellum paper. Because the printing is done by hand, varying pressure can add tonal effects to the final image.
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: Aconitum, block print, linoleum print, monkshood, relief print
