words + pictures from the studio of Joan Colbert
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Yes, it’s a busman’s holiday, but it feels like a vacation of sorts! Participating in the Rubber City Prints Dive into Printmaking workshop proved to be a nice break from the usual routine.
above: collage monotypes, process and prints
above: collage monotype
Tags: collage, monotype, printmaking, Rubber City Prints
Cultivated in herb gardens or cursed for its invasiveness, mint used in monotype printing adds a subtly refreshing scent to the studio. One such print is currently on display in the Artists of Rubber City Members Show.
image: Mint, monotype
Tags: mint, monotype, printmaking
As Potent as a Charm also included some holiday beauties whose good will might be suspect:
Black Hellebore
Christmas Rose, Helleborus niger
[holly]
Biding Time
Mistletoe, Viscum album
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, hellebore, holly, linocut, mistletoe, printmaking, raven, relief print, riddle
There have been many surprises in the ongoing research on poisonous plants for the As Potent as a Charm series. Not the least is the number of common landscape/foundation plantings that add a hint of danger to the structure of the garden, such as this threesome of familiar shrubs:
A Deceptive Welcome
Rhododendron, Rhododendron
Pleasant Valley
Yew, Taxus baccata
Be Still
Oleander, Nerium oleander
Tags: as potent as a charm, botanicals, linocut, oleander, poison, printmaking, relief print, rhododendron, yew
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
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
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
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
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
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
