See You Next Year

It was an especially fruitful year in the studio. I'm excited about the new things I'll be posting in 2015. Please check back often for updates. Please note that the Etsy shop is now closed for the season. Please follow me on Facebook (as Napping Cat Press) or feel free to email me at nappingcatpress97@gmail.com.

Have a great holiday, and thank you all for a great 2014!
--Jeff

Sale Ends Sunday!

CHRISTMAS SALE ENDS SUNDAY 12/21/2014
Click on the press at the top of the page to get the great holiday deal! Order now for Christmas delivery!

Fresh Picked!

A little bit of summer year round. Put nature's bounty on your wall.

$15 bucks unframed, unmatted.

Free shipping in the US and Canada.

INSANE!

Click on the press at the top of the page to see more!

Ducks Go "Quack!", but...

...this is CHEAP!

Original woodcut, matted and framed, FREE SHIPPING in US and Canada, 40% off of show price of $50:

$30.

Insane.

More Pressing Issues

Sorry for the lack of updates. Weather's been a little wild here in western New York. This was day one.

Day 2.

Then it got nice!

Then it got bad again. The mound in the middle is where my mailbox used to be.

Before I Was Me....

I'm interrupting one troubled avocation to bring you another. Some of you may remember that I began my creative life as a writer. Well, maybe it's a midlife thing, but I'm going to take another crack, as part of National Novel Writing Month. Go here: http://www.thevirgule.blogspot.com/, and watch that space often.

Etsy Spotlight: Sweet Breeze

We spend a lot of time by the water, more and more as Buffalo's waterfront is transformed from a post-industrial waste zone into a crowd-packed zone balanced between fun and nature. I saw this sailboat zipping along the mouth of the Buffalo River one day in July and knew it would make a great woodcut. It's one of my favorites. Done in various shades of blue and yellow, with a subtle rainbow roll background, it really captured the light at that moment.

I love painting water, and boats. The irony, of course, is that I get easily, terribly seasick!

Etsy Spotlight: The Drive In

The idea for "The Drive In" is almost as old as my interest in printmaking. Almost from the beginning I have been interested in combining black and white and color images in one print. The original concept had been the inside of a movie theater. However, as much as I loved that idea, there wasn't enough going on, visually. A trip to a classic car show helped the idea along.

Populuxe style and mid century car culture has not been a focus of my work to date, but it is a large part of my intellectual and artistic interest, and I guarantee this print is a symbolic "dipping of the toe" into the populuxe waters,

It was also a hell of a lot of fun to make!


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Napping Cat Press artwork is now available at www.artpal.com/nappingcatpress.....sloooowwwwly.

Etsy Review: Sunflower Farm

I have  pretty well covered the making of "Sunflower Farm," so if you'd like, please scroll back to July and August for details. This sunny 11-color woodcut has an image area of 9x7, and is shipped flat, unmatted via priority US mail. It is designed to fit a standard mat with an opening of at least 7.5x9.5. Framed prints are available, and will be up on the site soon.

Etsy Review: Candy Canes Ornament

Welcome to Shameless Promotion Week here at Napping Cat Press. All this week I will be enticing you to pop over to the www.etsy.com/shop/nappingcatpress site to take a look-see at all the new merch.

Starting off is this piece, a collaboration between Amy and I. I, of course, made the print, a two color job in an edition of six. Amy handled the framing and adornments. I do anticipate making this a tradition, so start your collection today!

The piece is 4"x4".. The frame is black plastic with plate glass, and can be hung with the attached cord on a wall or your Christmas tree, or you can use the attached easel-back to set on a table.

Ships within 24 hours, US Priority Mail.

Etsy Shop Now Open

The etsy.com shop is now open. Framed prints will be added soon, but the unframed prints are ready for your perusal. Click on the link above my press at the top of the page!

Etsy Shop Reopening Shortly

Please bear with me while I update the Etsy shop. I am taking new photographs (with a real camera, not my lousy phone), and we should be back up and running by Friday. If you have any questions, you can always email me at nappingcatpress97@gmail.com. Thanks again for your patience.

Back In The Saddle

Had a great time at the Nature's Gathering event for Reinstein Woods. It was my first showing in about 5 years. Thank you to Amy for all of her hard work in putting the display together and keeping me sane.

I'm taking a day off to clean up the house and get some rest, but I'll be updating the etsy site. Please check back here, go to www.etsy.com/shop/nappingcatpress or follow me at www.facebook.com/pages/Napping-Cat-Press/262140577451.

Oh, and one of my favorite things about shows is learning new things from people, things you may never otherwise find out. For example, you all know my print of the Desoto Motel in Olean. Well, a visitor from the Bradford, PA area clued me into a similar looking piece of real estate down there. Awesome!

Royal Pain

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Orna-mental

Last night was a blur of activity in the studio as I get ready for my first display in four or five years. Amy and I are working together on a project that is coming along nicely, but is very time-consuming. These little prints are only two colors, but have been a lot of fun. The snowman will be finished off with a stencil for the details, and we have found some perfect frames for them. They will be offered singly or as a set. They will be on sale at the Reinstein benefit Saturday, and remaining prints will be up on the Etsy site Sunday.

In addition to these prints and all of the framing and other stuff, I have been trying to finish the "mystery
print." It is coming along, but I have doubts that it will be dry enough to offer at Reinstein, though I may feature it as a work in progress.

Bottom line, less than eight hours of sleep in the last 48 hours. And I love it.

Autumn Camping

"Autumn Camper" 2013

Going through my prints to arrange a display for the upcoming fundraiser for Reinstein Woods, I've been enjoying revisiting old favorites. Printed in June of 2013, "Autumn Camper" is fairly recent, but it has deep, deep roots.

Detail

The print itself was conceived as a companion to "Little Camper" a few years back. Printed in late spring, it was originally supposed to be a summer picture, with lots of greens. I really have no memory of what made me turn it into an autumn picture, but I'm glad I did.

And while the scene was completely imagined, it was inspired by the autumn camping I did as a kid (though it wasn't in a cool vintage canned ham trailer).

A Nimrod tent trailer.

Nature's Gathering

JOIN US FOR NATURE’S GATHERING: AN EVENING OF ART, WINE AND CHEESE

October 21, 2013

Enjoy a tasting of fine regional wines, cheese and hors d’oeuvres and help support Friends of Reinstein Nature Preserve. Western New York artisans will be showcasing their nature-themed artwork, which will be available for purchase. Tickets will be available for purchase at the Fall Festival. For more information contact Reinstein Woods at 716-683-5959.

Tickets Available:$12 Presale or $15 at the Door

Presale Tickets
Download the form below and mail to:
Friends of Reinstein Woods
93 Honorine Drive
Depew, NY 14043

Mystery Print

We found this little guy in the woods at Allegany State Park on a weekend afternoon in July 2013. In all my years spent playing in the woods, I'd  never seen one before. And once we'd seen him, we started to see them everywhere.

Starting off with this bright pink may tip you off, or baddle you. Guesses?

Lost and Found

I was poking back deep in the archives and found this gem, a small print from January 2010 called "Point Hope Light." It was explained in the archived post that the print was inspired by a poem about hope, and some allusion to a tough times in December 2009. Most of that, of course, is bunk.

What isn't bunk is that this particular print was a bit of a turning point for me. Until this time, I had been relying on photographs to create my prints; this print got me drawing and learning to trust my imagination. It was also the first print in which I got serious about color. At this point I'd been in my day job as a color mixer for about 18 months, and was just starting to "get it."

I love the reddish haze against the churning green water, and the texture of the foam created using the business end of a Philips head screwdriver. My favorite part was the tiny prick of light from the lighthouse. Barely visible, but still visible.

To this day, it remains in my top five favorite prints. Maybe damn close to #1. And, as is the custom, it seems to be universally despised. My wife hates it, and it has the distinction of getting NO views on my etsy site. Ah, critics.

Catnapped!

When I got home yesterday afternoon, Amy had just completed her first prototype frame, and I couldn't wait to show it here. Again, the image is about 3x3.25, so the frame is about 4x4, or a hair larger. I love it around the print.








I finished the second in the ornament collaboration series last night. The idea of the crystal-like edge came to me yesterday morning on the way to work. The real thing is not too far off here in Western New York.

Of course, as I was trying to take pictures this morning, I had a little visitor. That's Ticey, short for Solstice, and she's my buddy. I don't have many pictures of her that aren't blurry, as she's a seriously active cat.

You may want to make note of the drawing, just visible in the upper left corner. You'll probably see something related to it in the next week or so.

Flaky

The collaboration with Amy is moving forward, so I have started on three more designs for the ornaments. The image size of these prints is 3x3.25", which is very, very small. However, when framed, they are more like wall decorations. We designed them for folks who are looking for a little Christmas gift at the Reinstein show, but are a little intimidated at buying art for someone else.

It's been a few years since we did a show, and I am getting pretty nervous. I'm still working on one more print, but I still have framing, packaging and display yet to do. Got a whole 12 days - YIKES!

Here is another blurry picture for you - I promise I'm going to stop using my phone to take pictures - of the second in the ornaments series. Amy is still working on the frames, but once finished the pieces run about 4x4. The prints are done the same way as the larger print, but are only 2 or three colors. There will (hopefully) be 4 prints in the series.

Cards 'n" Canes

Here is the finished two-color print, which will now go to Amy to be framed in some clever and creative way. Stay tuned.

In other news, I have received some brand-spankin'-new business cards for the November 1 show. Two weeks from today.

TWO WEEKS?????

Nothing to do with printmaking, but it sure makes a good point, doesn't it?

No Cane, No Gain

This is for a collaboration with my wife, putting together a little ornament to put out at the upcoming Reinstein show. It will be a simple two-color job, red and green, perfect for that color-blind person on your gift list, I s'pose. If it works well, I'll probably do a couple different styles. They are small, about 3x3, more or less, and will be framed by Amy in some super-secret creative way.

End of Summer Sail

I forget sometimes how long I've had this blog (despite large gaps of inactivity). It's nice that I can go back and see what I was doing five years ago. It's also painful, at times. It's also fun to remember some moments, like the time my wife accidently stabbed herself with a v-gouge. No, it wasn't funny, but we do laugh about it now.

As I was perusing, I uncovered a print I did back in 2009, I think. Seems like a long time ago now, so much has happened in that time. I'd forgotten about this print, which was done in the tiny 6x4 format I used to use. I had only just begun to understand color, and was still burnishing the prints with a wooden spoon. I remember printing it with spiders falling down around me from the ceiling in my little cave in the back of the basement in Buffalo. Not exactly joyful days, but the print, I think, is happy.

Five years later, I see that I've dropped the "graphic" esthetic from my prints. I've also lost the borders, which had mostly served as a "rail" for smooth inking. I've been studying all along, and I like to think I'm getting a better eye.

Artvertising

Well, it's been a pretty boisterous response to the latest kerfuffle regarding Buffalo's waterfront development. One afternoon riding back to Hamburg I saw them painting one of Buffalo's historic grain elevators, turning it into a giant six-pack of beer. You love them, you hate them. It's art, it's advertising. It's fun, it's an abomination.

If nothing else, it's noticeable. This view is from South Park by the Michigan Avenue lift bridge.

Local artist A.J. Fries posted his support for the paint job on Facebook. The response was a breathless, sweaty, fist pounding argument about what is art. I suggested that, had the paint job been done in 1930, people would be chaining themselves to them to preserve it as art; if this was 1930, people would be screaming to have the thing repainted.

Is it art? Absolutely not. Is it advertising? Yes. Is advertising art? Yes, definitely. Is this, then, art? Oh, of course! See how it goes.

So, if this is not art, but advertising, and if advertising is art, then what of a print of a vehicle (whose design can certainly be regarded as art), the sole purpose of which was to advertise? Is the print advertising? Is it art?

Or is it just awesome?

My Ship Came In

Here's a  terrible picture of a pretty nice print. I had been planning a different print altogether, but that one needs more drawing out. To keep my printing muscles limber, I decided to do a fairly simple print. Clocking it at a mere 5 colors, it was a fun weekend job.

Boats and water are a recurring subject in my work. This is an irony, since I get terribly, awfully, horribly seasick. Honestly, I have no idea how my family came to America back in the day. But I love the idea of water, and boats, and the whole nautical image.

The palette here is blues and grays, which works very well for this print. I am planning a companion piece featuring the windmills along the Lake Erie shore. That's going to be down the road a bit. Right now I want to jump on something with some bright colors. Any requests?

Breezin' Along

State 1, Rainbow Roll

State#2, bright white

Print on the line, backlit after white

State#4, with light gray, and light blue

The End

Here she is, as yet untitled and still drying on the line. There's a little shine from the light on there, but above the screen are a row of tree tops that print black. Better pictures to come over on the ETSY site.

Posts will be sporadic as I gun it for my November 1 show. check out Napping Cat Press on Facebook to get updates on posts.

Thank you for stopping by, and please drive home safe. Goodnight!

Intermission

In the middle of a marathon to finish the last three colors of the drive-in print, and thought I'd take a minute to talk about color.

Color is very important to me, as an artist and as someone who likes to eat and sleep under a roof (I'm an ink technician for a printing company by trade). I almost gave up on reduction printing a few years ago because I couldn't get the colors to do what I wanted them to (see http://nappingcat.blogspot.com/2010/04/fresh-print-doonagore-castle.html for an example). One can often tell a reduction print by the muted, muddied colors that are the result of colors affecting the colors printed over them. Instead of giving up, I've made it my mission to overcome this issue.

One of the things I do before starting a print is to get a good idea of the colors I will be using. I then mix some test colors, overprinting them to see how they play off each other. I use screen printing to do this step, so the results are not necessarily transferable to woodcut. But it does give me a pretty good idea of what I want the final color to look like. Once I start printing with a block, I usually print one or two extra pieces, so that I can use them as color proofs.

The picture to the right is my color palette for my next print. Any guesses on what the subject might be?

Happy Blues

Another productive weekend in the studio saw the addition of the two blues that make up the Chevy on the left. The first blue was tricky -- I wanted it dark, but not so dark it was black, and blue, but not so blue it stuck out.

The second blue needed to be lighter, but still be subdued enough to give the impression of darkness falling around it.