peek from the studio

So, this is the sort of thing I've been working on up at UCSC. Combining photoetching with monotype to create a series of images. That's Bob, my cat, having a snooze. She will float at the top of these images, alternately dreaming about cat things (you can just make out the fish) and being an overseeing benevolent presence against ominous announcements and other life struggles.

Last night I was there again, up till 1am sanding copper plates to shine in prep for more etching. I probably over-polished--toward the end I realized I was crouched over a cloud of copper dust, and drove home with a metallic taste in my mouth--but the kids have good music to listen to up there, so I was content.

As part of this class I'm auditing, I have access to the Cave, the art dept's name for their room full of computers, fancypants printers and high quality scanners. It doesn't see daylight. On the assumption that I'll only have access to it for the next 5 weeks, I find myself scheming about other small works I can haul up there to be scanned and made available for you-all to see.

Not today, though. It's raining buckets. So no cliffside strolls for me, either. Today is all about baking banana bread, framing my piece for the Pacific Grove Art Center show (Feb 23-April 5, reception Fri Feb 23 7-9pm--see you there!), and tidying up around here. Putter putter.

My friend 4ank sent me a copy of the Neverhood, a fun puzzle-solving computer game made in 1996 by Dreamworks Interactive--out of clay. It's a claymation game. Years ago when I visited 4ank in Washington he was noodling around with it, and it charmed me enough to be thinking about it 10 years later. So I imagine I'll be fooling around with that, too. I'm already stuck.

Pip