What is it like to live in a town with a large art supply store? A store with clay, linoleum, silk screen ink, and brayers? Am I dreaming of a city that doesn't exist? My creative practice is, to a degree, necessarily, formed by my environment, and I am not complaining. I know that if I want or need a material or tool, I can go to Toronto, or order online, or Weber's can order stuff they can't maintain on premises.
Today I went to buy linoleum for making prints. There seems to be none to be had here, so I am going to try a 'composite vinyl tile' to see if it will carve readily, and take ink. I will find a brayer somewhere. Steve has loaned me his to use in my LTTA and Rodman Hall classes, but I would like my own. More clutter, but more convenient. There is a degree of whimsy in art that occasionally requires an immediate availability of tool or material.
I love reading about artists like Delacroix and Cavé, because of their confidence in tools they could acquire or produce on their own. I felt so 'capable' walking into Home Depot looking for art making equipment, knowing that Curry's is over an hour away, looking for lino, and walking out with CVT.
This urge to make prints IS partly due to a Christmas card making workshop I led last week at Rodman Hall. The kids drew on flattened styrofoam plates, which were then inked and pressed to paper. I think they look great, and so different from the computer printouts everyone else seems to satisfy themselves with. The cards felt fresh.
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