Category Archives: Personal Stories

Unpacking the Boxes: RIP my Beloved HP Printer

After months of planning and packing and two days of moving boxes and wondering where we got all this stuff… we’ve finally moved. I’m looking forward to sharing photos of my new studio with you as well as stories of trying to organize a new space, learning how to work within a new layout and just generally finding my artist self again after months of wearing a movers hat.

In the meantime, here is a quick photo of what we were doing at 6 a.m. this morning after having been up all night (those are Greg’s hands):

I was finishing up my altered book for the Marin MOCA show and getting ready to print (after finally finding the box that had all the half completed pieces) and Greg opened the box with the inkjet printer in it. I was in the other half of the house and heard a pretty serious verbal SOS. I figure that Greg or one of the cats is hurt (he yelled, “bring paper towels”) so I went running in to the office to see Greg holding my beloved printer with black ink dripping all over him, all over our office chair and all over our new pale sage colored carpet.

Well, I can tell you now, from personal experience, that Shout laundry spot remover, combined with a few rolls worth of paper towels and a Spot Bot, takes black inkjet ink out of pale color carpet.  It took more than an hour, but I was pretty motivated not to have to replace the carpet after only living here a couple of weeks! Sadly, I can also tell you that the printer has finally had it. That $150 printer that was nearly 12 years old has printed every artist book I’ve ever made. It has been a real trooper, printing on Rives BFK, handmade paper, even metal. And it has ink in places we will never reach except when there is valued paper is going through it.

Which brings me back to my book for Marin MOCA. It was meant to be in both black and white and color, but I am left with only my laser printer – which does not print in color. So I did a test print this morning and, to my happy surprise, the book looks better all in black and white. Yes Mom, things do happen for a reason.

I’ll share photos of my altered book tomorrow. I’m pretty tickled with it.

In the meantime I’ll be trying to get inkjet ink out of Greg’s sweatpants and slippers. We think maybe he has scrubbed his fingerprints right off, but his hands are now clean.

Do you have an inkjet story? Feel free to share in the comments.

~Ginger

www.gingerburrell.com

Studio Update: Let There Be Drywall

A quick studio update. We have drywall!

And chicken-wire. Sadly that will probably be the only chicken-wire in our yard. Despite lobbying for nearly 6 months I’m making no progress in getting Greg to agree that chickens would be a nice addition to our brood of four kitties. Fresh eggs for breakfast doesn’t seem to be enough incentive. I think I’m making progress on the a-puppy-would-sure-be-nice front, though. Stay tuned.

The front door is on the left. The closed door on the right is to the bathroom. (You can get to the bathroom via an inside door, as well.) I’m looking forward to being able to make cyanotypes and paper in the patio behind the studio and take all that wet, messy and wonderful stuff straight into the sink. No more trekking it through the studio.)

The bottom photo is a tradition Greg and I started nearly 13 years ago when we met. We take shadow pictures wherever we go. (It warms my heart that now my niece, Samantha, takes shadow pictures everywhere, too.) The thing in Greg’s hand is a tape measure. We seem to be measuring everything these days.

I’ve also started space planning and I’ll tell you some more about the books and software that I’m using for inspiration and planning in a blog post or two later this week.

~Ginger

www.gingerburrell.com

CBAA Member Showcase: Kent Manske, Nanette Wylde and PreNeo Press

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At the Member Showcase at the CBAA conference, I had the opportunity to spend some time talking with Kent Manske and Nanette Wylde. I’ve known both of them for several years, but somehow we always meet in situations where we’re doing something for the Bay Area Book Artists and we don’t have a lot of time to chat. I’ve seen very little of their work and I welcomed the opportunity to remedy that.

Collectively, Kent and Nanette are PreNeo Press. Kent was featuring one of their joint projects, Meaning Maker, at the member showcase. To borrow their own words from their website, “Meaning Maker is a guided interactive response structure tailored to specific styles of experience.” I picked up a few of the Meaning Makers at CBAA and it was both fun and introspective to work my way through them. I think because of how recently we had many family events, I had the most fun with the “Family Gathering” Edition. I’m still thinking about the TV show that best represents my family. You’ll find six editions including “Academic Conference,” “Art Viewing,” and “Periodic Personal Evaluation.” All are worth a look. You can download them here.

I quite enjoyed Nanette’s work, which I’d really only seen in the form of  Gray Matter Gardening. One of my favorites was Hello Catty! a collaboration between Nanette and Karen Chew. It is funny, quite clever (and catty!) and beautifully made. I’m hoping I can save my pennies fast enough to buy Hello Catty! before the edition is sold out.

While you’re at PreNeo Press, take some time and look at the Projects as well as Kent and Nanette’s individual work. Bring a cup of coffee or tea and stay awhile. You’ll find the art to be thought-provoking and worth spending some time. Don’t miss the Focus Generator.

Next: Robbin Ami Silverberg

~Ginger

www.gingerburrell.com