What a relief (print)
It’s been a long and somewhat confusing week for me body wise. I came home from a very successful artist talk trip to Kansas on Sunday and then promptly left again on Monday, returning back to the ChicFinn on Wednesday.
The previous two times I made the work trip (Monday through Wednesday travels) it resulted in a panic attack sooner or later.
Everyone I told about my panic said, “maybe this is your body telling you, you’re doing too much?” And I said I know…I’ll try to slow down.
So, in effort to not subsequently induce a panic attack, I cleared my schedule for my return. I’ve been in the studio once this week. I’ve been trying my best to listen to my body and not push myself into high stress mode.
After all, other than my standing commitments the sky will not fall if I don’t accomplish something off of my to-do list.
Ha! Let me try that again. I just reread that. Even if I chose to blow off my standing commitments, the sky will not fall.
The sky is not falling.
The world still turns whether or not I make forward progress on my painting goals.
It’s well past 5pm as I’m writing this on the Friday that it will go to your inbox. And while I’m not impressed with my writing-up-to-the-due-date inclinations, I have not (yet) had a panic attack since my return.
So, maybe I’m learning.
So, maybe I can learn to be as gentle with myself as I would be for anyone else.
April 25th happens to be the birthday of the artist Feliciano Peña of Guanajuato, Mexico - who was born in 1915 and died in 1982. I’m grateful for the Smithsonian for this birthday resource. On any given day you can see which artists they have in their collections and who share a birthday with the chosen date.
My mom’s side of the family has ties to Guanajuato. And many of the Mexican American community nearby in Pelican Rapids also hail from this area of Mexico.
I loved spending time learning about his art today.
According to his Wikipedia entry, Peña was like most artists of any renown - only receiving his flowers posthumously. When I see his woodcuts in the Smithsonian collection - I am drawn to their bold, graphic sensibilities. I see that from this collection he was drawn to the simplicities of rural life. I see a cuteness in likeness of humans and animals that I too have in my representation of animal forms.
I feel like me and Feliciano would have been able to talk farm animal together. From this relief print, I would guess he knew what it’s like to live with hoofed creatures.
Looking at Peña’s work makes me want to get back to printmaking. There is something so satisfying about carving a block for a relief print. And the beauty in pumping out multiples of an image when I spend so much time (typically) on the one singular image of my paintings.
In that way, there is a relief in relief printing. A process that can start and finish all in one day (depending on the scale).
I send out a relief print to my Ko-Fi community annually. Typically this is the only way to get your hands on one of my very rare prints. Unless I gift you one.
As I write this, I am remembering that I still haven’t made or sent out the 2024 print.
But I know my people know they will receive it one day.
There is something quite satisfying about this process for me. And maybe in laying out all my dirty laundry about it here for you to read about will be the spur I need to get back to actualizing the print.
It’s not like I’m short on ideas or anything, the prompt is anything that pairs well with coffee (ko-fi get it?)
I’ve made prints of the prettiest slice of tres leche cake and prints of conchas. And for my ko-fi members who have been with me all along, they have the whole collection which makes them members of a very special and unique club.
And, it’s not too late to start your collection!
Because I’m recommitting to getting 2024 out (he he he) before the midpoint of 2025. So if you like sweet treats, and if slowness feels like a relief (print) for you too, maybe my ko-fi club is for you?
Other goodies exist for you in that space too - but I’ll leave it for you to explore that on your own. Become a monthly member of my club and you too can receive the relief of a relief on the timeline that doesn’t trigger panic attacks.
Sending calm, joy, love, and ease your way,
KCF