March 13th, 2010 categories: * Just for Fun
DANIEL SMITH sign with Mt Rainier bathed in Alpenglow pink to the right of the sign

DANIEL SMITH sign with Mt Rainier bathed in Alpenglow pink to the right of the sign

 

Yesterday’s blog post was about Kristina Hagman’s show: “36 Views of Mt Rainier” and her capturing in expressive woodblock prints, how Mt Rainier is always part of the landscape for those living in Seattle and the Puget Sound.  You see Mt Rainier framed by “where-you-are-right-now” and it’s always present like the sky….
 
Well…Mt Rainier also watches over our DANIEL SMITH Art Supply building in the SODO neighborhood of Seattle….
 
I took these photos later the same day that I had met Kristina at Kinsey Gallery, so Mt Rainier was on my mind as I was leaving my office at DANIEL SMITH, driving south over the bridge above DANIEL SMITH, and there it was….Mt Rainier!
 
Seattle DANIEL SMITH Store with Mt Rainier at dusk

Seattle DANIEL SMITH Store with Mt Rainier at dusk

Mt Rainier was glowing pink bathed in the alpenglow of the setting sun on Friday March 5th.  You can see it above the roof of the DANIEL SMITH building and at the base of our sign:  DANIEL SMITH: Artists’ Materials…you can just make it out – Mt Rainier!

 
It was so beautiful, I had to stop and take some photos to share with you!
 
Every Day,  Express Yourself  with  ART….
 
~Deborah Burns
 
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March 12th, 2010 categories: * Artist Interviews, * Catalog Artists, * Galleries & Studios, * Video Slide Shows
Kristina Hagman with her "36 Views of Mt Rainier" at Kinsey Gallery

Kristina Hagman with her "36 Views of Mt Rainier" at Kinsey Gallery

 

Walking into the Kinsey Gallery with Kristina Hagman and seeing a wall of 30 different views of Mt Rainier was as awesome as suddenly seeing Mt Rainier as you drive, boat, walk, hike or move around Seattle and the Puget Sound….*SMAK*…and there they are! 
 
It was an impressive sight to finally see the entire body of work completed and on display in a single space. 
 
Kristina Hagman whose woodblock print “Night” is on the DANIEL SMITH 2009-2010 Reference Catalog has her entire suite of “36 Views of Mt Rainier” on display at the Kinsey Gallery at Seattle University.  Unfortunately I missed her Artist Reception, but Kristina was kind enough to meet at the Gallery and talk with me again about her work.
 
We met 6 months ago at her home/studio to talk about her “Thirty-Six Views of Mount Rainier” woodblock prints inspired by Hokusai and his series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji while she was still working on them.  You can read that interview here:  “An hour with Kristina Hagman, DANIEL SMITH Catalog Cover Artist, to chat about her Woodblock Print Series ‘Thirty-Six Views of Mount Rainier“.
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The entry print is my favorite, “View from Georgetown“, then you come around the corner and there they are…you see 30 prints arranged “en masse” with 5 more prints opposite as you walk in.  Those 5 prints are of Mt Rainier alone…. almost as an abstraction…without the context of a foreground to provide a narrative.  Kristina described them as Mt Rainier as “Superstar” and to her, as if Mt Rainier was featured on the cover of “Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine”.  These are also named differently with titles like Big Rainier Opal” and “Dark Big Rainier“.
 
The narratives of the the other 31 one is as changeable as the mountain is, as unique as the Seattle neighborhood (or outlying location) from which that particular view of Mt Rainier is seen.  Sometimes it’s from a single persons point of view like “Diane’s View” or Axel’s View“.  In several you see strong forced perspective as a pink flowering Cherry Tree lined “Rainier Avenue South“ points to Mt Rainier or “View from Beacon Hill” with the Power Lines marching along towards Mt Rainier.  This print was one that Kristina was carving when I visited her studio, you can see a photo of her carving it here. 
 
"Night" surrounded by 14 Woodblock Prints by Kristina Hagman

"Night" surrounded by 14 Woodblock Prints by Kristina Hagman

While there is an identifiable point of view location to most of the prints, Kristina has edited and manipulated the images to suit her personal point of view of Mt Rainier, which is sometimes very surreal and dramatic as seen in “View from Date Night“, very urban views of Mt Rainier like “Amazon” and “View from Tacoma” which contrast to the more naturalized urban views in prints like “Blue Heron” and “View from Seward Park“  and the views of Mt Rainier in a landscape like”Reflection” and “Winter“. 

 
Living in Puget Sound means living in the presence of Mt Rainier and experiencing it from so many places, it’s something you always see, like the sky.  You are always seeing in framed by the foreground of where-you-are-right-now.  Sometimes Mt Rainier looms large, sometimes barely seen, sometimes rose colored with alpine glow from the rising or setting sun, sometimes obscured by clouds soon to be revealed and always there.  Kristina Hagman’s “36 Views of Mt Rainier” woodblock series captures 36 interpretive views that everyone in living in the shadow of the Mountain can recognize.  Wonderful body of work!
 
Every Day,  Express Yourself  with  ART….
 
~Deborah Burns
 
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August 11th, 2009 categories: * Artist Interviews, * Catalog Artists, * DS Printmaking Inks, * Printmaking
Kristina Hagman at her dining room table, on the wall, four of her woodblock Prints: "Thirty-Six Views of Mount Rainier"

Kristina Hagman at her dining room table, on the wall, four of her woodblock Prints: "Thirty-Six Views of Mount Rainier"

Last week I visited Kristina Hagman at her studio in Seattle to talk with her about her new work.  Kristinas’ Woodblock Print “Night” is on the cover of the new DANIEL SMITH 2009-2010 Reference Catalog.   This Woodblock Print is just one from her series “Thirty-Six Views of Mount Rainier”, inspired by Hokusai and his series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji.  Kristina also wrote an article for DANIEL SMITH about how she was inspired by Mt Rainier and Hokusai to make this series that you can read here

 
When you enter Kristina’s Craftsman home you see about 7 framed prints of her series of 36 views of Mount Rainier on the pale yellow walls of her home.  Two on either side of the fireplace, two on the wall opposite above shelves, four on the wall near the dinning room table, another on the same wall on the other side of the door to the kitchen.
 
Kristina invited me to sit at her dining room table to show me some of Hokusai prints in a book on Hokusai she pulled from a nearby shelf filled with art books.  One of the prints Kristina talked about was “The Great Wave of Kanagawa” (his most recognizable work) with the tiny Mount Fuji seen in the distance.  When you look carefully you can see that the mountains’ shape is also roughly repeated in the shape of a smaller wave. 
 
With this series, “Thirty-Six Views of Mount Rainier” , Kristina is not trying to find corresponding views of Mount Rainier to Hokusai Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji in her series, but rather the spirit of Mount Rainier and how everyone in it’s vicinity sees it juxtaposed in their day-to-day activities and lives.  Mount Rainier is so huge, and stands so alone in it’s surroundings that it becomes a personal reference point to everyone in Seattle and south Puget Sound, just as Mount Fuji does for everyone in Tokyo and central Japan.
 
Then we went downstairs to The Studio!
 
Print & woodblocks from Kristina Hagman's "View from Georgetown"

Print & woodblocks from Kristina Hagman's "View from Georgetown"

In The Studio, Kristina first showed me the four woodblocks she used for the print “View from Georgetown“.  We talked about the peculiar cloud formation that occurs over Mt Rainier, called lenticular clouds that look kind of like UFO’s.  Kristina has carved one of the lenticular clouds into the woodblock which is appropriate for a view from Georgetown, which is a quirky little Artist community just about 2 miles southeast from the DANIEL SMITH Seattle Store.  Kristina told me that she began working with DANIEL SMITH Printmaking Inks in 1983 when she was in New Mexico studying printmaking, funny how she now has one of her prints 26 years later on the cover of a DANIEL SMITH Catalog! 

 
Kristina Hagman with Progressive Prints of "Dawn"

Kristina Hagman with Progressive Prints of "Dawn"

Kristina showed me a set of Progressive Prints of her print “Dawn” which is basically the print deconstructed.  Each paper is of just one of the woodblock prints with it’s particular ink color.  If you *click* on the link to see the print, you will see subtle “waves” in the water of Lake Washington, those “waves” are actually the wood-grain of that particular woodblock.  That was an artistic decision to choose a woodblock that had wood-grain that resembles waves, and to incorporate that wood-graining into the print.  It takes careful printmaking to bring out the wood-grain.  You can see some wood-grain in the sky of “Night” which is on the cover of the DANIEL SMITH 2009-2010 Reference Catalog, they echo the general shapes of the night clouds.

 
Kristina Hagman working at her lectern carving on her new untitled woodblock of Beacon Hill transformers and power lines with Mt Rainier in the background

Kristina Hagman working at her lectern carving on her new untitled woodblock of Beacon Hill transformers and power lines with Mt Rainier in the background

Next Kristina showed me her wood cutting tools nestled in a nifty segmented box, a cigar box/tray that someone gave her.  I asked Kristina where she actually worked when carving the woodblocks and it turns out to be a lectern that she picked up at a thrift store.  It’s the perfect height for Kristina to stand at to carve.  Kristina picked up one of her woodcutting tools and began to carve the woodblock laying on the lectern to show me how she works.  That woodblock is an interesting one with Mt Rainier in the background of the Giant Transformers and Power Lines that run along the spine of Beacon Hill.  Below those power lines is a Park/Trail called Chief Sealth Trail.  It’s interesting to know that Seattle City Light has purchased, for their Arts Collection, some of Kristina’s prints from this series, since those power lines in this new print belong to Seattle City Light.

 
It was fascinating to meet Kristina Hagman, to see her studio, talk about her current body of work, and see some of her work in progress.  Kristina is now working on woodblock print number 25 of the 36, with the goal to finish by this spring for a show at Seattle University to inaugurate their new Gallery Space.  Kristina will do a lecture on her series, Thirty-Six Views of Mount Rainier there too, that will be a very interesting lecture!
 
Thank you Kristina!
 
Every Day,  Express Yourself  with  ART….
 
~Deborah Burns
 
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August 1st, 2009 categories: * Annual Customer Art Contest, * Catalog Artists, * DANIEL SMITH Blog, * DANIEL SMITH Catalog, * DS Extra Fine Watercolor Sticks
DANIEL SMITH 2009-2010 Reference Catalog with Kristina Hagman woodblock print "Night" on the Cover

DANIEL SMITH 2009-2010 Reference Catalog with Kristina Hagman woodblock print "Night" on the Cover

Artists’ Mailboxes the past few days have been a source of delight as Artists have discovered their new DANIEL SMITH 2009-2010 Reference Catalog amongst ordinary mail.  Our new DS Catalog will continue to be arriving in the mailboxes of everyone who is on our mailing list, so have You Got Yours Yet?  If it’s because you are not yet on our mailing list, then you can request a catalog on our website. 

This year we are “Honoring the Past” with Articles written by Artists acknowledging past Art Movements and Artists’ whose works have influenced Artists today.  We hope you will enjoy reading the articles by this years’ DANIEL SMITH Reference Catalog contributors.
 
The first one (page 6) is “California Watercolor, the National Context, and Why the Medium Continues to Matter” by Paul J. Karlstrom which you can also find already on our website.  The DS Catalog also has articles by Robert Amos writing about the influence of Canada’s Emily Carr (page 24), and Bruce Klein on Bay Area Figurative Painting (page 40) and its’ influence on his work.  Our Cover Artist Kristina Hagman whose Cover Print “Night” is part of a series of woodblock prints called “Thirty-six Views of Mount Rainier” is based on Japanese Artist Hokusai: “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji” (page 88).  I will have an interview here in the DANIEL SMITH Blog with Kristina Hagman soon.
 
PLUS, we have announced the winners of our 7th Annual Customer Art Contest Winners! 
  • Grand Prize: “Travelers” by Barbara Wilson
  • Second Place: “Benny” by Carol Peterson
  • Third Place: “Morning Flight” by Mary Shea
  • Employees’ Choice: is “Head Over Heels” by Mimi Williams. 
CONGRATULATIONS to our winners!  There is an 8th Annual Customer Art Contest , deadline is February 1, 2010.
 
Of course the REAL reason for the excitement of our New DANIEL SMITH Ref Cat is the new art supplies (Goodies!) that we are introducing to You, our Artists!   Just a quick overview of some of the major new STUFF because I will be featuring more on these new art (Goodies!) supplies in later blog posts:
 
  1. Six (!) new colors in the DANIEL SMITH Watercolor Sticks…including our new Lunar Black Watercolor Stick!  We had a lot of customer requests for a black watercolor stick and now we have it for you.
  2. Acrylique:  Sennelier’s new Extra-Fine Acrylic paints.  Sennelier has worked for a long time on perfecting their new acrylic paints and now you can get them at DANIEL SMITH…we are the first to have them in stock for you!
  3. Revere Printmaking Paper from Cartiera Magnani: Magnani Revere.  There is a lot of “Buzz” for this “New” paper in printmaking world, and we are thrilled to have it available to all you print-makers out there!
  4. Fabriano Ingres Cover Heavyweight paper.  Fabriano bought the recipe for the Ingre Cover Heavyweight paper so it is now being manufactured again.
  5. Canson Infinity Inkjet Fine Art and Photographic Papers.  These Digital Art papers are made with the same Canson Archival Art Papers: Arches, Montval, BFK Rives, Etching Rag, Mi-Teintes that have been used for many (some for hundreds of) years by Artists.
  6. Ampersand in 3 new BIG Sizes!  2 inch deep Gessobord: 30″x40″, 36″x36″ and 36″x48″ and 2 inch deep Claybord: 30″x40″, 36″x36″ and 36″x48″.  Just think of what you can create with these larger sizes!  We had a lot of requests for these and now have them available to order in packs of two, they are packed by Ampersand in special packaging in twos and we leave them that way for safer shipping to you. 
Well…have fun reading and marking up your DANIEL SMITH 2009-2010 Reference Catalog with all your new favorites-to-be as well as your place marking your standard Faves!
 
Every Day,  Express Yourself  with  ART….
  
~Deborah Burns
  
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