The Cheese Stands Alone

accepted: Digital photo 16×24 ©2014 Christie Thomas

This was the only piece accepted at this year’s Ohio State Fair. I am super glad that I got this in, but I was very disappointed that my butterfly print collage didn’t make it. I was joking with a friend that perhaps it wasn’t “dark” enough, and perhaps if the butterflies were bloody the judge might have liked it better. So, after I went through the stages of rejection: disbelief, sadness, confusion, & self doubt, I made it to humor. Then I took it to the frame shop and treated myself to a super kick-ass frame with non reflective glass and everything! Take that fair judge! 😉

rejected at the fair… 20×30 hand cut linoleum block printed butterflies, chine-colle, watercolor, metallic pigment, watercolor board, rice paper, origami paper, watercolor paper May 2014 ©Christie Thomas

A Mother’s Love

I decided to crank out something made by hand in addition to my photos to submit to the fair. This ended up being a lot more than my original idea, but I guess that is how my artwork usually progresses. Somehow, my idea of wanting a minimalistic piece (kind of like a Japanese print) never stays that way, like it is too simple or I just didn’t work hard enough on it. I think the only reason it stopped here is because the deadline was a few hours away. All the butterflies are linoleum block prints. I cut 6 different plates and used them in a variety of ways. There are printed butterflies on rice paper, watercolor paintings, and chine-collé. Some of them were brushed with iridescent powdered pigments before drying. They were all hand cut and glued on top of watercolor on board. It is 20×30″. I am really happy with it. It still needs to be framed. If you are not familiar with chine-collé, it is a process in printmaking where additional thinner pieces of paper, sometimes hand cut to fit certain shapes, are added between the plate and the final piece of paper. Glue, paste, flour, or just pressure keep the papers attached.