We were busy showing prints and drawings in the month of July 2023, and ended on a high note in Madrid, New Mexico:
MADRID OPENING
The Tuesday Night Drawing group of Santa Fe (at Argos Studio/Gallery) had a life drawing exhibition in Madrid, New Mexico at the Roadrunner Studio and Gallery, on July 29th and 30th, 2023:
PRINT EXHBITIONS
The major challenge was keeping up with all the print exhibitions in July.
GUADALAJARA
Manuel Guerra took a few prints (including mine) from the 8x8 Show in El Paso last May, to show at the Galeria Sepia in Guadalajara on July 8, 2023. They also printed small round linocuts, some of which Manny took from the US, and others from Mexico. See Instagram post also:
NATIONAL HISPANIC CULTURAL CENTER
The reception for the "Nexo Entre Raices" exhibition at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque was on July 14th. It featured a panel discussion. Marco Sanchez organized the exhibition, as is speaking on the panel in the photo below:
EL PASO MUSEUM OF HISTORY
We had a great closing on July 15th for the Ambos Lados exhibition at the El Paso Museum of History. There was live printing of three kinds:
- Aron Venegas printing on a REAL Tortilla Press
- Vanessa Ramirez running a t-shirt printmaking workshop, using carved blocks made from motifs from selected Ambos Lados prints
- Manuel Guerra and Tres Gatos Press live printing from a tianguis in Guadalajara, where they were live streaming from Instagram
EL PASO MUSEUM OF ART
Marco Sanchez organized a PRINT PACHANGA of three parts:
- Big 2' x 3' prints pulled at the El Paso Museum of Art (July 27th)
- Print Vendor Market (July 27th and 28th)
- Juried Print show at the Moonlight Adobe Hall in Socorro, New Mexico (July 29th)
I did not go to the juried print show
I met the new director of the El Paso Museum of Art -- Edward Hayes Jr. -- at the Print Pachanga:
The new director of the El Paso Museum of Art
MORE PRINTS
LASERING EVA FOAM
We used a portable laser cutter to cut EVA foam. Then we inked the cut foam and made prints:
BLOCK PARTY
Ellie Weadock gave a printmaking workshop -- the 2nd BLOCK PARTY -- at the North Fourth Art Center in Albuquerque on July 22nd, 2023. The prints were hung at the North Fourth Art Center afterwards:
OPEN PRINT EXCHANGE
I received my 9 prints from the OPEN PRINT EXCHANGE which I submitted to at the beginning of this year:
SLIDESHOWS
I made two quick slideshows about printmaking for Manny to show in Guadalajara:
AI ART
Midjourney added Zoom out features, so I altered and pushed one of my figure drawings as far as I could (and it looked nothing like my drawing):
EL PASO DRAW
The Tuesday night El Paso drawing group moved to a new location in downtown El Paso, and I drew there twice, on July 18th and July 25th, 2023:
PROGRESS?
I did a Google Lens reverse search on my drawing, and it linked to the cover of my book, self-published in 2008. Have I made any progress in the last 15 years?
RIP GRIFFS
Griff's Hamburgers at Central and Wyoming closed abruptly on July 6th, and was demolished on July 14th, 2023:
I had no idea that Griff's had closed the day before when I bought this Griff's print from Shorty during the downtown ABQ Artwalk on July 7th:
Griff's Hamburgers was an icon from my youth. I spent a lot of time on that street corner at Central and Wyoming, waiting for the 66 bus, in the late 60s and early 70s.
HAMILTON
We saw HAMILTON on the last day, at the Plaza Theatre in El Paso on July 16th:
TOADS
Summer is toad time.
This year I spotted little toads on the banks of the Rio Grande. I have never seen these before. Earlier in the year the Rio Grande flooded, leaving lots of ponds of standing water, which I suspect are ideal for breeding toads -- and mosquitos. The air was thick with mosquitos, layering on my arms like peanut butter.
I saw the small toads on the north west banks of the Rio Grande at the Dolores Huerta Bridge in Albuquerque:
Seen on the banks of the Rio Grande on July 14th,
on the North west side of the river
at the Dolores Huerta bridge in Albuquerque
After a huge cloudburst we saw a Chihuahuan Green Toad in Hueco Tanks, Texas:
seen after a big rain outburst
in Hueco Tanks, Texas
SOFTWARE PROGRAMS
- Ink/Stitch -- embroidery add on for Inkscape
- YouTube: Adobe’s NEW Gingerbread AI Just Took The Entire Industry By Surprise (5 FUNCTIONS ANNOUNCED)