Down to the Bone

A tale of trial.

The piece above is a print I did this past year for a print exchange. A print exchange is something a group of print artists will make to collaborate and share ideas with each other. An edition equal to the number of artists involved is made by each participant. At the end everyone gets a print from each of the artists. Its a great opportunity to work with talented artists and acquire amazing works of art.

Typically, there's a theme and guidelines. The theme for this particular print exchange was trials. The guidelines were that it had to include two colors, have a square format, on 11x14 paper and in a folk style. You can decide how well I followed the rules. Some guidelines I may have been off but, that's not exactly the point of an exchange.

During this time, it was winter in Eastern Idaho. Those who know me personally, know how little I favor the cold. So, I decided that this was my biggest trial at the moment. I didn't want to be so serious as some of my other projects at the time were. Without context, this image could look quite serious.

I hope this piece gives you a cold uncomfortable feeling. It has bare trees with sharp branches. As well as empty shells for creatures like me that should be hibernating or gone to some warmer climate this time of year. It is clean and uncomplicated similar to how the views in my part of Idaho often are. It is calm, simple and almost peaceful. The cool tones of brown that subtly shift back and forth from darker to lighter make me sort of sleepy. This landscape is uninviting, but at the same time makes you want to curl up in a warm place for a long time unbothered.