Last month a fellow grad school student and I put together this video on the process of making the illustrations for the "Wicked Bugs" book. The video was made as an accompanying component to a digital version of the book. I thought it would be fun to include it here so those of you who were not so familiar with the etching process could see one approach.
Hope you enjoy!
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Sign up for the 2011 Subscription Prints!
Despite our lack of blogging Twin Vixen Press is alive and well, having turned 3 this spring. The press has missed Briony terribly while she has been off working on her MFA degree in Wisconsin, but there is still a good chance that she will return to the beautiful, rolling hills of Vermont. In the meantime we are still offering studio space to other print artists, Helen makes paintings and prints in the studio and the space continues to be a wonderful and productive sanctuary.
In an effort to continue our tradition and raise a little money for the press, we are offering the opportunity for you to support our little venture though participating in our Annual Subscription Print fundraiser. This is how it works: We offer you two prints, one by Helen and one by Briony, for the price of $80 ($120 for a special edition print). The money we raise from the Subscription helps us pay our rent at the lovely Whetstone studios, purchase new equipment for the studio and buy supplies for our classes. This is a great way to buy original prints for a very low price and a great way to help support two young, hard working artists.
In an effort to continue our tradition and raise a little money for the press, we are offering the opportunity for you to support our little venture though participating in our Annual Subscription Print fundraiser. This is how it works: We offer you two prints, one by Helen and one by Briony, for the price of $80 ($120 for a special edition print). The money we raise from the Subscription helps us pay our rent at the lovely Whetstone studios, purchase new equipment for the studio and buy supplies for our classes. This is a great way to buy original prints for a very low price and a great way to help support two young, hard working artists.
News About the Twins…
Helen has had an exciting year, continuing to pursue her dual passions in printmaking and gardening. She has recently been hired as the new printmaking teacher at The Putney School where, for the past three years, she has both taught the evening arts program as well as coached the girl’s soccer team. Starting this fall, Helen will be teaching two academic printmaking classes, two evening activities in printmaking and figure drawing, sponsoring project week and senior exhibitions, and continuing to coach. In addition, Helen will be managing the studio, which is equipped with an etching press, a lithography press, as well as Letterpress! Helen is pleased to find herself in the extremely unique position of instructing high school printmaking with more equipment and techniques available than most colleges and universities! In preparation for her new job, she enrolled in both Monotype and Lithography classes at Two Rivers Print Studio in White River Junction, Vermont as well as a Letterpress class from Bob Metzler in Hannover, New Hampshire. Helen had two shows this year, a one-person show at Works on Paper in Bellows Falls, Vermont and a group show with ceramicist Rob Cartelli and musician Michael Roberts at Through the Music gallery in Brattleboro, Vermont.
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| Visit Anemone Times to see what Helen is up to in her gardens! |
Helen has also had some amazing opportunities in the gardening world. After working for three seasons in the garden of Gordon Hayward, a well-known writer and garden designer, Helen traveled to England and volunteered at Hidcote Manor gardens in the northern Cotswolds. It was a truly remarkable opportunity to live in the manor and work full time alongside a terrific gardening team. After visiting so many incredible gardens and meeting so many wonderful gardeners, Helen to document her experiences in a blog, which she continues to do rather religiously (Visit Helen's Blog! ). Coming home after such a great experience has been exciting and she has been pursuing more garden design and renovation work. She will return to England again for the month of March 2012 to volunteer at another garden called Great Dixter, which happily dovetails with Putney School's March break! Helen continues to live in her cozy barn apartment with wonderful Noah with their two cats in glorious Putney, Vermont.
In May Briony finished her second year as a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin – Madison with her final year visible on the horizon. While the unanticipated addition of teaching to her schedule was a surprise, she managed to make it through the school year in one piece and found herself enjoying the job more than she anticipated. This last spring Briony showed in a variety of venues including the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers, Eureka Books in Northern California, Brackenwood Gallery on Whidbey Island, and a botanical show in Thüngersheim, Germany. As part of earning her degree, Briony also put together a three-person show titled, “Beastly Prints: Modern Interpretations of the Art of the Bestiary” that was held at the Overture Center in Madison, Wisconsin and featured several of Briony’s prints of odd creatures.
May also brought Wicked Bugs: The Louse that Conquered Napoleon’s Army & Other Diabolical Insects to the bookstands around the country. A sequel-of-sorts to the Wicked Plants, Wicked Bugs was written by Amy Stewart and completely illustrated by Briony. In a very short time the book has proven its worth by making it onto the “New York Times Bestseller List” and into an article by Ann Raver in the “New York Times” Home & Garden section.
Briony’s plans for next year are to hunker down and spend her final year at school focusing on her own work. She plans to work large – or at least larger – and continue her work with the monstrous form and portraiture.
Apart from school and work, Briony is still blissfully in love with Ted and will be moving in with him in August. In addition, she has also taken up the new hobby of rollerblading and has many bruises to prove it.
Subscription Details
Prints: 4” x 6” images on 8” x 10” Rives BFK paper
Price: $80 for regular edition, $120 for special edition, hand-colored prints
Edition: 50 regular edition prints, 20 special edition prints
How to reserve your prints:
If you are interested in purchasing our prints at a great deal please notify us by email or phone by July 30th and we will reserve your prints. Write your check out to Twin Vixen Press and mail it to Helen O'Donnell, Seven Small Meadows Lane, Putney, VT 05346. The prints will be mailed out in the fall. Please make sure to tell us where to ship your prints!
We hope you are all enjoying summer after a long spring. Thank you for all the support.
Sincerely,
Helen O'Donnell & Briony Morrow-Cribbs
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Briony Morrow-Cribbs • 802-236-7697
Helen O'Donnell • 802-282-8722
Twin Vixen Press
Located at:
28 Williams Street
Brattleboro, VT 05301
Mailing Address:
7 Small Meadows Lane
Putney, VT 05346
Briony's Website: http://www.
Helen's Website: http://helenodonnell.
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