2011 Subscription Prints!

Well, they're just about ready to be shipped out. Helen and I have been printing in our respective print studios and are about to reconvene in Putney, VT for a weekend of packing and labeling. Check 'em out! There are a few left in the edition so tell us if you still want a chance to own this year's subscription prints. The price is $80 for a set of B&W prints (one by Helen and the other by Briony) or $120 for a set of hand-tinted prints.

Briony Morrow-Cribbs

2011 Subscription Print

6" x 4"

Helen O'Donnell

2011 Subscription Print

4" x 6"

How to reserve your prints:
If you are interested in purchasing the 2011 Subscription prints please email us at twinvixenpress@gmail.com and send along your name and mailing address. Write a check out to Twin Vixen Press and mail it to Helen O'Donnell, 7 Small Meadows Lane, Putney, VT 05346, and we'll send you a smart little package.

A Short Video of the Etching Process

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!

Sign up for the 2011 Subscription Prints!

Hello from Twin Vixen Press! 

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.

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.

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

-- 

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

Blog: http://www.twinvixenpress.blogspot.com/

Briony's Website: http://www.brionymorrow-cribbs.com/

Helen's Website: http://helenodonnell.com/

Hot Off the Press: 2010 Subscription Prints!

Helen and I have just had busy and productive (and yet totally enjoyable) month together. During my stay in Vermont we were able to spend some good time together in the studio and edition our Annual Twin Vixen Press Subscription prints. We both ended up creating images from Helen's lovely little garden in Putney, VT and we think they turned out pretty sweet. We pre-sold most of the set but for those of you who would missed the first chance and would like to grow your Twin Vixen Press print collection we still have 10 regular-edition prints available. And for those of you who already purchased a set, thank you! The funds we raise through our Annual Subscription help keep the press alive and well. Thank you.

The price for the set is $60 (that's $60 for two prints!).If you would like to be signed up just email twinvixenpress@gmail.com and we'll put your name down. But remember time is of the essence...there are only 10 left!

Other news for print artists:
Helen and I are brainstorming some ideas for a class in November. We'll make sure to keep you all informed with what we come up with. We're also hashing out rates etc. for renting the studio space starting in the fall. If you are interested in renting our space let us know.

Shows and Openings! Oh My!!!

"Helen O'Donnell Etchings"

at Works on Paper, Bellows Falls, VT
May 28th - July 31st

Briony Morrow-Cribbs
Buffy Cribbs
Bruce Morrow

"A Family Affair"

at the Brackenwood Gallery, Langley, WA
June 5th - June 30th

Spring has Sprung!

Dear Twin Vixen Press supporters,

It’s been a year since our last posting and we decided it was about time we share what was happening with the Twin Vixens. This last year has brought many changes to the press but we’re sill going strong, printing and teaching and making art. For the past two years we have offered our families, friends and supporters the opportunity to support our little venture through 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 $60 or $100 for two special edition, hand-colored prints. The funds we raise from the Subscription help keep the studio alive and will enable us to 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, hardworking, artists.

What we’ve been up to…
In September Briony embarked on an adventure to pursue her Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on a full fellowship. In her absence, Helen has picked up the slack and done an amazing job at teaching workshops and maintaining the studio on her own. In November, Helen taught a Beginning Etching class and in March Helen began a new 6-week course teaching more advanced etching techniques to Continuing printmaking students, as well as started an afterschool class for high school students. She is also continuing to teach an etching class every Tuesday at the Putney School. This summer Briony will temporarily move back to Vermont to help with the studio.

Helen has had a busy year working to strike a balance between all the things she loves. As the seasons change so does her focus. In the spring of ’09 Helen moved to the country to live in Putney, VT with her boyfriend, Noah. Having access to a little land, she began building her own gardens for the first time. Throughout the spring, summer and fall seasons she continued working for clients in their gardens. In the autumn Helen coached the girls soccer team at The Putney School for the second year in a row. Once the cold of November hit and all the outside work was finished, she moved into her studio and created five new prints for her December show at Amy’s Bakery and Arts Café. These large format, black and white prints represent a new phase for Helen and reflect her connection with her new life in the country.

In January, Helen and Noah traveled to the West Coast to spend some time adventuring and visiting friends and family. They had a very inspiring trip, spending the entirety of their five weeks along the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington.

Presently, Helen is working on a collection of paintings and prints inspired by her west coast trip. This year she has shown at the Lucia Douglas Gallery in Bellingham, WA, the Catherine Dianich Gallery as well as Amy’s Bakery and Arts Café in Brattleboro, VT and Gatto Nero Press in St. Johnsbury, VT. This June, Helen will show a collection of new prints at Works on Paper in Bellows Falls, Vermont.


Briony has settled in nicely to the Madison scene and has begun to understand the intricacies of being a graduate student in a research-based university. Although she often yearns for Vermont, the studio and Helen’s company, she has had an amazing experience at school. The program has given her the chance to focus on her own work and to experiment with working larger and bolder. Simultaneously, she has also taken on the task of working on 50 new illustrations for the upcoming book “Wicked Bugs” by Amy Stewart, the second book in the “Wicked” series. This book will be released in the spring of 2011. Briony has also found a true Wisconsin man, Ted Lott, with whom she has fallen deeply in love.

Although devoting a large amount of her time towards her degree, Briony has also made efforts to show her work in a number of shows across the country. With the publication of “Wicked Plants”, she was invited to show at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden last spring and will have her botanical work showcased at the Bone Room in Berkley this April. In September Briony was invited to participate in a print show in Titan, WA and in January, she participated in “Forward,” a show in Chicago that featured the work of current UW-Madison graduate students. This summer Briony will be showing her more recent work in a family show (Buffy, Bruce and Briony) at the new Brackenwood Gallery in Langley, WA as well as the Froggwell Binnalle at the Froggwell Gardens on Whidbey Island.

Thank you…
These last two years the studio has evolved to become an amazing place for not only Helen and Briony to make art and play but has become an encouraging environment for others – whether they be accomplished artists or a high school student with a craving to work creatively. We’ve enjoyed every aspect of starting this studio up and want to thank you again for all your love and support.

If you would like to reserve your prints and view photographs of Noah and Ted please send a check, payable to Twin Vixen Press, to our NEW MAILING ADDRESS:

Twin Vixen press
7 Small Meadows Lane
Putney, VT 05346

$60 for black & white
$100 for hand-tinted, color images

THANK YOU AGAIN FOR ALL THE SUPPORT!!

Helen and Briony

Summer Schedule, Subscription Prints and Shows!

Subscription Prints: It's been a while since our last post and our only excuse is that things have gotten a little busy for the both of us. Helen has been out in the wild gardens of Vermont digging her little heart out and I have been plugging away at various projects in the studio and finding myself on mini adventures. On the 5th of June we opened up our studio for the June Brattleboro Gallery Walk. Several people came by and it turned out to be one of the busiest Gallery Walks we have had yet (it helped that the next day was Brattleboro's awesome Strolling of the Heifers parade). We also had a chance to show off this year's Subscription Print set.

Show in Barre, Vermont
This Friday, June 19th, Helen and I will have an opening at SPA (Studio Place Arts) in Barre, VT. The show will be open June 16th to July 25th. If you find yourself in Northern Vermont this Friday and would like to join us for the opening it will start at 5:30 and end at 8:30. (To the Left: "The beautiful old Studio Place Arts building in Barre, VT")


Show in Brooklyn, NY
On the 31st I had my show opening at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The show was beautifully hung in the Steinhardt Conservatory Gallery and the event was extremely well coordinated. In addition to showing 30 hand-tinted versions of the images that were used in "Wicked Plants," the gallery agreed to show the accompanying Wicked Plants Portfolio in the display case. Thank you to those of you who made the effort to show up to the opening. The show will be up until September 9th so please take a peek if you are in town.

A few photos from the opening:


















Wicked Plants Portfolio in the display case in the Steinhardt Conservatory Gallery.
















Briony Morrow-Cribbs and Amy Stewart, the author of "Wicked Plants".



















The "Desert" pavilion of the Botanic Garden. I just wanted to draw all the cacti.