Water Water Everywhere

I am super excited for my printmaking class' portfolio! A body of print media work is typically contained in a portfolio, which is a collection of various prints by different artists centering around a common theme.  Our class's theme is water, which is the theme for the current LSA semester.

My initial response to this prompt was to do something which was great lakes related.  One thing that all true Michiganders are proud of is the 20% of the world's freshwater which sits in our backyard.  Although we appreciate what a beautiful and precious natural resource the great lakes are, the rest of the world looks at them as waste dumps, and fresh water for the taking. I am very interested in rendering textures of things in my work, so I decided to portray the great lakes as droplets of water, as to show how ridiculous it is to think of them as being so insignificant.  The lino cut I did of the image didn't really turn out too great, and I did a photo emulsion screen print of the droplets, which I accidentally did backwards.  After a few failed attempts, I decided that this idea was a lost cause, and went back to the drawing board.  Sometimes good ideas just don't pan out formally the way which you would like them to, and it is better to start from scratch than working with an idea which feels uninspired.

I am now interested in water's physical and spiritual qualities more so than in the context of being a precious natural resource.  Over my spring break, I went to Nashville with my church to do community service.  Although most of the work which we did was with refugees from foreign countries, many of the people which we worked with were effected immensely by the floods this past year.  Many people lost their homes, families, jobs, and businesses to the flood.  Although all of this unrest has come about because of the flood, the people of Nashville and surrounding areas came together to help each other out. I immediately drew the analogy of this flood to Noah's ark, and how water can be destructive, yet provide renewal and hope.  I find this dual quality of water to be very interesting in the context of spirituality and philosophy; good things can happen to bad people, and bad things can happen to good people, but in the end, all that matters is how we deal with the things that happen to us, and the things which happen to others, regardless of if it is good or bad.

                      
I found the metaphor of the glass being "half empty" vs. being "half full" to manifest this concept well visually.  I'm working with images of vessels full of water, and rotating them so that some are upside down.  I like having a variety of glasses to convey how this mindset is applicable to any situation, but I'm not sure if having a standard glass of water would make the concept be a little more clear?  Also, having the glasses which are upright reflected on the bottom might make a little more sense. I think that the final print will consist of a screen print, possibly a photo emulsion of a pen and ink drawing of the glasses, with mono type water forms in the glasses. I like the notion of contrast between the rigid, almost architectural forms of the screen-printed glasses with the fluidity of mono type water.