Letterpress at Zygote

Flying high above the north east snowstorms I landed in Cleveland this past weekend to visit my family and join my good friend Cathie Bleck for a letterpress printing demonstration. To prepare, I created four drawings, sent them to Boxcar Press and had them converted into photopolymer plates.

Johannes Gutenberg was smiling, as Cathie Bleck moved me through the set up, printing and clean up of the old No. 3 Vandercook Proof Press at Zygote Press in Cleveland. Thus far, I have printed two small editions of letterpress prints with two of the four drawings.

“Together”

After all of the printing preparations—soaking of the paper in water, blotting, painting with brightly colored dyes, aligning the paper and hand cranking the through the press—I get one—one-of-a-kind letterpress print. Each print is analyzed and becomes a learning moment before pushing on through to the next.

“Together” : 8" x 10" : Letterpress w/hand painting : one-of-a-kind :

Edition of 18 : Email for details

Each 10” x 12 ¼” letterpress sheet has been a labor of love. The next couple of days will yield 4 more print editions on Rives BFK White, 250 gm paper in a variety of rich brown/black inks printed over the top of painted spaces. Save the date for “Plug Me” on April 15, at Subtext Gallery in San Diego where you can see all of the final results first hand and collect the works.

Cathie Bleck at Murphy Booth No. B10

Heaven (s) : Limboland : Hell : Kaolin Clay, ink on scratchboard panel

“Survey Select” concludes an eight-week run with one final installation of new art work created by Cathie Bleck and Mark Todd, September 2 – 5 at the SD Contemporary Art Fair, Booth No. B10, curated by Mark Murphy. Murphy Fine Arts celebrates artists who practice in the Narrative Art tradition, originating visual mythology, dense in subject matter and multi-layered techniques. This first installment features the original artistry of Cathie Bleck.

Cathie travels extensively and actively sketches and photographs

Cathie Bleck, originally from the Chicago area and now residing in Cleveland, has been featured in the New Britain Museum of Art and the Butler Museum. Cathie constructs her narrative from life’s rich experiences: growing up with eight brothers and sisters on a tree farm; professional experiences in Chicago, Dallas and New York; and world travels. Cathie created three new Kaolin clay scratchboard compositions entitled, “Heaven,” “Limboland” and “Hell.” Each can be described briefly, as follows:

Heaven, Limboland and Hell details

“Heaven” is a state of mind, an eternal garden of love and kindness. It is a place where one is completely free and at peace with everything. The mind, body and spirit are fulfilled through knowing you had offered the world your best, fought the right battles (armor), loved and lost (however, regained everything back that you cared about).

Open Spaces by Cathie Bleck, published by Murphy : sample pages

“Limboland” is a land without direction. An even longer journey than life, limbo perpetuates itself. Needless to say, this journey is free of the need for the use of a compass.

“Hell” is a place where you find yourself in the bondage of other worldly control. There is no freedom only the greedy consumption for more evil.

When Cathie Bleck was asked to identify some of the characters in her work, she described ”Heaven” as:

Heaven: State of Mind : Study : Graphite on Vellum

“At the gate of Heaven stands the protector of our soul, greeting her beloved brothers and sisters. ‘Heaven’ was originally inspired by the Selket Goddess, one of the four protectors of the shrine that contained the Canopic jars of King Tut in Egypt. Selket was the healer of venomous bites and the patron of magician-medics. She stands with spine exposed representing her ethics and her full moon headdress a powerful symbol of tranquility.” (Selket was typically assigned the sun’s scorching heat and the moon offered the contrary).

Limboland Study : Graphite on Vellum

Cathie’s panel, “Limboland” features the Wanderer, an aimless escapee from the jungles of life who was not willing to commit the time or energy to achieve personal goals. The Wanderer is caught up in the fog of life and constantly searching for the right direction.

Hell Study : Graphite on Vellum

In “Hell” many opposing themes exist in contrast to “Heaven.” A capturer of lost souls awaits, well protected with an alligator ready for a sneak away attempt. The keeper of Hell flows within his sinister chamber, corrupt and dishonored.

Open Spaces and Butler Museum catalog available in Booth B10

Cathie Bleck’s work is textural, the Kaolin clay is built up atop the wood panel and the movement of her knife reveals carved form and layers of color hidden beneath the surface. Cathie is featured at the Murphy Fine Art booth No. B10 at the San Diego Contemporary Art Fair, Hilton Bayfront September 2-5 where you will find her original paintings, drawings and books. For acquisition information please contact me.

Murphy Booth No. B10 at SD Contemp Art Fair

September second through the fifth visit Murphy Fine Arts, Booth B10, at the Hilton Bayfront—Art San Diego Contemporary Art Fair. The Murphy Fine Art Booth will feature fine artists Cathie Bleck (Cleveland/OH) and Mark Todd (Pasadena/CA) and their original art work created specifically for this fair.

Survey Select details:

Shawn Barber, Irene Hardwicke Olivieri, James Marshall, Anthony Pontius

Booth No. B10 will also be your guide to take a last look at “Survey Select” featuring 55 contemporaries from 11 countries displaying over 100 art works (See Artists A—G, H—N, O—Z) in a transformed warehouse space located at 1400 Imperial Avenue in the heart of downtown San Diego, adjacent to Petco Park. And “Survey Select” is a featured part of this year’s fair as a preferred San Diego City-Wide Event and spotlighted as a offsite Art Lab.

Cathie Bleck features 3 new panels : Heaven : Limbo : Hell (10" x 10 x 2) : in progress :

Cathie Bleck creates magical worlds with flowing textures and mystical characters that represent memories of her personal travels, life’s circumstances and her childhood years growing up on a tree nursery just outside of Chicago. Black line protects the essence of her compositions, layered in Kaolin Clay, colored inks and paint. The scratch of her knife on the surface of her creations exposes you to a world that lies beneath, a dimensional look into more than 30 years of artistic impression. Cathie has exhibited for the Butler Museum, New Britain Museum of Art and permanent installations at the US Postal Service, US State Department and University Hospitals. Cathie has also been showcased in Miami, during Miami Art Basel Week.

Mark Todd features new paintings on wood panel

Invaders (24"x36/inprogress) : Demon : Man Monster

Mark Todd continues his comic assemblages, mirroring the Pop-Art revolution of Roy Lichtenstein and the Proto-Pop artistry of Charles Demuth, Stuart Davis and Gerald Murphy. Mark pays homage to his boyhood hero, Jack Kirby in his work that actively celebrates a montage salute to the Hulk, Captain America, the Fantastic Four, Spiderman and more. . . Mark is active in publishing “zines” and books that capture his love of storytelling and life’s awkward experiences—cleverly packaged and shared for a new generation of graphic hungry kids. Mark has shown with the Billy Shire Gallery and has been featured in Miami, during Miami Art Basel Week. Mark Todd will be featured in the upcoming art documentary and follow up to the successful, Scribble.08 film series.

100 original works and limited editions bookstore

Celebrate a historic gathering of fine artists, original artwork and fine art publishing at the Murphy Fine Arts Booth B10 during the San Diego Contemporary Art Fair at the Hilton Bayfront. Visit “Survey Select” a diverse collection of high quality masterpieces by artists dedicated to their craft from around the world located at 1400 Imperial Avenue, San Diego, CA, 92101. For complete schedule on Facebook, please click here. Mark Todd paintings. Cathie Bleck Paintings.

Cathie Bleck at Aqua

Symbiosis : 18" x 18"

Cathie Bleck, born into the fine arts in Chicago, layers her canvas with Kaolin clays and inks and then carves into the surface with lyrical line. Cathie captures the energy of movement in her paintings while honoring the delicate relationship between dark and light.

Escaping Fear : 12" x 12" : Kaolin Clay and Ink on Scratchboard : Available for Aqua

“The driving force of my work is the noble and sensual mysteries of life--humility and awe in the face of nature; reverence for the passions of selflessness; finding joy and love in discovery; and the moral clash between opposing world views.”

In Awe of Life Itself Study : 11"x14" : Graphite on Vellum : Available for Aqua

In Awe of Life Itself : 18" x 24" : Kaolin Clay and Ink on Scratchboard : Available for Aqua

Cathie references her personal scuba diving experiences, as seen in “Escaping Fear.” “When I came face to face with an eel and touched a giant seahorse it made me realize my childhood dreams of playing with many fish underwater. I find peace and solitude when scuba diving and am fascinated by the endless beauty and discovery under water.”

Inheritance : 18.5”x42” : Inks, kaolin clay, gold leaf and flowers on paper

Originally exhibited at The Butler Museum of American Art

Cathie describes her piece “Inheritance,” “Under the torrent of life’s challenges, distractions and joys - fragile and precious, the next generation and all hope falls to us. The eternal and sacred privilege of each past generation rests in our hands - to know and to honor that which has come before, and instill in the next generation the love, awareness, creative energy and the will to service others.”

Museum Exhibitions
New Britain Museum of American Art, CT : Retrospective 2008
Butler Institute of American Art, OH : New Works : Becoming Human : 2008

Museum Group Exhibitions :
Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, MI 2008
Florence Griswald Museum, CT 2007
Egg’s Castle, Naples, Italy 2007

Possibilities

You can check out more of Cathie’s work on the following links:

http://www.cathiebleck.com
http://cathiebleck.blogspot.com/
http://flavorpill.com/covers/cathie-bleck?publication=losangeles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7uJhnhE6yY
http://murphydesign1.blogspot.com/2009/08/cathie-bleck-interview.html
http://www.billyshirefinearts.com/09bleck/a_choice.html
http://metagallery.com/exhibitions/5/aqua+regia/artworks/
http://www.yveslaroche.com/cathie-bleck

Cathie Bleck Interview

Cathie Bleck's themes of sensuality, nature and symbiotic relationships resonate with a worldwide audience. Known for her use of Kaolin and ink on clayboard, Cathie uses mythic images to explore the struggles and dilemmas of modern life.

Cathie is featured at the Billy Shire Fine Arts Gallery during the month of August entitled,"Undercurrents." Work is a mix of her work featured at the Butler Museum and new works created for the exhibition.

Prior to her Los Angeles trip, Cathie shared valuable insight about her creative processes and the inspiration behind some of her latest work. Cathie, also traveled from Cleveland to San Diego in a moment's notice for the premiere of Scribble.08, as her piece sold during the exhibition. Nice work, enjoy...

MM: Scratchboard is considered unique because you start with a black surface and scratch off to show the white underneath. How has this become your medium of choice?

CB: It's fun to go into the darkness of the scratchboard and make a line in white. I also love the clay medium, and scratchboard is made out of Kaolin clay. Working in clay is a tactile process. Once it dries, it's very hard. You can put all kinds of texture in it. If you touch it, it's a great sensation and this sensuality translates to what we see in nature. The scratchboard medium is part of the earth and it fits perfectly with my subject matter.

Also, when you start scraping paint off the scratchboard new creations seem to come out of nowhere. It's magical. For example, I was working on a piece with a snow leopard stuck in melting ice, and as I started scratching off the paint a monkey face appeared. That happens sometimes. All these animals and structures appear and it's so unexpected. If you look in the distance of that piece, there are also bees, cell phone towers and oil rigs.

MM: Tell me about the work you did for the Billy Shire exhibition.

CB: Since I haven't had a lot of my paintings displayed on the west coast yet, I wanted to give a representative cross section of my work to provide context. I included several classic black and white pieces, and I also added some of my clay experiments.

For this show, I did some work on Egyptian papyrus too. I found that when you paint the Kaolin onto papyrus it has a gummy quality and it dries super smooth. It's amazing how different the texture is. You can crunch it up and lay it flat again without causing any damage. It's extremely durable. I used the Egyptian papyrus because I'm intrigued by history, and the idea of reaching back in time to observe mankind and achieve a better understanding of where we came from appealed to me.

MM: The theme of your exhibition is called, “Undercurrents.” What is the significance of that title?

CB: When you communicate, there is always an undercurrent, something underneath the surface. There's a sense of duality and my subjects are looking both outward and inward. This duality is necessary for survival. You can't live in a world without differences of opinion. Men are different from women, but we can't live without each other. There are different political parties. There is the opposite of sun and moon. That's what is so interesting about working in contrasts like scratchboard. It emphasizes this duality.

MM: Is there a particular piece in your upcoming show that illustrates this concept of duality?

CB: “Mythic Waters Chasing Greed” is a piece inspired by Warren Buffet. He said, "you don't know who is swimming naked until the tide goes out." It's all about the culture of greed, and Bernie Madoff's sentencing made the timing of this piece feel especially relevant.

There is such a level of tension in the concept of duality, and it's beautiful but also a little bit uncomfortable. It was therapeutic for me to develop the mythological character of greed and explore where that might live. I often question how humanity can be so greedy and I wonder where that comes from. But then there are so many charities and you see musicians putting on concerts and donating all of the proceeds. It's such a huge duality.

There are really generous people out there, and there is tremendous greed on the other side. But no matter what the subject is, I still want every painting to be beautiful.

MM: You mentioned that your classic pieces are black and white, but you've now started adding color to your repertoire. What inspired this transition?

CB: I have been venturing into color lately because I like how it contrasts with the dominance of the black. I've been experimenting with a lot of red and using it for the sky. Red has so many associations: blood, the end of the world, Hell.... I'm always thinking about these types of themes and how they relate to nature.

MM: In addition to having exhibitions all over the world, your work was recently shown in two museums, The New Britain Museum of American Art and The Butler Institute. After achieving this level of success, is there anything that you're still learning or trying to improve?

CB: In every piece I do, I learn something new. I hope that process never ends. I want to keep discovering and challenging myself with new ideas. Recently I've been experimenting more with the clay medium and I've learned some interesting lessons. In January, a shipment of Kaolin arrived frozen at my doorstep. When I used it, it reacted differently and created a bubbled effect. I actually froze some of the Kaolin in order to get the same effect for some other pieces.

To me, being an artist is an internal mission. As I experience life and gain confidence, I start to see things I didn't see before. On a daily basis, I find inspiration in what I read and what I observe around me. I constantly strive for line quality. When you make the perfect line, it's like doing a beautiful dance.

Thanks to Jamaica Winship for sharing out her phone interview with Cathie to make this story possible

Scribble.08 and SuperHero Art Exhibitions

words by Jamaica Winship : photos by Tim Mantoani

Art aficionados were treated to a monumental cultural event in San Diego during the month of July : two back-to-back fine art exhibitions in one location. Curated by Pi Founder, Mark Murphy, the exhibitions featured both museum-caliber artists and cutting edge talent. More than 40 artists were represented from all over the world, and the exhibitions served as a vital opportunity for the community to learn about and acquire fine art in a culturally-inspired environment.

Marilyn Bleck : Cathie Bleck : Kevin Christy

Since 1992, Mark Murphy has collaborated with more than 700 artists on book projects, installations, gallery exhibitions and cultural experiences. Celebrating more than 25 years a culture builder in the community, Murphy's Scribble.08 and Superhero exhibitions occurred in conjunction with this year's Comic-Con and the worldwide launch of Planet Illogica.

Klim of Bigshot Toyworks presents a new sculpt for Jeff Soto : P-Jay Fidler featured right

Both exhibitions were combined with parties and crossover events featuring music, film, performance art and community participation. Everyone was invited to attend the exhibitions at Wonderhaus, an Andy Warhol style building two shuttle stops away from the Comic-Con convention. The structure of the space invited exploration and discovery; attendees could go from room to room sampling appetizers, tasting specialty drinks and checking out multiple stages with bands, dance performances and body painting. Exposed brick walls, high ceilings and iron detailing contributed to the artistic ambiance.

The first exhibition was on July 23rd, and it marked the premiere of Murphy's art film documentary, "Scribble.08." To celebrate collaborations with the artists portrayed in the film as well as others he's worked with over the years, Murphy curated a "Scribble.08" art exhibition. The exhibition featured 25 pieces from museum-quality artists such as Colin Christian, Sas Christian, James Jean, Cathie Bleck, Tony Fitzpatrick, Kent Williams and Martin Wittfooth. The pieces hung along a 65 foot length of wall and attendees could view and discuss all of the pieces during the course of the evening.

MANUOK rocked out to close out the night's festivities : Scott Mercado sports the trucker cap :

After the film screening, attendees were able to meet and socialize with four of the artists who appeared in the movie: Martha Rich, Jeff Soto, Tim Biskup and Kevin Christy. All of these artists also had pieces represented in the exhibition.

Sas Christian : Chris Mars

On an adjoining wall, Murphy's Superhero exhibition was on display. Guests were able to preview these pieces on Thursday, but the official Superhero exhibition was on Friday, July 24th. It was planned in conjunction with the Planet Illogica launch party and an encore "Scribble.08" film presentation.

Erik Mark Sandberg : Femke Hiemstra

The Superhero exhibition was designed to publicize Planet Illogica's current and potential AIR Artists. Some of the artists featured were: Steven Daily, Bob Dob, Travis Louie, Joel Nakamura, Joe Vaux and Molly Crabapple. Many of the exhibiting artists were in attendance, and it was a valuable opportunity for collectors and fans to mingle with such a diverse group of talent.

Hiro Kurata : Jeff Soto

These exhibitions were a cultural and social highlight for the San Diego art community. Murphy worked tirelessly for several weeks on the logistics of making both exhibitions a success. He expressed, “It was an honor to create a museum quality exhibition with so many friends and inspired artists. The talent of the work in these two shows is exceptional.”

Select pieces from both exhibitions are still available. Please contact Mark at murphy at murphydesign.com for more information. Pieces from the show can be seen here :

Kind thanks to Planet Illogica for sponsoring the event, along with Yves Laroche, Chad Dannecker, Ten Stories, Ninthlink, 424 Media, Svedka, and everyone who said hey :