So I’ve been pretty psyched about this trip to Santa Cruz. I walk around the house “writing” my class lectures in my head, making lists of supplies we’ll need, and I’ve gotten a couple of questions from students already, about what they need to bring, what to expect, etc.
I correspond pretty regularly with the event organizer, and among other things, have learned that UC Santa Cruz has been putting on The Dickens Universe for 46 years! It’s all exciting and the anticipation has pretty much taken over, and I’m fine with it.
I’ve hand-pulled over 90 lino prints, gotten much more comfortable with oil-based ink (this is a pretty big deal for my personal progress), ordered three different t-shirt designs, started packing up the equipment and stuff I will need, mostly for my vendor’s table, and making some signage for my wares.
The class is what I’m really looking forward to. It’s caused me to think more deeply than I expected about the art and craft of linoleum.
Several students have expressed the concern that they can’t draw. In thinking about how to put them more at ease, it came to me that this isn’t an art class at all; it’s about the craft of cutting and printing linoleum, and a craft doesn’t require any special skills.
Above all, linoleum forgives poor drawing! Linoleum doesn’t care if you can’t draw; it has the unique quality of giving almost anything that’s cut into it a homey, hand-made look that can’t be achieved with any other art form. It has built-in charm!
The other great feature of linoleum is that you can make multiple copies. Each print is different, and each one is a piece of original, hand-made art. This should never be taken for granted.
Linoleum is a close cousin of woodcutting, the major form of image creation throughout the 19th Century, and the artists who became famous for their woodcuts, from Albrecht Durer to Gustave Doré, did so for one simple reason: you could buy a cheap copy of a woodcut and take it home!
Linoleum, being easier to work with than wood, became a popular block-printing craft shortly after it was invented about 1850, and in the early 20th Century was adopted by artists like Picasso and Chagall, largely because they could make editions of as many prints as they wished, with each one being an original piece of art.
Class enrollment currently sits at about 21, and is being limited to 30. I can monitor the Google Docs signup sheet, and students can pose questions on the form, making communication easier.
The whole process is going along just fine, got my plane tickets, housing at the event will be dorm apartments, and meals are provided, though I’m sure I will be stepping off campus to explore Santa Cruz a little. When I traveled to London last October to speak at Dickens Day, it was an insane turnaround because I was still taking care of my sweet Vicki, who passed about five weeks later. I think I’m ready to have a longer, more relaxed sojourn and a change of air.
I got the above sentiment in a fortune cookie just on Wednesday, having lunch with my friend Alden at an excellent local Chinese restaurant. Sometimes food for thought comes from actual food!
