A Woman First

 Long ago I went to a Right to Choose march in Washington DC. I went with a friend and her young daughters. I was telling a makeup artist who occasionally worked at my studio about my upcoming trip.

This woman was a gorgeous orthodox observant woman. She was inspired that I was going to Washington; she couldn't go because the march was on a Saturday. My surprise was when she told me she was decidedly Pro Choice. 

I was under the impression people of such strong convictions would be quite the opposite. However, she explained: "I'm religious, and I'm looking forward to a large family. Chances are strong I'd never have an abortion or question God's will for me. But life isn't black and white. Life is all about the grey area. And though God and my belief is at the center of my existence, I'm a Woman First". 

A Woman First, 2024. 2-color 
RISO print. 10 x 10 inches.

Time Races Without Pause

A re-design of RDWB -- Ringing Doorbell While Black was accepted throughout the US in numerous exhibitions, and in surprising areas...who would have thought that a 2-color letterpress print about gun violence would be hanging in a university museum in Laramie, Wyoming or a gallery in Austin, Texas?

Likewise, the work won an international award for the Defense of Human Rights by the FL3TCH3R Exhibition Foundation, and exhibited at the Reece Museum in Tennessee, also surprise. The latest news is that it won Honorable Mention in the 85th Annual Guild Hall show in East Hampton and that I've been invited to give an artist talk, scheduled for December 8th, 2024. 

The remake is the same size; also printed via letterpress. At the Guild, for some reason, my piece was hung far above the rest...but I still got many questions and a nice group of viewers. Letterpress is the best medium for this work, in that the deep impression drives home the point. This group was printed in Utah by an independent press; I find their presses are big and they're artsy, unlike many other letterpresses that now dedicate themselves to wedding "packages". 

This is what printing has become: wedding packages are now custom-made pocket folders with a collection of letterpress-printed documents and matching envelopes for the RSVP: the announcement, the engagement party, the rehearsal dinner, the wedding itself, and even a cocktail after-party. so much for sustainability.

No more cynicism. The sad reality is that the defense called for a mental evaluation of the assailant (Andrew Lester) because he of the mental suffering he's endured from the media publicity he received for shooting the teenager. The evaluation deadline was November 9th, with a trial date set for November 26th.

left: RDWB - -Ringing Doorbell While Black, Guild Hall, East Hampton.