Shameless Commerce Division: Printmakers at Work

Very near the small town by the bay and the big water, aka Lewes, Delaware, there is another small town, Milton,  near the headwaters of the Broadkill River that runs down through the farm lands and marshes of Sussex County to the Bay.  

There the writer of this blog (Mark, myself) is engaged in exploring a new vocation, that of art printmaking, particularly using woodcuts and linocuts as a medium for expressionist work. This printmaking thing is becoming a vocation - and as it is with all vocations the call is tested against various realities, both communal and metaphysical. 

Somehow, as the printmaker, I have to get a sense that this is a calling and not a bit of extraneous fun (not that I am opposed to fun, extraneous or otherwise.) Still, the question of whether what I do has artistic merit, shows technical skill, etc, has to be judged by some larger community and indeed by some appeal to aesthetics. In many ways it it a journey not unlike the discernment to the vocation of priest, only without the .more obvious pitfalls of dogma. I have had pieces in several shows in the area and have been artist in residence at the National School of Arts in Haiti (ENARTS).


Two of the three printmakers in the collection of artists at Studios on Walnut, in Milton, - Mary Ellen Daly and I are having a joint show and reception on Saturday, July 18th from 5 to 7 PM.  Here is the invitation:

Here at Preludium we realize that the readers are drawn by the discussions of Anglican and Episcopal doings, so this announcement may not strike the reader as of much interest. But I would hope that even the most narrowly focused might take a moment and wish us well. As for the rest of you who get this, you are the ones I really delight in, for I am convinced that the vocation to artistic expression using the many senses is closely linked to the praise of God with all that we have. So I take great pleasure in using words and (most recently) graphic marks on paper to evoke some of the wonder that is the source of our praise of God. 

If you are anywhere near the lower county of Sussex in Delaware and near Lewes or Milton, come join us next week end on Saturday, July 18th.  If you are interested in seeing some more of my work, go to www.preludiumarts.net   Most of the prints in the show are not yet on those pages, but they will give you an idea of the work I am doing.