Brian Fisher Print, Paint and Sculpture Blog

I've been hand printing "Dream Catchers" a lino-cut from my Leo and Lang story.  I made this low tech registration block from a 3/4" melamine panel that Suzanne Moore, #scarletpaints33, contributed to make this simple print process possible.  Thanks Suzanne! Leo and Lang are the imaginary same sex characters, as marionettes, who live their love and lives in this ongoing series.  "Dream Catchers" is hand printed with Caligo Ink on Somerset Satin Paper.  Image size, 8.5 in. x 6.75 in.

The subject is Djinn. This photo was taken at QMP, Quartermaster Press, while still on the press.  Although printed last week the red ink was still wet when I picked it up yesterday.  I think one more layer of black line, some gold leaf and... it will be finished!  But first it must... dry! A Djinn (genii, ginn, jann, jinn, shayatin, shaytan) is in Arabic mythology, a spirit, not a demon, not quite an angel either, but something like the Greek Daimones.  Djinn can be either good or evil.  They possess supernatural powers and in lore can be conjured to perform various tasks and services by humankind. Most of us are familiar with Djinn as the wish-granting “Genie” in the Arabic folktale of Aladdin's Lamp and The Book of A Thousand and One Nights, but there are many stories of Djinn.  This is the first of my series about them.

I've been printing my Leo and Lang etching , "Twin Sons, Different Mothers" at Quartermaster Press Studio. I'm so delighted by the polymer plate made by Intaglio Editions from my drawing. The prints from this plate are a small edition in dark gray and a second small edition in carbon black, both on Hahnemühle Copperplate paper. My story of Leo and Lang begins, somewhere in the Netherlands, high atop a chimney. It's a defining moment in a series of images that explore same sex relationship and an imagined history.

The print making plate above was created from my ink drawing "Twin Sons, Different Mothers" by Intaglio Editions of Boulder Colorado.   I could not be more happy with this fine art plate and sincerely thank and recommend Intaglio Editions . Technically, this polymer plate is a photogravure etching.  The process is capable of reproducing every gradation of tone in a photograph.  Here it has captured the finest of lines. I've been thinking of and making drawings about romantic relationships and an imaginary same sex couple, "Leo and Lang", (born at the turn of the last century), for the past several years.  In trying to find the right medium to tell their story I've so far explored Lino Cut, Image On Polymer, Transfer Print and Watercolor.  All of those techniques have their advantages, but when it comes to making an edition from my drawn images, Intaglio Editions and this plate making process is the best!

"Learning by Heart" was made for the Heart of Resilience Show at Vashon Center for the Arts Gallery this month.  It is an original digital print Ltd 1/12.  The show asks what are artists making in the time of COVID 19 and how do we stay creative in the face of the epidemic?   Much of how we survive is learning to endure.  How we endure is learned by heart.  Habits sustain us. Perhaps the best advice I received from my parents when facing uncertainty was about maintaining a schedule and establishing a routine.  Bathe, dress, what now, what next, get back into the saddle.  Ride this thing out. 

William Stafford wrote one of my favorite poems about guiding vision called The Way It Is- Theseus.  Because I am who I am and love what I love and who I love his words always speak to me. Particularly now.  The Way It Is- Theseus There’s a thread you follow. It goes among 
 things that change. But it doesn’t change. 
 People wonder about what you are pursuing.
 You have to explain about the thread.
 But it is hard for others to see.
 While you hold it you can’t get lost.
 Tragedies happen; people get hurt
 or die; and you suffer and get old.
 Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
 You don’t ever let go of the thread. In this time of Covid-19, we seem caught up in a confounding labyrinth.  As individuals, municipalities and states, as countries and continents, the world seems lost but science is the thread.  Hold on tight to the facts. The image above is from my Sacred Circles Series called Knossos.  1/12, an original digital print.

Easter weekend I made these bench hooks for safely carving linoleum blocks like this one of "Leo and Lang", from my Love Puppet series.  the smaller bench hook is great for 4 x 6 in. blocks and with the larger one i can cut 8x10 in., 10x12 in. and in between!