2016 Christmas Card

Aurora Borealis

Back and Forth - Christmas 2016

The pot below has been passing back and forth between me and a friend (who is none to fond of the pot) for a few years. This is what happened when it was in my hands at Christmas 2014 -- a DIY forest kit. 

This is my what I came up with this year. 

Catalogue Cover - Spring 2017

One of my paintings - the Walls template 'Through' is on the cover of the University of Alberta Press Spring catalogue.

Only Leave A Trace - Spring 2017

I am very pleased to announce this:

"Roger Epp's poetic meditations about the minor miracles, the difficulties, and the loneliness of leading a small university campus through a time of significant change are depicted in a series of elegant yet understated prose pieces, illustrated* by his life partner, Rhonda Harder Epp. Taking a candid look at the many challenges such a position brings, Roger Epp humanizes, scrutinizes, and upholds the integrity of academic administrative work." 

* I protest the term "illustrated" because that is not how that went. Roger walked over to my studio, looked around and said, "Can I use those in my book?" 

32

'Roger is my homeboy' the Jacket - Done

I put the final stitches on this project -- my initials -- yesterday. Here it is:

Front

Front detail

Back

Back detail

Sleeve finish

Lining and hook-and-eye closure 

Date of the T-shirt project at Augustana

The Back

Left Front & pockets

Roger/Alabama Chanin progress - Right Front

So here is the right front, more or less done. There will be a pocket but I want to have the left front finished before I make the decision about which pocket on what side. And you can see I have left in all the basting that keeps the layers together. That will come out later. Do you see Roger's face poking out at the top? 

'Roger is my homeboy' meets Alabama Chanin - 2

Top stenciled layer (too busy, do you think, for someone who prefers understatement?):

Fronts

Back

'Roger is my homeboy' meets Alabama Chanin - 1

90

My Mom is 90 today!

Sneak peek 2016 - Christmas cards

Stitching Again - 6 T-shirts Make 1

I went off to a thrift store with an open mind and a notion. I wanted to make a T-shirt using the Alabama Chanin method and a colour scheme.  I came home with 2 red t-shirts (not quite the same red), and orange, charcoal, black and turquoise t-shirts. One problem I came up against was the current trend for t-shirts to have writing or graphics on the front and back. This severely limits re-usability.

I drew the outlines of the front and back on newsprint, then drew the Alabama Chanin Magdalena stencil, modifying it to how I wanted it to be on my shirt. Then I covered the newsprint with mactac and cut out the shapes to make a stencil. This only works because I was brush dabbing the paint on. It wouldn't work if I was spraying it on. 
Here are the pieces after painting them:

Here, the stitching is done (I know, you can hardly see it):

And here, I have done the cutting:

The sleeves:

The finished piece.

Listening to the News

I can't yet articulate what these paintings are about, but they have something to do with responding to news I hear and read. I did this one yesterday. 

41" x 20"

104cm x 51cm

oil on board

And these two today:

14" x 14"

36cm x 36cm

oil on canvas

Birthday number: 58 from 1958

Some one here turned 58. I don't know if it is a "thing" when one's age matches the year one was born, but that's what the deal is here. (MCMLVIII is 1958, but you probably guessed that.)

This year's number came with a set of magnets and a pin!