Randolph Sherman, Conversation With John,34" x 34", mixed media; oil, cement, wax, letterpress on metal, 2010

Our working relationship is based on shared sensibilities; the quite, tactile, the often unheard and unseen collective consciousness of humankind. We hear the whisper and feel the subtle touch of life. These sensibilities inform and make our experiences.

The physical materials we use; wax, cement, letterpress, paper, metal, embody our collective memory. With these resources we have been exploring and mapping our collective verbal and visual landscapes.

In our travels and explorations we have invited John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Walt Whitman, T.S. Elliot, Frida Kahlo, Gertrude Stein, Salvador Dali, Wim Wenders, and others known and unknown to join the conversation.

Yoko Said, 36" x 46", linocut on paper, 2010

In this work we hope to share the interconnection of random and shared thoughts that we all hear and see everyday.

sensibility

Beginning a new project.

Watch this space.

Flat Stanley Steamroller Print Initiative II

Ksenia Dynkin driving the vibrating compactor, July 2009

The WHAT:
A wide range of artists design 3' x 4' and 3' x 5' lino cuts. The steamroller is the press. Artists receive a piece of unmounted linoleum and carve their vision in the blocks. Using the exact same materials, each artist creates an entirely personal experience out of the linoleum. See the different perspectives local photographers, printers, painters, and craftspeople bring and the many forms this project can take.

The WHY:
Inspired to act by the BP Gulf Oil Spill, our suggested theme for this year's Flat Stanley Print Initiative is transportation: planes, trains and automobiles, etc. A portion of the proceeds will go to the Nature Conservancy's response to the disaster.

Tina Randolph holding her fresh print, July 2009

The WHEN:
Prints roll out from 1o am to 4 pm
Sunday, July 11th, 2010

The WHERE:
The Georgetown Art and Garden Tour
Printed in the beautiful courtyard of the Georgetown Ballroom
Enter off Carsten Street, at Airport Way South

Lynda Sherman and Dawn Bassett, holding Ms. Sherman's print, July 2009

The WHO:
Participating Artists:
Amy Johnson
Dawn Bassett
Erin Frost
Jean Carter
Jamie Ewing
Jeffry Mitchell
Leslie Wall
Lynda Sherman
Onur Simsek
Rachel Maxi
Tina Randolph
and more!

The BEST PART:
Original steamroller prints are for sale to take home that day!

Tools

The importance of tools in our work was most recently brought to our attention by our friend and neighbor, the multi-media artist Amy Johnson. She had just visited the Hammer Museum in Hains, Alaska, where she shot this photo of a typesetting hammer. Its reference to sculpture is self-evident and the audacity of its beauty is astounding. We think so, at least.

Tools with history demand the seductive human gaze and touch of hand. These tools, our tools, are an everyday part of our lives. They are trusted, depended upon, and work just as hard as we do. What would we do without them? (That just freaked out Sherman, Randolph is playing it cool)

Tools are an extension of the maker - the instrument of the imagination and the language of creation. The tool is the YES, allowing us to Make. It never says No. It gives us the means, courage and confidence to Try. It brings success, satisfaction and process together. These hand held tools are not distractions, unlike the computers we often use as Magic 8 Balls.

Tools require attention and know-how. With a tool, you don't wait for the outcome. Tools require physicality and memory. With tools you are participating and engaged in Real time.

Whether used to help sharpen, cut, print, pound, measure, mix, our tools are part of the history of the hand. The are necessary parts of the printing process, that won't be going away any time soon.

In our world, these tools will not become obsolete.

The Haiti Poster Project

Our latest collaborative project is for The Haiti Poster Project. It took three days to carve the four linoleum blocks by hand, two band aids, one Vandercook proofing press and two very inspired Ladies.


We felt compelled to create this poster.

All the hours spent to physically make this poster directed our awareness to the PLACE of suffering. Each cut of the knife was marked with intent and compassion. As artists, we felt it was the most important work we could do without being there.




The process of carving and printing was slow and deliberate, our work spanned days, creating intensity, in where everything mattered. It was an emotional and transformative process.

Choosing and mixing ink colors was the easy part for us, as we called Frida Kahlo to guide us. We would play this game of "what color would you choose" and each time we would all chose the same colors.




In doing this poster, we realized that all work is important, and as artists and makers we are connected to our world and each other. We know this work makes a difference. It gives us conviction and power to continue working. Beauty and Compassion are the greatest gifts (and the only ones we can afford).

We give this poster to the Haiti Relief Project as a witness to the suffering as a result of this devastating earthquake and offer it as a response with awareness and compassion.

The posters are available for purchase through The Haiti Poster Project beginning April 5, 2010. All proceeds benefit Doctors Without Borders. It is important to continue to help at this time. Please visit the site and take a look. There are over 270 posters by artists and designers from around the world and many more posters are added each day.

Coffee in the Morning, Beer in the Afternoon

Tina Randolph, milestone genius of texture and color and Lynda Sherman, master printer and poet, are the design duo Randolph Sherman. We decided to combine our talents, experience and friendship to experiment in alternative methods of printmaking.

A friend asked about our process of working together, and how we did it...our response was "coffee in the morning and beer in the afternoon", thus naming our first collaboration.

Sensibility is key to our work. We are attracted to the bite of the type into the soft material, whether it be cotton paper or cement texture and wax on thin metal, the result makes our blood run faster.

Each pull of the press is unexpected and different and we never know what we are going to get next. That moment, we never tire of. In fact, it's the reason why we are compelled to do this work.

Our love of letterpress comes from a respect of the history of the printed word that has informed culture for centuries. It is the tactile sensuality given to the eye and the touch of the hand that brings us pleasure and reminds us of our connection to what is REAL.

Our process, using the mathematical constraints of letterpress and the liberties of the materials, makes our process unique. By using untraditional soft textural surfaces on thin brass sheets of metal we create atmospheric backgrounds that evoke sky, water and earth. When the text is punched into this environment it brings power and strength to the written word thus giving it greater impact or meaning.

It's the push and pull of soft and hard, the turn of the flywheel, the impact of lead type hitting a surface, and the kiss of the ink that creates a permanent mark and record of our experience and thought.

The texture of these pieces alone evoke emotion and Lynda's added poetry suspends time and place.

We joked that these were French signs that you would see on the roadside of our life travels and dreams.