"No Bees, No Blueberries"

Barbara Landes has finished her side to cube 64 "Busy Bees" -

"Honeybees pollinate about one third of the foods consumed by Americans according to a Cornell University study. Blueberries are one of the many crops we will lose without honeybees."

Now cube 64 is off to Sarah Hauser!

Block 91- Off and Cutting!

Laura Berman has initiated block 91 with the news prompt:

Abandoned Owls Blamed on Potter
An increase in the number of owls abandoned at a rescue centre
in Flinshire has been blamed on the Harry Potter books.


Block 91's six-person team of Kansas City artists includes:

Laura Berman
Julia Welles
Maura Cluthe
Will Burnip
Ben Jones
Estrella Payton


Side 1 in progress:

"BUSY BEES" cube 64 started by April Vollmer

April Vollmer's side of cube 64 "BUSY BEES"My print is "the Hive Goddess of Belgrade". I found her on the side of a building, in Belgrade with a hive in her hand. (I just had an exhibition there www.aprilvollmer.com/belgrade2008) I proofed it with sumi ink on Nishinouchi Japanese paper, printed with a baren.

My chosen news article is the June issue of Martha Stewart "The Sweet Side of Summer" which not only has a recipe for a honey cake in the shape of a bee hive, but includes a well researched article about the decline of the bee population in the U.S. Both the imported honeybees and native bee species are threatened. For more information The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation has a great website with information about the crisis in pollination! www.xerces.org

The artists who have agreed to contribute to six sides of "Busy Bees" are:

Barbara Landes
Sarah Hauser
Melinda Yale

The Process of Printing the Cubes

Hey, Candace:
Those are some pretty intriguing photos you have on the blog. What are you doing with the big block of cubes?
When you get some spare time, do you mind explaining on the blog your process for printing the cubes? Maybe some more of those great pictures?
Do you burnish the paper onto the cubes, or use a roller?
Linda Jules



I needed a structure that would hold the 2" cubes in place while I was printing. So- I ended up gluing cubes together except in the middle where I can move them around. The cubes are not all exactly 2"x2"x2" I noticed, so I have to shim section with pieces of matboard (seen above).
The cube that I'm going to print is raised 1/16 inch from the bottom so I can ink it with a roller. I am using oil based ink here but have decided in the future to use waterbase ink so the prints dry faster. I'm using a stencil to protect the registration platform while I'm inking.
I place the paper down, registering from the corner and hand-rubbing with a plastic spoon.
WOOLAH!!! Didn't goof up...yeah!

These cubes have been started and need more artists

Would anyone like to work on one of these cubes? Let me know - info@candacenicol.com

4 CUBES are DONE!

Exciting and what a blast to print! I found it relaxing to sit and print these cubes. It was interesting to examine each side, how each person carved into the wood and the challenges in printing. I didn’t always know how each side was oriented (up, down) and it was fun to try to interpret the signs and make connections to the original story.

So here are the first four:

Cube #52 Sweden Road Signs Going Feminine
Original Story: http://social.moldova.org/stiri/eng/115655/

Artists: Noah Strycker (OR), Emily Bean (OR), Jennifer Abbott (OR), Kathryn Nichols (OR), Rachel Feerick(WI), Courtney Monsantofils (OR)

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Cube #51 Things that are handy in an emergency
Original Story: http://www.topix.com/forum/state/va/TNKLOUTHNDK4CT568

Artists: Kathryn Cellerini (OR), Greg Luckeroth (OR), Emily Germond (OR), Kim Myers (OR), Seth Jefferson (OR), Kelsi Cross (OR)
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Cube #16 Alaska Now Has 2 Gas Pipeline Proposals
Original Story: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1998861/posts

Artists: Melanie Yazzie (CO), Leslie Benson (CO), Todd Christensen (NM), Helen Baribeau (CO), Susie Mitchell (CO), Rossitza Todorova (NV)

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Cube #13 Olive Ridley Turtle
Original Story:
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/05/asia/AS-GEN-India-Threatened-Turtles.php

Artists: Melanie Yazzie (CO), Todd Christensen (NM), Lydia Young (CO), Clark Barker (CO), Likia Gitis (CO), Anne Getts (CO)

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Happy carving... I'll be updating the website soon with participants names and web addresses.

xoxo

c