Originally published on Aug 1, 2021
Meet the new Baths series
[image: transfer]
If you've been keeping up with Cypress in the last two weeks, you may have noticed the announcement of our latest print: Baths 001—SF. I'm extremely excited to share this one with you for a number of reasons.
This print was a test of new materials and methods and will hopefully be the setup to our first ever large scale woodcut. If you watch this space, we may be announcing the biggest print we've ever released all thanks to the successful Baths 001 study.
But first, the story.
[image: NOAA map]
The print series name 'Baths' comes from the word bathymetry: the study of ocean floor depths. As the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration describes it, "'bathymetry' originally referred to the ocean's depth relative to sea level, although it has come to mean 'submarine topography,' or the depths and shapes of underwater terrain." And if you've picked up on my personal obsession with both topo maps and the ocean, you can understand why this overlap is naturally right up Cypress' alley.
Luckily for these prints, NOAA keeps a massive, detailed database of depth maps available to the general public. So those same relief patterns that you may be familiar with when looking at a hiking map can be found for most of our oceanic coastlines.
[image: ink]
As mentioned, this first print of the series was an excuse for a couple of tests.
This is the first Cypress print to feature relief lines carved out of a block, as opposed to into it. Meaning that compared to all of our other topo prints, the ink for this block is sitting on thin, raised lines and isn't the background of the piece.
And that allows the print to showcase the second new addition to the Cypress material set: Nepalese Lokta Paper. It's handmade in Nepal from their native 'paper bush,' and has a beautiful, irregular tooth. The style of the print means that the naturally dyed indigo material can set an organic background to really set the tone for the entire artwork.
[image: drying]
Baths 001 successfully validated that I may be able to hand pull a large, similar 30 inch piece featuring the Santa Cruz bathymetrical map from above. Be on the lookout for videos as I start that one soon.
And lastly, it's been busy social media week. Cypress now has a TikTok, and this felt like the perfect print to try out a full end to end process video. I'll start stitching together and sharing more of these to give you a further peek into the studio.
[tweet/tiktok]
Featured
Baths 001 – San Francisco
[image: Baths 001]
There're only 10 of these made, and some are already gone. Get a 6 inch taste of San Francisco's Gulf of the Farallones and the Golden Gate with this piece.
Playing in the studio
world wide web
[image: cut the line]
I will always celebrate friends who make rad art in every way that I can. In this issue, I'm absolutely thrilled to share a new song of Judson Collier's music project: world wide web.
The premier single has already been featured on Spotify's Fresh Finds playlist and will only continue to grow in popularity from here. Trust me, it's the only song you need this summer. Listen now.
https://open.spotify.com/track/0znbgjSI5ASK65kknlbHkz?si=a708ad22c9044ede