Clay Huffman Notecard Johnson’s Store Frozen Food

Description: Clay Huffman Notecard Johnson’s Store Frozen Food. This notecard depicts an original limited edition 26 color serigraph. Clay Huffman (1957–2001) was a multi-medium artist, most well known for his vibrant, multicolored serigraphs of local roadside architecture. A native born Washingtonian, having grown up in Wheaton, MD and graduated from Wheaton High School, Clay Huffman experienced early artistic success as a ceramist. By the age of seventeen, and spurred by a desire to expand his creative repertoire, Clay became a student and artist-in-residence at the original Torpedo Factory Art Center [2] (his workspace was where they had once stored documents from the Nuremberg Trials).[3] During this same period, he attended the Montgomery College School of Architecture,[4] an experience which would dramatically affect his future artistic direction and technique. Turning his newly acquired drafting skills towards silkscreen printing, Clay spent the next three years studying the art from nationally recognized masters of the craft, Marcel [5] and Anne Laddon The actual process of creating a silkscreen includes many steps. Since Clay's work was generally of actual places and things (with the occasional exception of some imaginative additions such as a Cinderellaesque figure running to catch the last train in his print titled "Metropolitan Curfew"), his first step was to take photographic images of the subject at different times to catch it with different shadows, lighting and character. Clay then selected one of these photographs and, wanting to influence the final print, created a line drawing of it. From the line drawing, Clay had to decide what color went where and cut out individual stencils for each area and color choice. Each stencil was then applied to a silkscreen and one by one, ink forced through the screen onto the paper, eventually creating the finished piece. This individual silkscreen process was used for every color on every print. Unlike images created using a printing press (which uses pressure applied to copper plates to create an impression which can deteriorate in quality from the first print to the last), a silkscreen has no deterioration of the screen during printing. This consistency in print quality throughout the edition means that lower numbered prints should not be more desirable than higher numbered prints, except when determined by the artist. Clay Huffman kept the first 10 prints of each of his silkscreens, he called it his "pension plan". As the prints sold, the first ten would become increasingly valuable. He sold one of his ten originals of a Krispy Kreme doughnut shop for $750. The original price was $150. Another silkscreen artist with a similar, yet almost opposite, business plan is Zachary Kent of Kent Designs.[11] Kent currently specializes in rock art (collectible pieces commemorating an event, concert or show).[12] After creating a new piece, Kent auctions the first handful (usually numbers 1–5) on eBay [1], starting with the higher number and selling through to number one in the edition before offering the rest for sale. Not content with merely being a serigraph historian, Clay set in motion a developmental process combining his life's work and experience including his study of ceramics, architecture, stained glass, neon fabrication and design. His fascination with three-dimensional imaging can be seen in his whimsical and possibly prophetic piece, "Man's Best Friend in 2084". This piece, nicknamed "Robot" with an image of the same, was printed in four versions; black, gold, silver & copper. It was completed in September 1984 and printed on 26"x34" paper. Imbued with a sense of humor, a touch of nostalgia, and an eye to the future, Clay's work was noted overall by a fastidious attention to detail and masterful technique. Each edition (rarely exceeding 200 impressions) would take Clay up to three months to complete.

Price: 11.99 USD

Location: Washington, District Of Columbia

End Time: 2025-01-25T20:08:01.000Z

Shipping Cost: 2.2 USD