PrintSocial #1

Hilary Lorenz and Theo Castro

Today I am going to move away from running and talk about art, specifically my new project PrintSocial.

I concieved PrintSocial a couple of months ago after working long hours at home carving my wood and linoleum blocks.  PrintSocial was created to serve two purposes. One, begin the process of publishing prints, something that I have always wanted to do but never thought I was equipped for.  I don’t want to publish to make money but just for the love of it. My project is very small scale  but it is a start that will eventually move to Abiquiu, NM where I am building a physical printmaking studio.

For those that do not know about printmaking studios, printmakers often work in a community studio because we require big heavy expensive equipment. It is a great place to meet a lot of interesting people and because there is  literally a printshop in just about every country,  it provides a great experience to travel  and make art.

But perhaps the biggest reason I started this, is to invite people into my apartment to make a print and simply talk, or sit in silence, it is up to my guest.  After 17 years of having studios I moved my workplace home and found myself  isolated. By inviting people to me, we have a really fun day, they get to learn something and make art; perhaps for the first time. I get my guest started working and then carve my own block. I see PrintSocial as being  grounded in the tradition of the sewing bee, but working on our own individual projects.

The first PrintSocial was last night with Theo Castro. Originally from the Philippines, Theo grew up in Vancouver, BC. I have know him since 2005 when he was super party boy, and my student at a Parson the New School for Design in the summer intensive drawing program. Now Theo is an ordained Jesuit Priest and he is leaving in 20 days to  Sri Lanka for three years to do refugee work.   Tomorrow I will post the extraordinary experience of working with Theo. The event was truly beyond my wildest imagination of what could occur just through talking and making prints.

To learn more about PrintSocial, click the page link at the top, or contact me.

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Back in the Day

When I was in Michigan I had the opportunity to dig through all my memorabilia of growing up. And here it is my first running book, purchased in either 6th or 7th grade.

Copyright 1978 such topics included “Is barefoot still best?, “Running from Worries” and a section of interval running by Ian Jackson. Jackson’s section being the most entertaining:

“Since the prospect of turning into a middle-aged fat slob revolted me, I decided, many years after my undistinguished track career, that I’d better take up running again.”

Ah, yes, the nostalgia. Thank God I did not turn into a middle-age fat slob. And thinking about my junior high school recording break mile run, I wonder if I can match my 12 year old times by the end of the year. That would be a fun project.

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Holiday Print Workshop

I went home to visit my family in Michigan for the first time in more years than I can count. There were two things I was sure of; first I would have more time and trails to run than I would know what to do with and second my family would have more gifts than anyone would know what to do with. So instead of adding to pile of presents I gave them a printmaking party complete with delicious and healthy snack treats.

I brought along linoleum blocks, paper, ink, and carving tools.I went shopping and laid out a spread of cut up apples, cherries, grapes, grape tomatoes, and carrots.

I gave an illustrated intro using my video projector and websites of other artists.I pulled pages from the Cabelas Hunting and Fishing catalog to show them how to transfer images, hence my waders.

It was great fun and the most quiet everyone was since I had gotten there. I really liked that. My mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, their exchange student, my niece and nephew all carved and hand printed a block.From age 6 to 74 it was a project that everyone could do. Plus they now understand much more clearly what the heck it is that I do for a living.

If you have any big family gatherings coming up, I highly recommend a simple workshop of sorts. They get to learn more about you – especially if you never see them – and in this case a little more about art. And if you have no art skills, give me a call, I will create a workshop for any number of people, and no matter how happy, cranky, enthusiastic, or gloomy they may be. By the end, everyone is  happy and proud.

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Sgt. Preston, Yukon King 6 Mile Run

Just wanted to add a quick post to add to my thoughts on competitiveness of the midwest.  The Sgt Preston 6 mile race probably carried the real competition. First off the route was very difficult, think Harlem Hill x 4, twice as tall and twice as long. The male winner was Frank Therrian from Holt Michigan with a 31:47,  5:17 pace and the first woman was Rachel Steil from Grandville, MI with a time of 40:07, 6:40 pace. Interestly the women were a whole 1:30 behind the men. And the first master female to score was 54 year old Laren Dawson with a time of 44:13. The first male master was Randy VanLoo age 48 at 38:11. I am looking forward to next year

1	Frank Therrian	Holton MI	505	26	M	1 Overall	31:47	31:47	5:17
2	Aaron Zuelke	Grand Haven MI	466	34	M	1 30-34	34:24	34:25	5:44
3	Devon Joslin	Twin Lake MI	279	17	M	1 15-19	34:55	34:56	5:49

and the top women were:

16

Rachael Steil

Grandville MI

421

19

F

1 Overall

40:02

40:02

6:40

18

Lindsay Neal

Muskegon MI

305

17

F

1 15-19

40:19

40:26

6:43

27

Darcy Dubuc

Grand Haven MI

363

20

F

1 20-24

42:56

42:58

7:09

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HOIFY!

Hilary Lorenz with Dad and Mom after Race

According to my friend Nancy, she designated this year, HOIFY as in Hilary’s Official Injury-Free Year. Yes this is the plan for 2011, along with  a lot of short fast races, rather than the endless marathon training.

I started the year 1/1/11 at 11:11am with the Sergeant Preston, Yukon King 6 Mile / 5K Memorial Run at the Muskegon Michigan Winter Sports Complex. The complex is home to only 4 professional luge runs in the US, though I cannot find the source I read that from. Unfortunately it was too warm to luge the day we went.

The race was awesome. My first since February 28, 2010. I spend the most of 2010 off, so when I ran a decent 5k without any training beyond jogging 3 miles to work and home 3-4 days a week  and a 8-10 miler on the weekend I was pretty darn happy. In other words generic aerobic running between 15-25 miles a week for the past three months only. My 5k time was 22:30, 7:14 pace. It was good enough to earn first in my age group and third woman overall. Now all you NY’ers may be thinking, yea but what competition can there possibly be in Michigan? Well, there are a lot of cross country runners here, high school and college. In fact the kid who won is in high school. He ran a 16:49 and the winning girl age 16,  ran a 20:39, second place was a 44 year old women with 21:59, and I was 31 seconds behind her. So maybe not stellar times, but not bad either.

For me it was a great way to start the year. I have another 353 days to improve that time. Plus I spend the week with my family, something I have not done in perhaps over 10 years. I rarely come back to Michigan and you can  see how happy my parents were to see me. I have to admit it was fun.

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