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Lisa Brawn I have been experimenting with figura- tive woodcuts for almost 20 years since being introduced to the medium by printmaker Diana Zasadny at Alberta College of Art and Design. Traditionally, cherry, butternut or basswood are used, but recently I have been wr est l i ng wi t h a new chal l enge: Dougl as f i r. ENCORP contacted me at the beginning of 2008 to ask if I would be interested in over 120 f eet of cent ury-ol d rough f i r beams f r om t hei r r est or at i on of t he Hul l Bl ock on 8 Ave & 1 St SW. Some of the fir is oddly shaped, there are holes and knots and gouges, and rusty nails stick- ing out the sides, so the material itself is at least a worthy adversary and at best, an ornery collabora- tor. To find suitably rustic and rugged subjects I have been ref- erencing the history of pop culture tough guys from 1920's silent film cowboys like Hoot Gibson and Tom Mix, to 1960's and 70's characters such as Harry Calahan and Frank Bullitt. I’ve been watching classic TV westerns: Wagon Train, Bat Masterson, Jim Bowie, Annie Oakley, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, and have already carved three woodcuts of The Rifleman. There are a few anomalies like Butter My Butt and Call Me Biscuit, which is the third woodcut I've done of Sophia Loren. . . I find that she holds her own anywhere. I've also been referencing the Glenbow archives for horse rustlers, bootleggers, informants, homesteaders, loiterers and turn-of-the-century RCMP. Thi s ser i es i s cal l ed ¿Qui én es más macho? The woodcut s compete against each other, such as Queen Elizabeth and Steve McQueen in La Guerra de las Reinas, who is more macho?
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