Open Space by Andrés

My image of the three Hartford buildings popping out of the map of Connecticut is the end of a very long process for me.

My idea started with a bedroom scene where one wall had a brick pattern with radio station call numbers in the bricks. The other wall had a pattern of flags representing the different nationalities of the residents of Hartford.

This idea changed overnight from a closed room to an open space. I went from inside to outside because the bedroom was too individual and a map is more universal. By having the map and the buildings of Hartford, the viewer can relate to the image.

In designing the three buildings, I drew them separately and then put them together by tracing them onto one piece of paper. But the three original buildings were way too big for the image size, so I had to shrink them to look like they are coming up out of the map.

I chose to print the buildings in the color blue, to represent the Connecticut flag, and the map in orange to make the image pop.

The Gold Building by Ashley

A tourist group walks around the city of Hartford on a brisk October afternoon, enjoying the beautiful architecture. Suddenly, an amazing building catches the eye of one of the tourists, just as the sun is setting behind it:

“Hey, what’s that building over there?” she inquires.

“Which one?” says the tour guide.

“The tall, shiny gold one next to that church.”

“Oh! That’s the Gold Building!”

“Wow. It’s beautiful,” says the tourist, full of awe and captured by the stunning reflections in the building.

“It certainly is,” replies the tour guide, “especially at sunset.”

Homeward Bound by Brian

The beginning of my artwork was not a sure thing- I started with only a bus. I got the idea of a bus because I was thinking about how I spend my days, how I get to school and to work. I realized that I see a lot of the city from inside the city bus. Also, I believe at some point in our lives, we all take the bus to get home.

As I got more into the project, the bus was looking lonely. Then Ms. Gale and I both came up with the idea of putting some of the popular buildings in Hartford as a skyline in the background. When I was looking at photographs of the city for inspiration, I really liked the pictures that showed Hartford with the Connecticut River, so I decided to include it in my image.

After weeks of drawing and finding the right buildings to put in my work, I was finally happy with the image and started to carve. It was not hard for me because I am good at carving. The only problem I have with carving is putting in the time. But I finished and the end result is what you see.

A Stegosaurus In Hartford by Danny

This piece took me longer to complete then I planned for. Getting my carvings to print together perfectly was very difficult because the drawing was so weirdly shaped, just like the actual sculpture. It was hard to make all three colors line up perfectly. I ended up having to carve everything twice.

Even though I initially had problems printing, I didn’t change my idea because the sculpture is very appealing to me. As a kid, the stegosaurus was my favorite dinosaur and to this day I still find it the most intriguing.

The actual sculpture is bright orange, and this is my favorite aspect. I wanted to recreate that color, as best as I could, in ink. The blue is intended to make you think about a bright sunny day, a good day.

I included the text in the image because I wanted the viewer to think about the real sculpture and its location. In addition, I think it is good to have a little humor in art!

The Heart of Hartford by India

When I first started thinking about this project, my idea was to draw the Hartford Building. I began to rethink this idea when most of my colleagues also started drawing buildings. I began to realize that for me, Hartford is not represented by the buildings but by the details of the city. I was having a hard time connecting to my drawing because it was so architectural, so linear. Ms. Gale and I talked and the idea came about to take the deer, or hart, from the Hartford Building and the stars from the Colt Building and create a scene along the Connecticut River. The boarder was made from the state flower, the mountain laurel, and leaves and acorns representing the Charter Oak tree. I chose to have a boarder to make the viewer focus more on the image. I also wanted a boarder because I enjoy more decorative art and my image looked unfinished without it.

There's No Place Like Hartford by Liz

I enjoy writing poems. Poetry is a way to express my feelings and thoughts in words. At the age of nine, I was introduced to the world of poetry and since then I have always liked the same kinds of poems. I like poems that are very descriptive and expressive but at the same time are suggestive. I only started writing my own poems at the age of ten. Most of my poems are written in Spanish, but then I later translate them into English.

When I wrote this poem about Hartford, I was thinking about my audience. I wanted to bring Hartford alive for people who have never been here. Most places have a distinct smell or sound and I wanted to express that in my poem. I also wanted to focus on the variety of cultures that we have here in Hartford.

When it came time to print my poem, I chose old-fashioned colors that you might see in an old map or manuscript. I am very attracted to things that are old or old-fashioned looking and I wanted bring that to this work. However, my drawings are really abstract and sort of modern. I liked the idea of combining the old with the new. I wanted to illustrate my words but not draw anything specifically representational. My poem mentions many senses, so the drawings are interpretations of those ideas.

Bushnell by María

When I was younger, I remember asking my mom to take me to the carousel. I would get to the park and run towards the carousel to get in line. As I waited, I watched the carousel go in circles until it was my turn.

Getting older, I found myself neglecting the carousel and park, but every now and again, I think of all the good times I had at Bushnell Park’s Carousel.

These memories inspired me to create a piece that incorporated the ride, the park, and the sense of home they once gave me.

Late Arrival! by Michelle

The reason why I decided to create something about Union Station is because ever since I was young, I have wanted to travel to different places around the world. When I think about traveling or departing, Union Station is the first thing that comes to mind because I have lived in Hartford nearly my entire life.

It took me a while to finish my piece because there were a lot of lines and details, but my work was made easier because I had help from my co-workers. :) Printing wasn’t that hard, but when I finished I realized that my clock was upside down. This mistake lead me to come up with the title Late Arrival!

I like the idea that when you think about time, or life in general, it is not something you are in control of. You can’t rewind time so why not live life to the fullest? Why not travel across the globe, socialize, have fun, laugh, and love? Have no regrets because each day is a gift and once it’s given, you never get it back.

Greetings From Hartford by Trinh

I have always been very impressed with black and white pictures and photographs. I enjoy looking at them because they are pleasing to my eyes and simply the classic of all classics. This is the reason why I steered toward such a simplistic color scheme in this project.

I started this project by sketching my hand as though it was in the middle of doing a drawing. I liked the idea of drawing a picture inside of a picture. I therefore decided to further develop this idea. I used perspective drawing to create buildings inside of what is supposed to be a postcard. Then, I later carved away the hand and the details within the postcard. This left an abundant amount of white space. The result is an extreme black contrasting with a stark white. It creates an intense but classic look. I am thrilled with the result and cannot wait for another project to come along.

Andrés Felix

Andrés is getting ready to print his image on the press. He spent a lot of time carving out little squares to create a checkerboard pattern!

Ashley Hunt

Ashley is looking through different sorts and cuts of type for inspiration. She wanted to find something that would compliment her image for the month of July in the calendar project.

Brian Austin

Brian is cleaning the ink off the press. Note the apron, gloves, and rolled up sleeves - all key in keeping clean!

Danny Tobias

Danny is applying double sided tape to the back of his linoleum. This will help keep the linoleum in place for printing.

India Harrison

India, posing here with Brian, shows off the geraniums she carved for the calendar. She was inspired by the geraniums we have in the studio windows.

Lizuannette Arroyo

Liz, on the right, with Trinh. They are holding the end result of all their typesetting. A lot of little letters and a lot of patience!

Maria Galán

Maria is getting ready to run a proof of her tree image for the calendar. She did a great job of carving it and the end result is lovely.

Michelle Sturges

Michelle is working on printing images of balloons for a birthday card she designed. As can be seen with her shirt, Michelle loves bright colors!

Trin Tran

Trinh, on the right, is setting type for the Open Studio & Holiday Sale invitations. Trinh and Liz did a great job setting the names of all the students.

Zanaisja Williams

Zanaisja is working on a postcard with an image of a butterfly which she carved in linoleum. Zanaisja likes butterflies because to her they represent the true form of a person and new beginnings.

Ashley :D

Hi, my name is Ashley! I'm a senior in the Law & Government Academy at Hartford Public High School. I am very excited about working at Hartford Prints! because it's an exciting new experience that I'm looking forward to being involved in. I'm hoping to attend the University of Hartford or Central Connecticut State University after I graduate high school to major in Music Education. Yay!