New Woodblock Print Draft Completed

The newest woodcut has been completed and the edition is under way. This edition will be small because as of 2023, Barbick is now only doing editions of fewer than 5 prints in each edition. The woodcut took over 120 hours to cut over 4 months and multiple years to conceive.

Title: “Hiding in Plain Sight”

Image Size = 13.4″ x 21.4″

Paper Size = 17.5″ x 24″

Edition Size: 3 (2 for sale)

Price: $1500.00 (unframed)

Woodcut hand printed on Washi paper. No press used.

About This Work: Imagine you are peering across the way into the next building. Act as a voyeur and snoop looking deeply and carefully into the windows. You are supposed to discover what is going on in the next building. Hopefully, once you have an idea of what is happening, you’ll ask the question – why? What are we doing to cause this? And, what can be done to stop this?

Side Note: The building was designed so that all through it, it is off a bit. The building is designed to distract you, occupy your mind, and upon examination, the building shouldn’t make sense either. The building is a metaphor for the absurdity held within.

Detail images below. Please check out the close-ups

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New Woodcut for 2023 – Inception to Drawing Explained

This woodcut started in 2022 has been the labor of 4 years to get to this point.

1. How It Started:

  • At start I knew the issue (the erosion of teen wellness in society) I wanted to address, but the question was – How do I address it in a new way that is dynamic? And, how do I narrow this down.

2. How I Narrowed the Focus:

  • Over 3 years of concept drawings and idea discussions, I just could not figure out what to focus on. How to illustrate it. How to get across the specific problem and connect it to the public’s experience. BUT, after months of researching I narrowed the focus – mental health in teens + the explosion of therapy needed for teens based on how many ACES kids met. So, the questions that came to mind were:
    • How many kids do need therapy? How bad is this problem?How much therapy options and services are being provided in schools nationwide?
    • How much does the public know about this?
  • These questions led to the answer that the public has no real clue how bad the problem is and how far out of control society has gotten. Parents and community members have no idea of the scope and scale. So, the question was  – why? How do they miss it?

 3. How it Became a Drawing:

  • After the 4 years of research and thought and finally deriving answers to those questions above, I got it. We as a society are pumping out kids who are damaged meeting so many ACES that astounding numbers of kids need therapy. And, therapy is now more important in more schools, than teaching the subjects. Money and resources are boundless and it just keeps compounding. BUT, unless people look, ask questions, or pay close attention they do not see how bad the problem is. So, in essence I discovered that America has become a factory of sort – quietly pumping out therapy couches and damaged kids while nobody asks why? Or what is so wrong with our communities and families that this is the case. Hence, the drawing over 3 – 4 months came to be. (examine the image above)

4. How does it become Dynamic in a new way?

  • I figured out once I knew it was a factory, that I needed to show kids and therapy couches being made in a way that mimics cars (assembly-line method). Once, I had that concept, I had to find a way for people to miss it. You heard right. They need to miss it when they see the print. So, I housed the factor floors in a very elaborate and absurd building that is purposefully incongruous, mal-aligned, and wrong in many ways. This compliments the absurdity of creating damaged kids and therapy couches in mass production.  The HOPE! That people will have to closely examine each window as if snooping or peeping to discover the problem. Just like real life.
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Recent Completed Editions

Winter 2022

Title: “Coffin load of 9 left behind”
Edition size: 2 (only 1 available)
Proofs for sale: 1 Artist Proof framed
Image size: 15 inches x 29 inches
Paper size: 21.5 inches x 35 inches
Paper: Kozo
Hand rubbed woodcuts by the artist.

Summer 2021

“Inhibitory Control”
Edition size: 12
Medium: woodcut hand rubbed onto Kozo paper.
Paper Size: 11.25″ x 14.25″
Image Size: 10.75″ x 13.75″
Price: NFS
“United Against the Tide of Inhumanity”
Edition size: 7 (already only 5 available)
Medium: woodcut hand rubbed onto Kozo paper.
Paper Size: 20″ x 24″
Image Size: 19″ x 16″
Price: $500 (unframed)
“Justified Violence”
Edition size: 1
Medium: woodcut hand rubbed onto Kozo paper.
Paper Size: 20″ x 24″
Image Size: 16.5″ x 20.5″
Price: $1200 (unframed)

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Woodcut – Addressing Consent – This woodcut has been a labor of love and one of immense importance. Consent has been shifting in the current lexicon and more and more is not being addressed or discussed.

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Creating a New Art Process

Using Colored Pencil on Birch Wood Planks

About His Art Form: Wood and Colored Pencil Animal Portraits

Recently, as of 2013-2014 Barbick has created a new way to present wild animals – on birch board custom cut and prepared by Barbick for his works. He starts this process finding the right grain and piece of wood. Then, he painstakingly has to prepare the wood to be long lasting and durable using his own materials. Afterwards, he textures the wood using his own method so that the pencil responds to the coating to get the right effect of fur and pointillism. Then, using water color pencils and a multi step process of layering pencil, adding water, detracting pigment, waiting for drying times and going over the area again and again with the same process he creates a one of a kind work of art not duplicatable by any one, even by Mr. Barbick. A piece of art with incredible depth and dimension. With a uniqueness not found anywhere else in the world.

See The Process Below:

Notice facial lines and ears
Notice added depth to facial colors and ears
Notice Increased dimension in face, ears and chest fur
“Wonderment” Colored Pencil on Wood 24″ x 24″ $1150
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