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Here's the second new holiday card this season. See the last post for my owl one. I figured the world could use a little more kindness, affection, and, if we're all very lucky, kissing. A small push for greater happiness.
This is a handcarved linoleum block paired with wood type. I can put them on the press locked into a single chase. I build wood pieces around them, called furniture, that are a little bit shorter than the block or letters (so the ink won't hit them and print them as well). I tighten it all down with "quoins", metal bars along the sides that expand as you use a small wrench in the holes to open them out a bit. Then the whole thing can be vertical in the press without dropping pieces everywhere. See the last post (again) for a video of the press in action.
This is a handcarved linoleum block paired with wood type. I can put them on the press locked into a single chase. I build wood pieces around them, called furniture, that are a little bit shorter than the block or letters (so the ink won't hit them and print them as well). I tighten it all down with "quoins", metal bars along the sides that expand as you use a small wrench in the holes to open them out a bit. Then the whole thing can be vertical in the press without dropping pieces everywhere. See the last post (again) for a video of the press in action.
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I had a big printing day yesterday. I hit a personal best with about 1000 cards printed on a heavy, turn-of-the-last-century, treadle operated press. It’s good exercise for me, and I ended up with 600 postcard invitations for my upcoming Open Studio Sale (December 1st and 2nd), plus a bunch of new note cards for the sales. I based this owl on a baby rescued barred owl I got to meet a few years ago on his way to a wildlife rescue group. He was adorable.
Here’s a video of the press running. I love the majestic way it orbits and works so quietly. It’s such a pleasure to use.
Here’s a video of the press running. I love the majestic way it orbits and works so quietly. It’s such a pleasure to use.
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I've done a new print this week. I was hiking with family out here and took this snapshot. It kept calling to me, so I dropped my other projects for the moment and just saw this one on through. I've been wanting to do more storytelling and narrative in my work (as opposed to the pure landscapes I'm also always drawn to), and this just presented itself. I so see myself at that age in the total absorption in a magic place. Bridges still feel magical to me, and I would have also (and still do sometimes) just plop down to drink it all in. This one feels special enough that I went ahead and put it up in my online store, though I won't be shipping prints until I get home in late July and print this on my press. (If there's a birthday or other celebration earlier, I can do one or two out here with my wooden spoon, but I'm definitely missing my press and my regular paper doing all this print work away from home.)
I've included a couple of process shots below, since it's always fun to see the backstage view of making art.
I've included a couple of process shots below, since it's always fun to see the backstage view of making art.
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I came west fully intending to use the time here for illustration and for watercolor immersion. Then I kept stepping outside and looking at the trees, and suddenly I have a flood of prints in my head. Since I'm more or less on vacation and don't have any particular deadlines, I'm free to do the work that is calling to me most insistently at the moment, so I've been doing prints the last week. I've done two tiny ones, since I don't have big supplies out here, but I'm also laying out several larger ones and waiting for big linoleum to arrive in the mail for me. Above is one of the little 5x7" two block prints. I've been testing it in different colors, but the deep blue/purple of the sky is what I saw when I stepped outside with Mr. Darcy at bedtime and is what inspired the print.
The other small print is from our near daily walk on the Cascade Trail. It's an old railway bed that is now a gravel trail for walkers, cyclists, and horses. I love how quiet it is, with no traffic to contend with (once we cross the highway to get on it, anyway). The trees often form an archway over it (another forthcoming print) but at the open end near home, you get a stunning view of Sauk Mountain. I'm color testing this one as well, but in a more subtle way. I think I like the gradated sky instead of the solid one.
I originally planned the mountain to be solid blue, which is how it seemed the day this view really spoke to me. Since you can't put anything back once you carve it away, I've been leaving some green in it, just to see if I want the depth, but it's too messy looking, and I think I'm just going to clear it out of there and let the mountain recede into blue distance.
These blocks are new for me since I'm not keeping the full frame around them but simply carving more organic shapes. That makes them harder to print, since the edges want to catch some ink even when they're cut down, and I don't have a press out here, so I'm back to my wooden spoon, and things can move a little more that way. It's fun to play, but I mostly prefer keeping my prints with a frame for both visual reasons and for practicality. The bigger ones I'm starting will be a little more traditional, but I must say I'm pleased with how these two are turning out if I can get clean prints from them.
These blocks are new for me since I'm not keeping the full frame around them but simply carving more organic shapes. That makes them harder to print, since the edges want to catch some ink even when they're cut down, and I don't have a press out here, so I'm back to my wooden spoon, and things can move a little more that way. It's fun to play, but I mostly prefer keeping my prints with a frame for both visual reasons and for practicality. The bigger ones I'm starting will be a little more traditional, but I must say I'm pleased with how these two are turning out if I can get clean prints from them.
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I've done a couple of counter top sketches lately. My best friend Jill brought me some daisies from her garden for our regular tea date last week, and I loved the curvy stems. I'm also still really enjoying playing around with the new green ink.
I also got my copy of the Book of Common Worship in the mail. It was marvelous to hold it and see the illustrations in the book and how beautifully the design of the whole thing came together. It took me a few days to get to it (during show week), but I really wanted to mark that moment in my sketch journal for looking back on it in later years. I bought a little pink bubbly to celebrate (I got hooked on rose in France last year) and did a sketch.
I also got my copy of the Book of Common Worship in the mail. It was marvelous to hold it and see the illustrations in the book and how beautifully the design of the whole thing came together. It took me a few days to get to it (during show week), but I really wanted to mark that moment in my sketch journal for looking back on it in later years. I bought a little pink bubbly to celebrate (I got hooked on rose in France last year) and did a sketch.
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Darel Snodgrass at WKNO fm was nice enough to have me on the air again this morning for his daily interview show Checking on the Arts. I was mostly there to talk about next week's Night Vision show at Playhouse on the Square (opening Friday, May 4th from 5:30 to 7:00), but I went in with a whole list of current projects, and we covered all of them. It's fun to go in and get to talk about what I do, when I spend most of my work time by myself in my house (except for my studio helper Mr. Darcy, of course).
And for a little bit of eye candy, here's a recent sketch of my new favorite drink that I haven't posted yet.
And for a little bit of eye candy, here's a recent sketch of my new favorite drink that I haven't posted yet.
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I realized I showed the two color prints here in process but didn’t update on the final layer. These are reprints from a year or two ago, but they haven’t been shown here lately. I finished the edition of the phlox (there are 30 in each edition, and I tend to print 10-12 at a time since they’re so complex), and I’ll have one more printing of the trees and lake when these are gone.
I’m also working on a new black and white print for my nocturne exhibit. I’m going to try printing it on a few different papers, but it’s pretty much finished as is. I had fun playing with the tall, thin format again. I did one this shape for my Sacre Coeur print a few years ago and really liked the shape.
I’m also working on a new black and white print for my nocturne exhibit. I’m going to try printing it on a few different papers, but it’s pretty much finished as is. I had fun playing with the tall, thin format again. I did one this shape for my Sacre Coeur print a few years ago and really liked the shape.
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It’s National Poetry Month, and Independent Bookstore Day is coming up this Saturday. I’m celebrating both my creating my first poetry broadside. I saw some in Parnassus Books last month, and I’ve been thinking about them ever since. It’s neat to get to create an image or two to go with a poem and print it along with the poem itself. I love having type to be able to do this. As it happened, I was at a poetry reading at Burke’s Books here in Memphis soon after my Parnassus visit, and one of th owners is also a writer and a poet. He asked if I would be interested in trying my hand at broadsides, so it seemed like the stars lined up. I carved and printed the blocks a week or so ago, but then an out of town trip and a show got me busy, so I didn’t manage the type until today. That was a fast and easy printing, compared to two blocks of different colors that were difficult to get proper coverage on. My press was built for type, which is a very small amount of black and a lot of open white space. My blocks are darker and take a lot more pressure. It was pure pleasure printing the type today. They’ll dry a couple of days, and I’ll have them to Burke’s before the weekend celebration.
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I've been a printing machine lately. I've got shows coming, and I'm out of several popular prints, so I've been reprinting these this week. Each print is three blocks, so it's a three day process to print each, with overnights for drying in between.
I'm also doing way more typesetting than usual. I'm doing my first poetry broadside for Corey Mesler, who owns Burke's Books here and who is also a writer. It's a fun project for National Poetry Month, and the one I chose (he sent me a selection) happily goes with my nocturne show as well.
I'm also doing way more typesetting than usual. I'm doing my first poetry broadside for Corey Mesler, who owns Burke's Books here and who is also a writer. It's a fun project for National Poetry Month, and the one I chose (he sent me a selection) happily goes with my nocturne show as well.
It's nice to get a two for one. I'd like to do several more, so we'll see how many I can do before I leave my printing press for the next few months.
I'm also, very uncharacteristically, doing a little bit of job printing. I'm not in the business of wedding invitations and the like, since I'd rather make my own art, and I don't have all the spacers, and I'm an incredibly slow type setter. My letterpress fairy godmother gave me some spacers, though, and a couple of dear-to-me folks are getting married, so it seemed the thing to do. It's actually lovely to be involved when I care about the people. Makes it special.
I'm also, very uncharacteristically, doing a little bit of job printing. I'm not in the business of wedding invitations and the like, since I'd rather make my own art, and I don't have all the spacers, and I'm an incredibly slow type setter. My letterpress fairy godmother gave me some spacers, though, and a couple of dear-to-me folks are getting married, so it seemed the thing to do. It's actually lovely to be involved when I care about the people. Makes it special.
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Here is. The carving process. The top right is the earliest, with just the moon and stars cut out to print the sky. Once I had the skies printed, I could carve down to the tree. Before putting the tree on the good backgrounds, I proofed it a few times on newsprint to make sure it looked like I wanted it to, carved a little, proofed it again, etc. Finally when I had it ready, I went ahead and printed on the sky backgrounds.
I finished a new print for my letterpress. I haven’t done too many prints on it, mostly note cards, since it doesn’t do big images well. It was made for type, and my blocks have a huge amount more dark space and much less white, which means it’s hard to get enough pressure across a full dark surface to print it evenly. I had mostly given up for several years after getting it, but it occurred to me fairly recently that it would be a lot easier to print smaller blocks on the treadle press instead of inking each by hand and carrying the plate and paper together to the proof press. So I started thinking of designs where the foibles of the bigger press would be an asset.
I’ve been thinking about nocturnes a lot lately, and it occurred to me that a dark tree against a dark sky would work better (be more visible) if the sky were not fully dark. The mottled printing texture would be great. I also have wanted to try a reduction print. Usually I do separate blocks for each color in a multi color print, but I thought if I’m locking a block into the metal chase to put it in the press, that would hold it steady and secure if I could leave it in there to print, so my blocks wouldn’t have trouble lining up.
For a reduction, you carve a bit, and then print, and then carve more before printing the second color. The upside is the block stays steady. The downside is that you can’t proof it with both colors and then adjust. You’ve already committed and printed the first color and gone past the point of no return.
I’ve been thinking about nocturnes a lot lately, and it occurred to me that a dark tree against a dark sky would work better (be more visible) if the sky were not fully dark. The mottled printing texture would be great. I also have wanted to try a reduction print. Usually I do separate blocks for each color in a multi color print, but I thought if I’m locking a block into the metal chase to put it in the press, that would hold it steady and secure if I could leave it in there to print, so my blocks wouldn’t have trouble lining up.
For a reduction, you carve a bit, and then print, and then carve more before printing the second color. The upside is the block stays steady. The downside is that you can’t proof it with both colors and then adjust. You’ve already committed and printed the first color and gone past the point of no return.
Even with the block in a steady place, I still lost some prints when the paper moved on me. I ended up with an edition of 28 on 9x11” paper. It was a good learning process for me, but I still think I prefer doing separate blocks so I can color test ahead of time and get the colors just right.