"Plum Orchard" Artists Proof

I finished off a run of proofs from the blocks I've been cutting this week.



This woodblock printing thing confounds me... I get several colors down the run, and it looks like it's all falling apart fairly quickly. Just when I think seriously about throwing in the towel and start wondering just what it is I'm trying to accomplish, I finish printing the last color and viola! it all comes together.

I've got some work to do yet: get rid of some lines on the black block and maybe, maybe cut a pale yellow block to print amongst the "white" blossoms as flower centers, but I'm really, really happy with how this turned out.

New Print: "Plum Orchard"

It was "Bring Your Spouse to Work" day a couple weeks ago at Maple Leaf Orchard, were Deb works. Since she is the only employee right now, I was the only spouse to participate. I spent the morning wandering through the plum orchards, watching the morning light stream through the blossoming trees, while Deb and Mark went to work with the bees:




I later got the key-block carved. After a marathon day of carving tiny, tiny gouges, I now have a blister on the inside of my middle finger of one hand (where it rubs against the gouge handle) and a very deep, very "V" shaped cut on the end of the other one from when it slipped and jammed straight in. Stupid, stupid! Always use the bench hook! That's what it's there for!

But, four band aids later, I also got the block cut (ignore the blood stain...):




...and even ran some proofs:



next: the fun work starts of cutting and proofing the color blocks.