A week of work

I finally got a break in between shows and hot, hot weather to get some studio work done. It's too hot to work in the indoor studio on the 3rd floor of the house, and the outside studio isn't insulated, so it get's pretty warm (and humid!) out there, too. So it was with great relief that I took advantage of the gorgeous weather we've been having to get some work done with the Dickerson out in the shed.

I've been printmaking under the name of Trout Lily Studios for some time now, so I thought it time to print an image of some Trout Lily's. It's hard to get a decent image to work with, because the flowers tend to look straight down. But I got some good ones to work with this spring, and of our less than abundant yellow ones, too boot.



I decided to go with a reduction on these, to go along with the Trillium I did several years ago. It came out "interesting"; I'm fairly happy with it.

I also printed an image that's been swimming around in my head this summer, that of a Bee on a Purple Cone Flower.



This is a multi-block print, done in the Japanese style Moku Hanga. Again, there's things I don't like about it, but I'm finding myself really liking the colors. The nice thing about these types of prints is that I can work with them more until I'm satisfied: add a block, change colors, etc.

Finally, tonight I finished up the key block for another Moku Hanga print, this of a Dragonfly:



I'm really liking this image - very simple, but very elegant. I cut up the rough color blocks, and will be carving them and proofing them this week. Stay tuned!

Progress on New Reduction print

After some consultation with some fellow printmakers on the WetCanvas forum, I decided to go ahead and repair the offending block that split on me.

I first forced as much Gorilla Glue into the crack as I could using a toothpick, clamped it, and spent the next hour wiping any excess glue that foamed out of the crack (as per instructions...):

The patch job held, and I was able to print two more colors, a darker blue, and a light purple:

Agfter washing and a bit of air-drying, I see another crack has opened up, near where the original is/was. Back to the Gorilla Glue and clamp.....

What a PITA! At least, judging by the 5 colors I've printed so far, I'm confident this is going to be a worthwhile print.

Gray's Sporting Journal Fly Fishing Edition Cover

I got home this afternoon to find that a package of these had arrived:



such a deal!

I produced "Sun, Moon, Stars, Mayflies" several years ago, in an edition of 28; as of tonight, I have 0 left (!)

I've sold several, have gifted several to very special friends, and have donated a couple to the likes of the Kiap-TU-Wish chapter of Trout Unlimited. Since I produced this print using the reduction method of wood block printing, I cannot print anymore; I still have the block, but all that is left on it is the black outline. I may produce another similar print in the future (and as a matter of fact, the piece "Four Seasons" was inspired by this print) but this is it for this particular print.

I do not produce ink-jet reproductions (or giclee's) of my work (other than greeting cards - but that is another matter...), since I believe it would run counter-intuitive to my work of printmaking. With this in mind, it's always good to remind everyone that these are indeed truly, very limited editions in the most limited sense of the word!

Reduction disaster

midway through printing the first color of the latest reduction I started over the weekend, the plate developed a crack:



I think I'll be able to live with it, but I'm afraid it's getting bigger. And of course, washing it over and over will only make it worse. I'm debating on weather I should finish what's started and pry it apart, and then print two plates, or just leave it and see where it goes (it might be interesting...)

anyway, it's going to be a nice print, I think. Pretty inauspicious now, but with only two colors, I can't expect much.



I'm using Daniel Smith ink for the first time, and I think I like it - it rolls out nicely, has ample working time, mixes well and prints suprisingly easy with hand burnishing. I'm printing on 250gsm Ivory Revere paper; pretty thick for hand burnishing, but like I said, it's printing without any undue effort on my part.