HOWLING AT THE MOON

The internet and email, what a concept! I had a person contact me by email asking about one of my linocuts. A friend of his had seen the print I did of Django Reinhardt and told him about it. He is now purchasing my second to last print of the edition. Not like doing an art show. They live in Texas!!

SECOND BLOCK

Last night I printed the second block of my new linocut. I'll do some reduction cuts on this one (as well as the third block) and print it again in darker reds.

OLYMPICS

Enough with the Olympics already. It's starting to spill over into my everyday life. Last night Teri (my wife) said "I hope that was your short program"!

THREE BLOCK LINO

I have started a new linocut and pulled prints from the first (background) block. Also started cutting the second block which will be the flower. The third and last block will be of the hummingbird and will be done with the reduction process. I ran this first block through my press to try and keep an even inking. The others will probably be done with a baren.

STILL DIGGING OUT

We are still digging out from all the snow we received over the past few weeks and now more is due tonight and through the weekend. It has been a very long winter. I'm really looking forward to the summer, sailing and doing other warm things on the water.

This is a multi-block linocut I did called 'Along the Mississippi'. It's 7"X9" on Japanese Gampi paper. Thinking that it would be nice to be there right now!

SO MANY ARTISTS

I am not a very social person and tend to stay within my own small world, but one of the benefits I have gained from writing this blog is communication and information from other people who enjoy art in its many forms. One such person, one that follows my meandering posts, mentioned some great things on display at the Pacini Lubel Gallery in Seattle. Of special interest to me are the ceramic sculptures by Wanxin Zhang. I really love both the subjects and the texture of the pieces. I have done a few sculptures in wood, and made a couple of attempts with clay, so I have a great appreciation of work such as Zhang's.

http://www.pacinilubel.com/artists/zhang.html

AKUA INTAGLIO

I studied art in both high school and college, but I feel more like everything I do is self-taught. Books, DVDs plus lessons and demos on the internet are now my steady source of information and inspiration. I have used Akua Kolor inks quite a lot in my lino and woodblock prints. Now I've learned that they also have a water based intaglio ink. I ran across some great video demonstrations at this site...

http://www.waterbasedinks.com/watch-video-demos

The drypoint monoprint is something I really want to try. I've done drypoint on copper but this was on a sheet of plastic. I made this quick test print and found it fun and easy. Over the next week or so, I'll try something more ambitious.

HOME SWEET HOME

Two photos of Big Bear Lake, California. The sun has finally made an appearance and is supposed to stay around for a while. We received the most snow we've had in thirty years. A client sent the photo he took when he flew over our mountains.

TWO WORLDS

One of my best friends is spending some time in Hawaii. The picture on the left is probably what she is waking up to each day. Me, on the other hand... definitely a little different!!

JAMMIN

Finished the last cut and pulled the prints on the reduction woodblock I've been working on. I ended up with an edition of five, two of which have already been promised to teachers at the high school.

OLDER PAINTINGS

Instead of working on a new print or painting, I have used my recent time downstairs cleaning, sorting and putting things into some kind of reasonable order. Amazing what can be found hiding under stacks of things. I have quite a few attempts gone wrong, projects that I wasn't happy with. Sort of a good art paper gone bad story. In the piles I found this acrylic painting that I did in 2003 that I now find a little more pleasing.

NEW LINOCUT CONTINUED

I finished the second cut and pulled prints on the reduction Lino I've been working on. I am using linoleum that I've not tried before. Purchased it from McClains and I'm having a bit of a problem inking as it is very different from the Goldencut I have always used. I do like it though. I will do one more cut for additional detail.

YOUR FIRST PRINT

For anyone interested in the Japanese Moku Hanga (woodblock printing) technique, a Tokyo based artist named David Bull has put together a wonderful book on the subject. It is a down loadable ebook called 'Your First Print' and it is loaded with tons of information. There are audio and video clips to help with the written information. David has been doing woodblock printing for over thirty years and his wealth of experience is invaluable. http://mokuhankan.com/catalogue/0057.shtml The download is $7.50

OTHER BLOGS

A friend sent me two links to blogs that are all about art. Both are fun to peruse with lots of good information and wonderful artwork. I enjoy reading about other people and their struggles and successes with painting. http://lauraswatercolor.blogspot.com/

http://jacquelinegnott.blogspot.com/

ANOTHER LINOCUT

I have always used Blick Golden cut linoleum for my block printing. For the print I am working on right now I am using something called ArtPrint linoleum from McClains which is made in the Netherlands. I have aslo ordered Blick's Battleship linoleum. Both seem to hold detail better than the Golden.