Feels like summer!!

 We had some very hot weather over the past seven days, with high humidity and temperatures in the 90s. Finally today, it's just perfect! Sunny and much cooler with low humidity! I was able to get out in the garden for a couple hours, doing some weeding and mulching. Our perennial beds are doing very well this year!

I've also been working on a new print. The inspiration comes from a misty October day, when I took some photos of empty Adirondack chairs at Squam Lake in Holderness. I've been experimenting with stencils to block off some areas on the print.

I didn't take a picture of the first layer, which was the blue-gray water and sky, but I used the deckled edge of some heavy watercolor paper to define the sand, water, and sky.

Stencil in place(above)

Inked and ready to print (above)

Printed and drying (above)

I cut out a stencil for the trees and the reflection (above) For this step, I inked the block first and laid the stencil on top before printing. In the image below, you can see the paper being pulled back. and the stencil in place.

This shows the print in its current state.

Next, I'm going to attempt to put a layer of light gray over the trees, water and sky, to create a more misty, foggy effect. If that is successful, I'll begin working on the chairs. It's all a bit experimental, so sometimes I have to figure it out as I go along. 

Thanks for reading! Enjoy the weekend!

Mt. Desert Island Print Finished

 I hope you have enjoyed my basic tutorials showing the steps involved in the creation of a reduction block print. In my last post, I was working on a landscape of a favorite view on Mt. Desert Island, in the small town of Manset, Maine.

To finish this print, I added more contrast in the values of both the foreground plants, and the background trees. I think that creates more definition and depth. There is a limit to how many layers of Akua inks can be built up on the paper (Rives Light), and I think adding any more would not benefit the image.

Manset, Mt. Desert Island, Maine

The weather has still been on the blustery side, lots of windy days, and cold temperatures. The other day, a couple of my friends and I took a short hike at the Urban Forestry Center in Portsmouth, NH. It's funny to see how quickly the snow has disappeared near the seacoast, and we found we had to put crampons on our boots, as certain areas were very icy. In spite of the cold, we bundled up, and enjoyed the blue sky, and views of the wetlands and woods. Since last April, despite the pandemic, we have tried to find places to hike and explore, once a week or so. Getting out and enjoying nature has really been an emotional boost during the past year!

Partially frozen pond at the Urban Forestry Center

Looking forward to forecasted warmer weather next week. March came in like a lion, I hope it goes out like a lamb!

April Showers

Yay it's April! Must be Spring! Too bad there's a chance of snow this week, and nothing above 50 degrees in the near future. Of course I shouldn't be surprised as this happens every year. We get excited about warmer weather, and then disappointed when the cold weather hangs on longer than anyone wants. Tomorrow is Opening Day at Fenway Park in Boston, and our beloved Red Sox will be playing on a windy, sunny day with temperatures in the 40's. Go Sox!!

I have been working on a different mermaid print. For this print, I painted a black background with acrylic paint, inked up the plate with Speedball ink, and printed it over the black base. I added a variety of colors using Prismacolor colored pencils over the ink.

It's considered a monotype as each print will be a little different. I like experimenting with different techniques and color schemes.

A simple little Easter card

My faithful companion who likes to hang out on my desk while I'm working on projects.

Spring Break

I'm enjoying my annual April vacation this week! I have a lot of projects to work on, so I'm trying to use my time wisely, and get things done! Aside from the mundane chores of car inspection, doctor's appointment, and Spring cleaning, I'm working on a new block print.

I'm working from a photograph of a rocky stream taken in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. It is going to be a challenge as there are multiple textures and colors. For the first layers I printed a light blue on the upper half (using wax paper to mask out the bottom area). Originally I had carved out the areas that I wanted to stay white. After printing the blue layer, I cut out the parts that needed to stay blue, and printed a light gray layer over the whole block.

Now I will carve away the areas of light gray, and make some decisions about the remaining colors. Because there is such a different color scheme on the top and bottom areas of the photograph, I may repeat the process that I did before, and work on those areas separately. I could have cut the block into two pieces and repositioned it each time I printed a layer, but I think this will work just as well. 

Block Prints

I've been experimenting with "easy-cut" blocks, and doing some reduction prints of birds. I've been working small using only 4" x 4" blocks. Here are a few of my new images of a sanderling, crow, and piping plover.