Prints and the New Year

 2026! Happy New Year!

It's been awhile since I posted here, and updated the new projects that I've been working on.

As always the holidays were busy, and I started early to get my Christmas cards designed and completed.  My family and friends anticipate a new design each year, and some collect the snowmen cards I frequently create. This year I included a Blue Jay, and stayed with the all blue color scheme.

A variation colored with Prismacolor pencils.

The final stage of the printing plate can be used again to print the black outlines. Then when the ink has dried, I can add watercolor or colored pencils as a variation of the original.

I've also been working on another project, inspired by our vacation last summer to North Beach, NH. The houses in the photo are on Boar's Head, a little neighborhood sticking out into the ocean. On the other side of Boar's Head is Hampton Beach.

The image below is the Soft-Kut block that I started with.

The first color was a light gray layer of Akua ink, printed 16 times by hand, on Rive's BFK acid-free paper. You can see the drawing underneath, because I used a Sharpie marker to outline the pencil drawing on the block. The Sharpie keeps the drawing clear after repeated color layers and cleanings.

The next layer of ink was the blue sky.

Here are the final stages of the printing plate (below)

Below are the last two stages of the print.  

I'm still printing the final layer on the remaining prints in this edition of 16. Because of the multiple layers of ink, they will be drying on the rack for a while!

Have a happy, healthy new year! Best wishes!

Jane

Rocks on North Hampton Beach

 Summer is officially over, and I'm working on a new print inspired by the many walks I've taken on North Hampton Beach this year. I loved seeing the cairns that people would build precariously on the rocks at the end of the beach.

The beginning stages of carving out the lightest areas.

One layer of ink on the rocks, then a blended sky. I used Akua inks, Arches paper and a Soft-Kut block.

 

Adding the water. (I used a stencil to separate the rocks from the sky)

Adding some texture to the water.

Adding a bit more value to the rocks, as well as a cooler tone to some areas.

As of today, this is the state of the block. Spent quite a few hours carving away the various textures on the rocks. The next and final inking will hopefully define the darkest shadows on all the rocks.

This block is 8" x 10" and will be a hand-printed edition of 12. I'm looking forward to posting the finished image very soon!

Jane

More Rocks

 Greetings on this humid and showery day! It's been very rainy this month, and I'm looking forward to some sequential days of sunshine. Unfortunately, the extended forecast looks like more unsettled weather ahead.

I'm working on a new idea for a block print that incorporates my fascination with rocks and the seashore. This time I'm going for a close up of some colorful textured stones. I'd like to keep the colors more pure as I add the layers, so I'm experimenting with stencils for the initial colors.

Two of the shells are real (not part of the photo)

Sharpie marker over pencil on a 6" x 8" Soft-Kut block

Tracing paper stencil

Layer 1 printed using stencil (some of the marker lines show up in the first prints)

 This is what the plate looks like now. I still have a few more to print of layer 1, as this will be an edition of 16. 

No matter the weather, best wishes for a great weekend!

Jane

New Project-Rooster Print (Hawaiian Jungle Fowl)

 After our visit to Kauai in February, I decided to create a Rooster print of one of the wild chickens that I photographed on Poipu Beach. There are feral chickens all over the island. You see them at the airport, around the resorts, and on the beaches. I imagine the people who reside on the island feel about them like we do about pigeons--nuisance birds. Tourists are much more enchanted with them. I liked seeing the mother hens and chicks scuttling around the bushes, and the males parading across the beaches and popping up along the trails. 

I wanted to incorporate some of the plants from the island into the layout of the design. 

The image on the left is the drawing on tracing paper, and the image on the right is the design transferred onto the Soft-Kut 8" x 10" block. 

After using a Sharpie marker on all the lines, I began cutting away the areas that would remain white. The first layer of ink is a tannish color.

The tan layer covered the whole block.

The Sharpie transfers a bit to the paper, as well as the ink.

The next step was to carve away the areas that I wanted to remain tan.

I needed to make a stencil for the bird's red head, as I didn't want to cover the whole block with red ink, as it would interfere with the other colors that would come later.

 

The stencil worked pretty well.

I printed a yellow layer and then a light green layer, using a small bayer to keep the ink only on the plants, not the bird.

                                                    green ink                             yellow layer

The next step was to add another layer of red to the head for more definition.

I added a greenish gray for the next layer.

More carving away areas of the background before I printed a darker gray layer.

This is the current stage of the print. I plan on adding another layer to better define the feathers on the rooster's tail, and then it should be completed.

So you can see I'm keeping busy! Looking forward to April, and hopefully some warmer Spring weather!

Cascade Falls Block Print

 It's hard to believe that it is September 1st already. The summer flies by so fast, and this is my second year of not having to go back to teaching.  I miss my colleagues, and the kids, but I'm happy to be retired! I really enjoy being able to work in my studio, attend the morning classes at the gym, and have some flexibility in my schedule! 

I just started working on a new print of the Cascade Falls Trail in Waterville Valley, NH. I went hiking recently, during a weekend attending the Women's Leadership Summit, a group connected with Plymouth State University. It was a great time, and we had a lot of fun being outdoors in the beautiful White Mountains.

I just love the rocks!

This is a Soft-Kut block with Sharpie marker.

I carved out the white areas, then printed a light blue first layer.

The second layer is a light gray. 

Now I will be carving out some of the gray areas for the rocks. There are so many tones on the rocks, I'm not sure how many layers it will take to define them. I also think I'll be carving and printing the foreground rocks separately from the greens of the forest in the background.

Stay tuned! 

Lily Pad Print

 Earlier this month I included a drawing of the "lily pad" print that I had started. The block size is 6" x 8" and is a soft-cut type. Since I don't have access to a printing press right now, I've had to use that type of plate for all my recent editions. I really love the easiness of carving, but it takes a bit of elbow grease to get the quality of the prints that I want. I use a baren and a wooden spoon to get the pressure needed. 

The first layer of ink was the green of the lily pads. I cut away the white areas first, as can be seen in the photo below.

In the next step, I carved out all the lily pads.

Then I created a blue blend for the water.

Layer 2-the water

The next step was to carve away the areas of water that I wanted to remain. The last layer is a deep blue to create the illusion of reflections on the water, and to define the shadows.

Final stage of block

The finished print

I matted the print in an 11" x 14" white mat, and it's ready to be posted on my Etsy shop. 

Finally, a little pop of color in the backyard!

Happy Earth Day on the 22nd!