"Red"

Illustration Friday "Red"

The calendar says Spring, so I thought I'd do a "springy" image for this week's topic. I'm glad Easter is 4 weeks away so there will be time for the snow to melt. My sister-in-law always has a big Easter egg hunt in her yard, and it's not as fun hiding eggs in the snow. We may get hit this Wednesday with another snowstorm---a Nor'easter, but there are warmer temperatures forecasted for next weekend, so hoping this will be it for winter weather!

Have a great week!

Odiorne print

I've been working on a new print of the rocks at Odiorne Sate Park. I've been blending colors on my brayers to get various gradients of value and color in each layer. I've finished the sky, and will be working on the colors in the rocks next. Probably 3 or 4 layers to go. I'm using a soft-cut block, Akua inks, and Rives Light printmaking paper. There is a NHAA show in Portsmouth that I'd like to enter it in if it comes out well, and I'm finished by the deadline at the end of the month.

Spring is arriving this week! Snow is still blanketing my yard, but the sun is brighter, so hopefully there will be some melting going on. The 10 day forecast shows 20's, 30's and 40's for high temperatures, with a low temperature tomorrow morning of -6 degrees. You've got to be kidding me!

"Spark"---IllustrationFriday

Illustration Friday "spark"

Who couldn't use a little spark of romance in one's life?

Still winter here!

Spring is supposed to arrive in about a week and a half, but it doesn't look it here. I took these photos today of my house and surrounding lot to chronicle how much snow we still have on the ground. It's definitely melting with the brighter, stronger March sunshine, but next week's forecast has a chance of a little more snow as a possibility. Let's hope not! 

 This is the new print that I'm working on. It will be a multiple layer reduction block print of the seacoast at Odiorne State Park. I have printed one base layer so far, and will post my progress as I continue figuring out the color sequence.

Have a great week!

Illustration Friday "Space"

IF "Space"

Enjoying the February vacation break from the classroom. I'm not doing anything too exciting this week, but I am getting a lot done around the house and in my studio. It's a treat to have time to myself and no strict agenda. I love my job, but I could definitely find enough to do if I were retired. That's a few years away, so for the present I'll enjoy these shorter respites!

Odiorne Point---NH Seacoast in winter

This could make a nice print.

Sunset Print

My latest print was inspired by a lovely sunset that I photographed on my phone while out walking in my town. This picture is a combination of four shots that I "stitched" together using an ap designed for panorama. I wanted to be able to carve out the silhouettes of the trees, stones, and hills, so I printed on a smooth black Strathmore acid-free drawing paper. I used a wide roller to create the blended background, then created the textures in the foreground by carving away some areas and printing only the bottom third of the block.

It's fun experimenting with different techniques and papers. The black paper worked ok for what I wanted, although it's hard to get the luminosity of the lighter colors. 

Twisted

Illustration Friday "twisted"

I plan on adding some watercolor to this piece, but I also like the black and white version.

Making the best of multiple snow days by working on projects. I also took some time to go snowshoeing on Saturday with one of my friends. We're getting out of school early tomorrow as there is another storm coming in the afternoon. The weather service is predicting anywhere from 4--8 inches.

I had a fun time the other day watching a very determined squirrel try to get seeds out of the squirrel-proof feeder. He kept falling off and coming back multiple times. In this picture, he looks a little irritated and ready to give me a scolding.