Blooms

It took a while for Spring to arrive, but it's finally here, and we are enjoying all the gorgeous blooming trees and shrubs. New Hampshire's state flower is the Purple Lilac, and they come in all variations of purples. I took this picture while walking around town the other day.

Everything seems to be blooming at once, and our ornamental Cherry tree had a bounty of flowers on it this year.

Also the Azaleas

Last weekend, my group of fellow printmakers hung work at the Massabesic Audubon Center. We did another event two weeks ago in Brookline NH, which got us excited about showing our work. The new show will be up until June 23. It's a great place to visit for hiking and birdwatching---they even have a live video cam of the peregrine falcon nest in Manchester. While I was there, we saw one of the parents feeding the three babies. The parent had brought what looked like a small bird back to the nest, and ripped it apart, then stuffed bits down the eager babies' gullets. A little gruesome, but fascinating to watch.

My pieces in the show.

Tried to get this little sketch done in time for last week's Illustration Friday post "hairy" but didn't make it, so will post it here. Looking forward to a day at the beach, but not on a windy day like this!

Mad River Print

I had been working on the "Mad River, Waterville Valley, NH" print for a few months, and I finally finished it. I'm happy with it now, but I wasn't feeling sure that it would come out the way I wanted. I started with some intense colors in the first layers, which I liked, but I had to make some color decisions in the middle that deviated from the actual tones in my reference photos. I got some feedback from others in my printmaking class, and I'm satisfied with the final color scheme.

Setting up for the final layer

                                                           Registering the paper

                                                                Leaving them to dry

This weekend the printmaking class is showing our work at a venue in Brookline NH!

"crown" Illustration Friday

Just a little sketch for Illustration Friday, "crown"

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.

Mermaid Print

I've been working on a Mermaid print for a while, and the final layer of ink has been printed. I did an edition of twelve full-color images, a few variations, and a black and white series, upon which I will be adding watercolor paints. Below is the finished full-color version.

Mermaid Dreams (6" x 14")

I also played around this past week with some monoprints. I had a week off from school for February Vacation, that allowed me to experiment with some different ideas and materials. 

                                            

The lighting is not the best but you can see the Gelli plate in the center, and a few variations, as well as some stencils that I cut out to make designs. I used Golden Open brand acrylic paints as they are made to be slow drying, and usable for monoprinting.

Here is one variation created with the Golden Open paints. I'm not entirely pleased with any of these prints, but they are fun to work with. This experiment led me to try making individual printing strips that I carved to look like birch trees. Below are the tree trunks made from soft-cut blocks. They are easily cut apart with an X-acto knife. I used black Akua ink for this print.

                   I used a light weight rice paper and a wooden spoon to print my design.

3 Birches (7" x 12")

I like the graphic look of the print, but I plan on doing more experimenting with the image.

It is March, and the yard is almost free of snow. The blue jays, cardinals, titmice, gold finches, sparrows, crows, nuthatches, and woodpeckers are enjoying the seeds we have been putting out all winter. Of course the squirrels are finding their fair share. The days are lighter longer, but it is still technically winter, and there will probably be a few more snowstorms before it gives up!

Illustration Friday "Olympics"

New topic for IF --Olympics

Here's a peak below of the mermaid print that I'm working on!

Hand printing with Akua inks and Easy Cut block

Illustration Friday "mythology"

Just a quick sketch for Illustration Friday. This week's word prompt is "mythology". Norse mythology came to mind, so I tried out this concept of kids in a play.

I'm home early today because of a snowstorm. We got to leave at noon, as the forecast calls for 6-10 inches overnight. There have been a lot of storms this winter so far---looking forward to Spring already!