Christmas Kitty

Been working on a few Christmas cards... I had so much fun using my 'crafty sewing machine' to sew the prints to the cards. They were feeling a little bland so borders were added - made of paper and some are fabric. There are a few more images to come (drying in the studio) but these landed in the shop tonight. Happy hump day!

PS Got some good news today... I'm having an April solo show in 'Twilight country'...

Port Angeles, WA! Yay! Best part - lots of friends and family that live in the area.

Enough With the Cards...

I had so many duds last time I printed these cards on sheet music I did it over and came out with a lot of good ones... these will end up around town and in the etsy shop. OK, I promise this is the last post about Christmas cards for this year!!

The last of the Christmas Cards...

Finally started feeling better today and finished printing up the Christmas cards after a trip to the art store for more paper. It's Murphy's law... the paper I've been using (Canson colorline) is being discontinued, arg. Anyway, when the time came to print... I used a bit of the paper I bought and then thought these would look great on sheet music or old book paper. There are some in the etsy shop now and the rest will go to a great book shop downtown and possibly a gallery.

Night Printing

shadow print

The 'duds'

Last night I finally got to a point where it was time to print, yay! The ink didn't start flying til after 10pm... and there was a fly in the ointment. My little boy is a night owl and came down a few times to help me turn the wheel during the printing process. When my back was turned... he messed with the pressure adjustments and suddenly, the wood was sliding away from the paper... etc. Lucky for him it was later, after he'd gone to bed that I'd realized what happened!

Anyway, after that problem passed... I finally ended the night around 1am. Lots o' cards were printed (I plan on putting them in assortment packs) and 2 of the new 'shadow' works were printed on colored paper in colored inks. More on that project in the coming days!

Christmas Card Plans

A preliminary crayon rubbing

These are some of the woodblocks I've been carving for Xmas cards. I've never really done holiday cards before -except for collage cards. It's hard not to be too sentimental, predictable etc. Amazing how some things that seem like they'll be simple end up being more complicated than you'd planned. Ultimately, I wanted to make something fresh and different! I'm planning on some bright colors come printing time... fun! These will land in my etsy shop and and a few local shops.

ps - today's the last day of the fiber art sale in my Etsy shop... take a look!

A Boat's Progress

Putting Out the Crab Pots

A few nights ago I had a chance to do a bit more painting... it's getting harder to get down there and keep 'the flow' going! I'm really eager to work more on these two!

Now, I've just realized there are needle-felted ornaments to be made for a gallery that has an 'artist-ornament' event every year after Thanksgiving... wish I would've remember earlier - I have no idea yet what I'm making. Plus, I want to design, carve and print at least 4 different woodcuts for Christmas cards. (for the etsy shop and a few galleries and a great, local bookstore.) Better get drawing first thing tomorrow!

Practice, Practice, Practice

Confession - I love doing calligraphy. I took numerous classes from the fabulous Carol Du Bosch while living in Portland, OR. Whenever I practice or do a calligraphy project, I can hear her words about how to form the letters, picture her demonstrating in class and warning us that not practicing religiously was simply unacceptable. What an outstanding teacher she was, I miss her!

So, I set up the writing table, opened my ink and got to practicing. Right now I'm reviewing pointed italic. I'm hoping to make a few Christmas gifts (books) and maybe even do a Christmas card and print it on the Gocco printer. (that is if I can produce some decent lettering - it really takes a commitment to get back up to par!)