"Musk Ox" (2021 Year of the Ox)

 

My Year of the Ox print for a card exchange with Baren Forum. This is a 2 layer reduction on Kraft card stock. It depicts an arctic musk ox.

Given that these are hard times (pandemic, global warming, worsening economic and other disparities) the musk ox seemed a good species to celebrate 2021. They are wild animals that live in the harshest conditions. They live in herds and the strongest among them protect the weakest. We could take some inspiration from these noble beasts. 

This is my 4th year participating in  New Year's Exchanges with the Baren Forum for Woodblock Printmaking. Here are my prints from previous years' trades: 

Year of the Rat, 2020
Year of the Pig, 2019 
Year of the Dog. 2018 

"Faolan"

 

"Faolan" 
8" x 10" 
Woodcut with chine-collé
Unique print 

This a commemorative wood block print of a friend's dog that passed away within the last year. I only met this sweet dog once, but really enjoyed his company. He lived with Lucy, who also passed away a few months ago. I managed to snap a good photo of Faolan and used it as a reference for this print. I decided on chine-collé to capture the mottled colors in his fur. 

all his sweet and shaggy life,
always near me, never troubling me,
and asking nothing.

-Pablo Neruda 

Groundhog Day 2021

It's Groundhog Day, and that means my annual Groundhog Day card. This one is a woodcut pop-up card, the background printed on kraft brown cardstock and the groundhog printed on cream colored Stonehenge paper. 

This year's protagonist stands in an open field on a cloudy day, looking off into the distance. Rather than making a clear decision in this moment, they ponder the unknown. Indeed at this start of 2021, it feels very much as if the world is in a transitional phase, and it is less clear than usual what comes next. 

This is my 7th annual Groundhog Day card. If you'd like to see the previous years' designs, here are the links.

Groundhog Day 2014 
Groundhog Day 2015 (I skipped 2016)
Groundhog Day 2017
Groundhog Day 2018 
Groundhog Day 2019
Groundhog Day 2020 

"Paco"

 

"Paco" 
8" x 8"
2 layer reduction woodcut with hand coloring 
Unique print 

This a commemorative wood block print of my parents dog Paco. As a puppy, Paco was dumped on a farm. He had Parvovirus and would have died had it not been for the kindness of the couple at Artcroft Creative Center who found him. They gave him to me to give to my parents. Paco passed away last month after a long happy life with doting humans, many walks, runs, swims, road trips and cozy naps. He was sweet and stubborn and oh so shaggy. Paco will be missed by many who loved him.

"Incalescence"

 

This is a print for Baren Forum exchange No. 83. The theme was COLOR FIELD. It is 6” x 14”, water based relief ink in 2 layers on white Bristol paper. 

Untitled (Created for the 2020 Emerald Print Exchange at Whiteaker Printmakers)

 

Untitled 
5" x 7" 
Woodcut 
Oil based ink on grey Stonehenge paper 
Open edition of 12 plus 6 artist proofs 

I created this print for this year's Emerald Print Exchange at Whiteaker Printmakers. All works from that exchange can be viewed online here. 

"The Wedding" Re-created

 

I re-created "The Wedding" print from my book "Owl and Cat In Love" recently. Click here to see the original. This new version is a 5 layer reduction and only an edition of 2. It was special made for a collector. It's also the mirror image of the original because I drew the image directly on the block.

It was definitely an interesting experience to re-create a print I first made 7 years ago. When I started, I really didn't want to do it. It felt like forcing myself to do something that I'd long moved on from. But about halfway through I kind of got into it. It felt a bit like visiting a place from my past that I don't go to anymore and that has changed, but of which I had very fond memories. 

Not that I want to do this again. It took a long time, and I am generally way more interested in finding time for my current projects, especially since my studio time is so limited. But yeah, glad I did this once just for the experience.