"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 words 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. 

"Lucy"

 

"Lucy" Woodcut Gamblin ink on Cream-colored Stonehenge 8" x 12" (block), 10" x 15" (paper) This a commemorative wood block print of an absolutely wonderful dog named Lucy. She recently passed away after a long, joyful life with her human who is a good friend of mine. Many good memories of this dog who had a calm, friendly personality (although she definitely knew how to tell off my old dog Choban when he got a little too into her personal space) and the softest fur. She is remembered fondly and missed by many.

"Sub Rise"

 

6" x 6" (image), 9" x 9" (paper)
3 layer reduction linocut
Oil-based ink (Gamblin)
Edition of 6

This is a print made to celebrate the latest birth of a child in my extended family. This new baby boy is my cousin's second child, and so I made his print as a companion piece to "Sky Ship" - a print I made for his big brother 5 years ago. Since that print featured sea creatures (flying fish) and a boat  in the sky, I decided to do an underwater scene but with creatures moving toward the light and the surface. In the other print a figure stands at the port of a sailboat, and here a figure looks out from the window of a toy-like submarine. Both images mean to depict a brightly colored world of possibilities and longing for discovery. 

The sea! the sea! the open sea! The blue, the fresh, the ever free! Without a mark, without a bound, It runneth the earth's wide regions round! It plays with the clouds; it mocks the skies; Or like a cradled creature lies. I'm on the sea! I'm on the sea! I am where I would ever be; With the blue above, and the blue below, And silence wheresoe'er I go; If a storm should come and awake the deep, What mater? I shall ride and sleep.                           From "The Sea" by Barry Cornwall

"California's Convict Firefighters" (Wages U.S.A.)

 

California's Convict Firefighters 
Woodcut 
8" x 6" 
Artist Proof  

This is the start of a new book project: Wages U.S.A. It's partially inspired by Helen West Heller's Woodcuts U.S.A., which I wrote about 5 years ago on this blog. Mine is going to be a series of 36 prints depicting Americans engaged in various occupations.

The prints will be separated into 3 sections, 1. No Wage, 2. Low Wage, 3. Living Wage. This print would go in the second section as it illustrates prison inmates doing paid work, but they are paid considerably less than minimum wage for their labor. Convicts have worked as firefighters in California for decades, often part of emergency response teams.