Eight Male Nudes

This is a set of 8 white line woodcuts (Provincetown prints) I made depicting a male figure. Each image is approximately 4" x 4" printed on 120 lb. watercolor paper using watercolor paints. I'll probably print a lot more of them trying out different color combinations. 

Summer Camp Kids' Monotype Prints

These are some Monotype prints my 3rd grade summer camp kids made. They used Blick's water-based block printing ink and painted on plexiglass before printing by hand.

More Summer Camp Kids' Relief Prints

These are some collograph prints my 3rd-5th grade summer camp kids made. We used scratch foam and Blick's water-based block printing ink.

"Sunflower"

I made this for a print exchange: [Baren] Exchange #65. The image is 8" x 12.5" and the paper is 10" x 15". It is printed in oil-based ink on Sulphite block printing paper. I made an edition of 23 for the exchange. 

I had some wood blocks lying around that have very difficult grain to work with. The soft parts of the wood fleck out very easily, while the tough parts are extremely difficult to carve. So it's hard to get fine details. I decided to bring out the grain more and create a very busy composition with lots of varied mark-making. The subject of a flower from my garden seemed appropriate for that style. I'm rather pleased with how it turned out.

Dinosaur Screen Prints

It took over six months, but I finally got back to Maryland to do some more screen printing with my friend and fellow artist C. W. Brooks. Last time I did studies of ammonites. This time, another group of creatures that died out in the K-T Extinction: dinosaurs. 

This is related to what I was working on last time because it is preparatory work for a new book project: The Nautilus and the Ammonite, a picture book based on this anonymously-written poem. It tells the tale of two friends who float, swim, and witness wonders together. Tragically, the ammonite passes away, leaving the nautilus to continue on alone, hoping someday to be reunited. It is a moving narrative that opens many avenues of thought that I long to explore through visual imagery. 

Back in December the idea of making a book was still a mere notion. But I applied for residencies to begin serious work on the project and was accepted to the Sunny Point Artist-In-Residence program through the Arts Center of Yates County.  For ten days in September, I'll be devoting nearly every waking moment to developing the story board and first finished imagery for this new book. Exciting, no? 


Anyway, clearly there must be some dinosaurs in this book, at least in the background, as it is set during the Cretaceous. Plus it will be a picture book and children love dinosaurs. Come to think of it, who doesn't love dinosaurs? 

Roar. 



This last photo is of Brooks cleaning up. The canvas hat keeps hair out of their screenprints.

Summer Camp Kids' Relief Prints

These are some three color reduction prints my 3rd and 4th grade summer camp kids made. We used scratch foam and Blick's water-based block printing ink.

I'm partial to the baked goods myself.

A Moment By Pamela Wilder Hurst

NOTE: This print was "Untitled," and the title of this blog post is a play on the title of the exhibition where I encountered this work of art.

I'm teaching summer camp again this year at the Community Arts Center in Wallingford, and last week I happily caught the tail end of the exhibition Moments, featuring paintings by Sally Paynter and (most interesting for me) black and white relief prints by Pamela Wilder Hurst.

Most of Hurst's stark imagery captured an interaction between two people. And while this image is a moment of affection, a number of the others caught more disturbing, even violent interactions. I loved the juxtaposition of these two extremes. That, combined with the drama of pure black and white, and the rough and expressive details (such as the aged and heavy hand in this print) bestowed emotional weight to the whole body of prints exhibited. I found myself seriously contemplating old cliches such as the thin line between love and hate and the inevitable sadness that comes with time and change. But much relief came in the form of the formal delicacy of Hurst's drawing style.

I couldn't find more information about this artist anywhere, and apparently I just missed her when she came to pick up her work from the gallery while I was working with my students. But if anyone know her or more about her work, let me know.