Check out my first post highlighting prints from Baren Print Exchange #67 here.
I knew right away that I had to feature these two prints together in the same post, but it's hard to articulate exactly why that is. They both evoke a calm and comforting effect on me while, oddly enough, simutaneously causing me to imagine myself as a rat in a maze.
The first print featured here is "Natator Scene" by Achim Nicklis.
We're at the center of the universe, and everything has its place, and all the pieces fit together nice and neat, except it doesn't, not really, not exactly, and then we see the ripples, feel the flow, and hear a quiet but constant hum. We notice the imperfections in the lines and move a little more carefully, and after a few moments take in the startling realization that we will never be in this spot ever again, as it is fading away even as we float here watching and wondering.
The second print featured here is "Start Somewhere" by Brad Ladwig.
The real path is not linear. Some of these walls are solid, but others will crumble if we only put some effort into knocking them down.
This is a part 1 of 2, highlighting a few of my favorite prints from [Baren] Exchange #63. I wrote about my print for this exchange - In the Tent With Bunny - last month. The technique for this exchange was "Moku-hanga in the tradition of Japanese printmaking". The theme was open. The paper size was 7.5" x 10".
Today I spotlight three landscapes that I especially enjoyed. Also, as is pretty common on this blog, everybody gets a haiku.
This first print is The Mountain Is Out! by Achim Nicklis. In his comments he mentioned that it is Mt Rainier as seen during nice weather in Seattle. I love the simplicity of the composition, including the full bleed printing and the texture in the sky and mirrored in the water. Those who want to see more of his prints can check out the [Baren] exchange archives.
It's a big, wide world
With far-flung oceans and skies.
I focus on you.
This second print is Painted Village by Anne van Oppen, which I was drawn to in no small way because I'm venturing more into white line printmaking myself. She used watercolors and painted/printed each section one at a time, in true Provincetown printmaking fashion. She also has some wonderful printmaking demonstration videos in collaboration with Lisa Toth which can be viewed on YouTube.
I watch the houses
Such happy colors
This is the way life should be
The third print is Moon Setting Over Red Barn by Bridget Pilip Murphy. I love the colors used for the layers of landscape receding back and the balance between the moon and barn. It is relaxing for me to look at this image.
Rainbow horizon
Seems the earth is a body
With curves like my own
These are three prints by other artists who also participated in [Baren] Exchange #62. I wrote about the print I made for this exchange back in October. It was my first trade through [Baren], an international forum for woodblock printmakers. The prints I received were all wonderful (featured here are just my three absolute favorites) and many are destined to end up framed and on the walls of my house. I am eager to receive my prints from exchange #63 and to participate in future exchanges.
This first linocut is Lake Lookalike by Achim Nicklis. Many more of Nicklis's wonderful prints can be found in the [Baren] exchange archives.
Light rakes down, and yet
The image resides inside
The seer's stilled mind
The second is a Japanese-style woodblock print titled Texting by George Jarvis. In addition to being beautifully executed, the reference to both modern technology in our everyday lives and the moku hanga tradition of depicting "beautiful women", often nude and in a domestic scene, made me smile. A friend of mine suggested it should have been titled Sexting.
Mind and fingers race
Words on a screen, and
It is as if you are here
This third print, a 2 block linocut, is Backyard by Clive Lewis, who you can learn all about on his website here.
Jumble heaves a sigh, while
Structures settle and sink
A white shirt dangles
The second print featured here is "Start Somewhere" by Brad Ladwig.
