"Merchants, Port Said" by Ethel Spowers

Our attempts at survival are like swimming in a whirlpool. Around and around we go, and though it will eventually swallow us up, we can slow, even forget about the descent with energetic movement. And why not enjoy it, too? 

"Sunflower Series #8" by Ouida Touchón

Image used with the permission of the artist. More of Ouida Touchon's work can be found at her website.

The sunflowers have all bend and bowed, petals wilted and turned dull brown. We feel our longing for them in the chilled air and the call of hungry birds.

Kids' Relief Print Fish with Chine Colle

Last week I subbed a class at the University City Arts League and worked with a group of adorable mostly Kindergarten and 1st grade students. I had the kids rip up tissue paper and glue it to a paper as a "water" background. Then they each took a fish shape cut out of Scratch Art Scratchfoam, drew into it, and printed their fish onto the collages. It got sort of chaoic in class and at one point they started printing on each  others' collages, with wonderful results.

Monster Figure Reductions by 4th Graders

These are 2 layer reductions using Scratch Art Scratch foam made by 4th graders at the Community Partnership School. They printed the silhouette of a "monster" figure in black, then added details and printed again in white. I love these on the different colored paper. 

Collograph Faces by 1st Graders

These are collograph faces made by my 1st graders at the Community Partnership School. The kids have been looking at African Masks and talking about the differences between organic and geometric shapes as well as texture and patterns. For this project I gave them foam pieces, lace, yarn, cardboard, and bubble wrap and instructed them to make a collage of a face. They then printed their faces in black block printing ink on different colored sheets of paper. I love how abstract these turned out. The kids had a lot of fun making them too. 

Malachy Award for 2017 NINH

I won the Malachy Award for originality in this year's Naked In New Hope exhibition at Sidetracks Gallery for this white line woodcut: "Asleep In the Chair." One of the Gallery owners though it was very Matisse. Small cash award and a nice line for the resume.

"Subcommittee" by Joan Drew

Feathered mosaic
Tree beset with so many
Personalities

"Night Owl" by Yoshijiro Urushibara

Night is not just for those who appreciate darkness.

Night is also for those who appreciate a more precise and restrained application of light.

"Barn Owl" by Betsy Bowen

Betsy Bowen is one of my favorite printmakers, and I've featured her before on this blog. This image was used with her permission. If you fall in love with it, she sells the originals and reproductions at her website, here, along with many other stunning prints.

Bowen has illustrated several books including one written by Laura Erickson and titled Twelve Owls (I found out about that book after I named my own 12 Owls project.)

I feel this is a more fathomable Barn Owl than the one I posted about earlier this week. This creature leans down either to inspect or search. Though it is beautiful and clandestine, it is also an animal with basic needs and instinctual behaviors.

"Memento Mori" (for Aubrey)

This is my latest white line woodcut. It was created in memory of my cat Aubrey, the most awesome cat in the universe, who passed at the beginning of the summer. An edition of 20 was printed for Baren Forum Exchange #74. It is hand printed with a wooden spoon with watercolors on 90 lb cold press watercolor paper.

Having slept, the cat gets up,
yawns, goes out to make love.
-Kobayashi Issa