Pollinators Gallery

 Here are all the linocuts hand-colored with watercolors I created for the Pollinators 2020 Calendar I've just published. 

Thanks to everyone who purchased the calendar and original artwork through the Indiegogo Campaign! I raised $1310, 109% of the set goal. Without your support this calendar couldn't have been published. 

"Wasp and Tulip Tree Flower"

"Mosquito and Bog Orchid"

"Bluebottle Fly and Skunk Cabbage"

"Hummingbird and Cardinal Flower"

“Gerbil and Hedgehog Lily”

"Nectar Bat and Agave"

"Painted Lady and Aster"

"Human Hand and Vanilla Blossom"

"Bumble Bee and Sunflower"

“Gecko and Metrosideros”

"Monkey Beetle and Ice Plant"

"Honey Bee and Clematis"

Pollinators 2020 Calendar Art

This is all 12 of the hand-colored woodcuts for my Pollinators 2020 Calendar. I made the work in the spring of this year. Each is 12" x 12", although they are each made from a 6" x 6" block that is rotated around the square four times. The presale campaign for the calendars and associated artwork is live through Nov. 14, 2019. Check it out!

The Nautilus and the Ammonite Pre-Sale Campaign is Launched!

Almost three years in the making and now The Nautilus and the Ammonite Pres-sale Campaign is LIVE! For those who don't know about it, check out the video above. I have 6 weeks to raise funds needed to print a first edition of 500. Check it out and please share with any potentially interested friends through email, Facebook, Twitter, word of mouth, etc. - it all helps. Thanks so much! 

12 Owls Gallery

African Wood Owl

 Here are all the linocuts for the 12 Owls Project I've just completed. The original artwork as well as signed color wall calendars and black and white coloring/keepsake booklets are being offered at a discount through this Indiegogo campaign through Nov. 6. All pre-orders will be filled by the first week of December in time for the gift-giving season.

Please share this campaign through social media and to whoever you think might be interested. The best method for reaching new fans and collectors of my work is word of mouth. Thanks!

Barn Owl

Barred Owl

Bay Owl

Black Banded Owl

Burrowing Owl

Great Grey Owl

Great Horned Owl

Long Eared Owl

Screech Owl

Snow Owl

Spectacled Owl

"Sunset" Art Card for Owl and Cat In Love Pre-Sale Campaign

This is the fourth and final 2.5" x 3.5" art card I created for the Owl and Cat In Love Pre-sale Campaign. The first two cards are posted about here, and the third is posted about here. Anyone who pre-orders the book before its release will receive his or her choice of one of these cards.

This card is a white line woodcut. This is a process of woodcut printmaking where a line drawing is made on the woodblock, the lines are carved out, and then it is printed one section at a time using water-based paints. More can be learned about the process in this illustrated article by Jeanne Norman Chase. White line printmaking is also the method I am using for my series of eight male nudes and my recently started Dancing In the Garden picturebook.  

Fans of Words On Woodcuts Press can also support the publication of this second book by lending money through my Kiva Zip business loan campaign - which as I write this is up to 98% funded! 

Pre-Order Owl and Cat In Love Today

I have just launched the presale campaign for my second book to be published by Words On Woodcuts Press. Here's the link to the campaign.

My regular readers know the project Owl and Cat In Love well, but for new readers, check out all the postings about the artwork as it was being created here.

Thanks again to everyone who has supported this campaign in any way over the years, even simply through your encouraging words and thoughtful critiques of the work. You all helped keep me going pursuing these artistic dreams. After seeing how beautifully Cats A-Z turned out, I can't wait to see Owl and Cat In Love in print.

"Flora and Fauna"

8" x 10" (image), 10.5" x 13" (paper)
Artist's proof
Oil-based ink on Stonehenge paper

Now that I've published Cats A-Z, it's time to gear up for publishing Owl and Cat In Love. I'm about to start a pre-sale campaign for the book, and I made "Flora and Fauna" as a promotional print for the campaign.

It's a still life with two of my daughters' toys that I particularly love, and which are of course also an owl and a cat. I wanted two different types of flowering plants to parallel the animal pairing. I selected black-eyed Susans because I see so many of them this time of year and cherry blossoms as a quiet nod to Japan and its rich history of mastering woodblock printmaking.

Cats A-Z Is Now For Sale!

Announcing the release of Cats A-Z!

In this cat-themed alphabet book for mature readers, light humor blends with sardonic wit and serious philosophical musings. This is not just another cute cat book. It is a cat book for the more deeply contemplative cat lover.

The book is 8" x 8" hardcover, cloth with embossing, Smyth sewn bound, 56 pages plus printed end sheets. First edition of 500.

Get a signed copy by contacting me directly at marfknox (at) gmail (dot) com with the subject line "Cats A-Z."

Or purchase it online through my Etsy Shop (cheaper US shipping) or my Amazon Store.

Or buy it in these stores:
Wagner Free Institute for Science's gift shop
The Open Book in Elkins Park




From the Reviews: 
Besides being an intriguing mix of stories, the book is also beautiful, and would make an excellent gift for the animal lover in your life. My own copy has a prized place on my coffee table where it has become a conversation piece.

-Miss Riki, Nov. 1, 2015


...most of the time the cat books I’m offered are either annoyingly humourous (sorry but I’m not into Lol cats or “I haz” cats) or too mawkish. Of course, I love my cats and think they are cute but they are far more than that. They are interesting, fascinating and complex. Something told me that Martha’s book would be quite different. I was right.

-Beauty Is A Sleeping Cat, Oct. 30, 2015

This is the woodcut created for the end pages as it appears
in the front of the book. In the back is its mirror image.

"Sleeping Tabby" (Cats A-Z End Pages)

18" x 9" (image), 22" x 14" (paper) oil-based ink on Stonehenge paper.

I created this print to be for the end pages of Cats A-Z. This image will appear in the front end pages, and its mirror image will appear in the back end pages.

Time for the final push! Cats A-Z will definitely be published this summer thanks to the success in meeting my initial fundraising goals. My Indiegogo fundraising campaign has less than a week left. If I reach $4,000, it will guarantee the publication of the second book, Owl and Cat In Love, this fall. If you can help support this campaign by sharing, please do! This is the link to share: igg.me/at/wordsonwoodcuts

Thanks!

Indiegogo Campaign Art Card #8: Cut Lace

2.5" x 3.5" art card
Oil-based ink on cream-colored, 90" smooth paper
Open edition

The last of 8 original woodcut art cards for my Indiegogo fundraising campaign is complete! These will be thank-you gifts for all funders who contribute $20 or more. Funders will get to choose their preferred design to receive.

I wanted to make a card that featured some lettering, and wasn't sure what word or short phrase to include. I decided on the word "cut" only partially because it is related to the process of making woodcuts, Mainly I chose it because I enjoyed the contrast between such a harsh-sounding word and a piece of lace that is delicate, and abruptly cropped. 

Indiegogo Campaign Art Card #6: Ammonite

2.5" x 3.5" art card
Oil-based ink on cream-colored, 90" smooth paper
Open edition

This is the sixth of 8 original woodcut art cards being created during my Indiegogo fundraising campaign. These will be thank-you gifts for all funders who contribute $20 or more. Funders will get to choose their preferred design to receive.

Yesterday I posted card #5 depicting a nautilus shell. Today's print depicts the fossilized shell of an extinct ammonite. One of my upcoming book projects will be illustrating the poem The Nautilus and the Ammonite, anonymously written, in which two aquatic cousins form a friendship, travel and witness great sights together, until the ammonite is lost in the same mass extinction that ended the reign of dinosaurs. 

Writing about another ammonite fossil woodcut in October of last year, I outlined some of the reasons why I think these creatures have captured so much of my attention. 

Click here to view all the blog posts featuring my ammonite prints. 

Indiegogo Campaign Art Card #5: Nautilus

2.5" x 3.5" art card
Oil-based ink on cream-colored, 90" smooth paper
Open edition

This is the fifth of 8 original woodcut art cards being created during my Indiegogo fundraising campaign. These will be thank-you gifts for all funders who contribute $20 or more. Funders will get to choose their preferred design to receive.

As those who have been following this blog over the past year know, I've been particularly interested in ammonite fossils. The Nautilus is a close relative and also has a spiral shell. One of my upcoming book projects will be illustrating the poem The Nautilus and the Ammonite. 

Indiegogo Campaign Art Card #3: Owl Chachki

2.5" x 3.5" art card
Oil-based ink on cream-colored, 90" smooth paper
Open edition

This is the third of 8 original woodcut art cards being created during my Indiegogo fundraising campaign. These will be thank-you gifts for all funders who contribute $20 or more. Funders will get to choose their preferred design to receive.

This was inspired by a little owl chachki that lives on a shelf at one of my friends' houses. I was babysitting all our kids one day and ended up drawing it, and that eventually lead to this image.