NAKED JULY: "Life Preserver"

6 layer reduction woodcut. Image is 8" x 10", oil-based inks on white, sulphite block printing paper.

This is sort of where my Toying Around series and prints of babies/toddlers come together. The image was inspired by watching my two year old play in the bath. When I sit in the tub with her, especially when she play-acts with all her little rubber ducks and plastic fish, I feel like a sleeping giant, my belly like an island rising up from a great body of water. I think I might like to do a small series continuing to explore these ideas and impressions.

#19 - 30 Prints In 30 Days (Reaching)

"Reaching"

Collograph

9" x 12" (on blue Subi paper)

11" x 15" (on white Rives BFK)

Both printed with water based ink

Both Artist's Proofs

I can't help but snicker a little at the poetic symmetry of having created a print of a child reaching for a rainbow, and being tremendously disappointed in how it turned out. I had a simple, beautiful image in my head. I went into this project confident that the final result would have a tender, ethereal quality that would transcend the rather cheesiness of the literal subject matter. But instead, this final image appears rather stiff and disjointed. I guess in this case I, too, was reaching for something unattainable.

#15 - 30 Prints in 30 Days (Child and Teddy Bear, version 2)

"Child and Teddy Bear"
White line woodcut
4" x 4"(image) 6" x 7.5" (paper)
Oil-based inks on yellow Rives BFK
Artist's Proof
Available for purchase here.

I can't really say I like this version more or less than yesterday's version. I am mostly amazed at what a difference a change in color and texture makes. Yesterday's has a sort of pop art, graphic feel to it, which is simple and fun. This image is warmer and feels more personal and expressive. I like them both for different reasons, and I like both of them better because I have the other to compare and contrast.

#14 - 30 Prints in 30 Days (Child and Teddy Bear)

"Child and Teddy Bear"

Woodcut

4" x 4"(image) 6" x 7" (paper)

Water-based inks on yellow Subi paper

Edition of 4

Available for purchase here.

While I like the intense color contrast between the bright yellow and magenta, I think this image might come out better as a white line woodcut with multiple colored inks. Think I'll play around with this for print #15.

#13 - 30 Prints in 30 Days (Riding the Zebra)

"Riding The Zebra"

Woodcut (four blocks)

4" x 4"(image) 5.5" x 7.5" (paper)

Water-based inks on Rives BFK

Edition of 4

Available for purchase here.

This image is inspired by my baby daughter who loves to ride the toy zebra rocker in her bedroom. She throws one leg over, firmly grabs hold of the orange handles, which stick out below the ears, and smiles a great, big open-mouth smile as she vigorously rocks back and forth. Months have gone by, and she hasn't tired of this small adventure. Some day she'd be old enough to ride a real horse. To feel the heat and movement of a real, flesh-and-blood animal, and the fear and thrill that comes along with riding such a beast.

#10 - 30 Prints in 30 Days (Water Mandala)

"Water Mandala"

Collograph with linocut stamping

Water based inks on blue Subi paper

9" x 9"

This is the first print in this month-long project that I'm not putting up for sale. Even at a low price, the craft is just not up to par. I like the concept of the print, but it just wasn't something I could do in a day, certainly not a day where I was taking care of kids for 12 hours! One of the most difficult aspects of making one whole print in a single day is coming up with ideas that are small and simple enough to do them justice in such a limited amount of time. As a work-from-home mother, I am greatly inspired by artist Nikki McClure. I discovered her book Awake to Nap in a local book store. It features a series of stunning yet simple cut paper pieces she did in her spare time while pregnant and when her child was first born. She would create them in the little pockets of time in between all her other responsibilities, such as when the baby was napping. Each image illustrates a letter of the alphabet, but book ends long before "Z" because McClure's life and time no longer accommodated the project. In this way, the book becomes quite personal and honest.

I need to think simpler. I'm interested in making some mandalas, but I need to hone on a more specific subject that will lend itself to a clean and complete execution. That said, I'm glad I made this print. As I said, I like the concept. I just need to take at least a couple weeks to work on it and enlarge the scale to do it properly.

"Up, Mommy"

2 layer woodcut with hand coloring

Oil based ink and watercolors on Rives BFK

3" x 5" (image) 6" x 8" (paper)

Different versions of this print in various colors are available on my online store here.

Hello, little one. Tiny hands reach up, signalling a desire to be carried. So easy to scoop you up with my big hands, and at first you seem as light as a feather. At first. You spent almost nine months inside me and sometimes I worry that you want back in.

"Dreams of Tigers, Dreams of Sheep"

20" x 24"

woodcut, oil based inks on Masa paper

Edition of 6

Children have nightmares,

Great boogeymen come in the night,

Carry away boys and girls and

Eat them.

Images of sharp teeth and claws,

Hairy hides over lean muscles

Drawn from the well of humanity's past

A time when us as prey was a

Legitimate fear.

So many generations later

They have become "Cleo," "Tigger," "Max."

Their food from a can.

Their fur, soft and combed.

Their fate in our hands.

"Nursing" (Final Edition)

Woodcut (reduction)

Image is 3" x 3.25", paper is 4.75" x 6"

Oil-based inks on Rives BFK

Edition of 6

Cotton candy mama

(Blue raspberry)

Holds her cotton candy baby

(Pink vanilla)

And between them

Twinkles of white light

Cut through the seams

Where shadows bleed

"Nursing" (AP)

"Nursing" (Artist's Proof)

woodcut on decorative paper

3" x 3.25" (image) on 6" x 6" (paper)

Mother's hands encircle a nursing child. All around them puffy flowers float like snowflakes, arranged over a field of yellow. Flowers and bodies, soft and round, like a hill of clover or a fresh baked loaf of bread.

"Cat and Baby" Revisited

I am finally done with this block. Did a total of 10 versions of this image, but I still like this first one best. Out of the rest I'm generally pleased with these three:

The Block

I printed a few more monoprints from this block this week, hoping to produce an image as successful as this version. Unfortunately, nothing really caught my eye.

Also this week two of my artist friends who are not printmakers made the same comment. A comment that every printmaker hears (at least every woodblock printmaker), but few want to hear. That comment, of course, is "The block is so cool looking! You should show/sell that." Or in its worst form: "The block is more interesting/beautiful than your prints!"

Yes, a wood block that has been painstakingly carved with some thoughtful image then stained with different colors of ink on various sections inevitably becomes an interesting and beautiful object in its own right. So why not slap a frame on that baby and hang it on a gallery wall?

Certainly many printmakers have given into these comments and do show and sell their blocks. Typically they do so with some additional thought or intention behind what they are doing. For instance, some black and white woodcut printmakers retire a block by painting it white, then inking up the raised sections in black one last time. Others might simply cover the surface with a sealant.

Almost all of my prints are reductions. this means that I print several times with different colors onto the same piece of paper. In between colors I carve the block a little more so those newly carved away sections will be whatever color I printed last. The end result is a limited edition of colorful, complex prints -- and a totally mutilated wood block.

There is some deep satisfaction I find in destroying the block. The block, after all, is a tool, just like a paint brush. If in the end it is quite beautiful, that is still merely a byproduct of the art making process, not part of my artist's intention. So while I find myself enjoying the subtle color contrasts between the foreground and background and color changes in the carved outlines in this block, I don't feel I can take full ownership of that. Much of the beauty in the block is mere happenstance, and while there's nothing inherently wrong this art that comes about in this manner, it bugs me.

I started this print with the intention to only do monoprints. However, not only am I dissatisfied with most of the results, but while printing, I could not escape the thought that this print, too, would be much better as a reduction. I'd like to create a pattern on the surface the baby is laying on, some carved texture and layers of colors on the cat's fur and the baby's outfit.

Yup, there's no getting around it: The block must die.

"I'm A Little Teapot"

Image is 8" x 10", paper is 11" x 14"

Woodcut (reduction)

Oil-based inks on Masa paper

Edition of 8

I'm a little teapot, short and stout.

These pants only go halfway down her shins and

When she points the shirt rides up over her round tummy

Exposing her belly button.

0-3 months, 3-6, 6-12...

She grows out of each size so fast.

Here is my handle, here is my spout.

Point and grunt. (This time she wants the Russian nesting doll,

Which sits too high on the bookshelf for her to reach.

A blast of dance hall Reggae sounds from the radio and suddenly

She squeals with delight, bends her knees, raises both arms, and

Up and down, up and down, just as "the children on the bus go."

When I get all steamed up hear me shout.

The blender terrifies her even though she can't yet understand what

Spinning metal teeth are doing to her sweet potatoes and green beans.

People have stopped asking "Does she sleep through the night?"

(She does not.)

Tip me over and pour me out.

She used to dive off the bed and couch head first and we would catch her.

Now she rolls onto her tummy and dangles her legs off the edge.

Most of these rolls are clumsy, but every once in a while

One is quite graceful, and I almost expect something more to happen.

Like maybe she'll put her arms out, smile like Marilyn, and say, "Tada!"

"Flying Phantom"

Image is 8" x 10", paper is 11" x 14"

Woodcut (reduction)

Oil-based inks on Masa paper

Edition of 4 (there is also an addition of 4 on Kozo paper)

This isn't like most of my other work; there are areas where part of the imagery starts to fade because the background and foreground colors are so similar (the bottom of the white wings and the butterflies at the bottom of the image.) Also, the two main foreground characters are integrated into the background by the highlights which read more like cutouts. For these reasons the picture also has a more psychedelic feel to it. I imagine putting my fingers through the holes in the butterfly and baby; peering into those holes to find, perhaps, a parallel universe that is similar to but not quite reality.

Nothing in the image is substantial. Everything is fading in and out like the Cheshire Cat from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. It's all in the lighting, like when a black cat slips into the shadows and disappears. Sometimes the sun is so bright in my eyes that everything starts to fade into a blurry mess of yellow and white.

All the imagery here appears especially flat, like paper dolls but thinner. More like tissue paper dolls. So easy to crumple up and toss away.

Lighter than air. Floating up like a helium balloon but slower and softer. Soon out of reach. Eventually out of sight, forever.

"Cat and Baby"

Cat and Baby

woodcut monotype

12" x 9" oil-based ink on black Rives

This is really just an artist's proof. I carved the line drawing and printed the baby and cat, but there is a background too. I enjoyed how they looked on just the black paper, so I left this image without the printed background. Will print more versions soon.

Autumn Haiku for Baby

Nights are getting cold.

Time for pajamas with footies

And cuddle time.

"Superstar"

Superstar

4" x 4" (image) 6" x 6" paper

Edition of 8

Oil based inks on Rives BFK

She floats and glows under a spotlight in the center with a quizzical expression on her face. Fingers splayed as if she's maintaining balance after a bit of a shock. The starfish dances behind her like wings. Fizz and bubbles all around. The wings and the bubbles help keep her afloat. At least until the spotlight moves on.

This original print is for sale here.

"Learning To Crawl"

Learning To Crawl

Image 4" x 3", Paper 8" x 6"

Edition of 8

Oil based inks on Kozo paper

With her fanny in the air and one curved foot tucked under her stomach, she's moving away from me. The weight of her proportionately massive head combined with gravity work against her stubby arms and legs, which struggle to achieve balance. She rocks back and forth, flops, and occasionally crashes head first. Her environment is a minefield of hard wood or tile floors, sharp corners on tables, chairs, and armrests. But still, she turns away from me, "mama", soft and safe. She is fulfilling a biological imperative, striving with determination toward a bigger, better, and more robust world that she knows in her animal heart is just over the horizon.

"Ring Around the Rosie"

Ring Around the Rosie

Image 8" x 10", Paper 10.75" x 15.5"

Edition of 5

Oil based inks on Masa paper

Ring around the rosey,
A pocketful of posies.
ashes, ashes.
We all fall down.

Fishes in the water,
Fishes in the sea,
We all jump up,
With a one, two, three!

Down at the bottom of the deep blue sea,
How many fishes can you see?
With a one, a two, a three!

(Traditional Nursery Rhyme)

"Standing In the Tub"

Standing In the Tub

Image 3" x 4", Paper 5.5" x 7.5"

Edition of 8

Oil based inks on Masa paper

This is a figure study of my daughter, Lysistrata. It is my fifth small-scale baby print, and I plan to do more. I captivated by infant body proportions. They are both cute and alien. And while I do enjoy the intimacy of these tiny prints, the main reason I began working in smaller scale is because since having the baby I have much less time to work in my studio. I'm still doing big work, but I need to do these small works in between larger projects or else the achingly slow pace convinces me that I'm not doing anything at all.

I wanted to keep this image light and airy, so I went with the bright, complimentary colors and white outline. I suppose I did this because I have so many positive associations with bath time, which have been recently reinforced by Lysi's enjoyment of baths. I especially love the pose here. Her arms are bent and raised as if she is triumphant. Maybe I made this image to celebrate Lysi's learning to walk - that seminal achievement that separates the babies from the toddlers. My baby is a toddler, hooray!

The greatest aesthetic challenge with this study was striking a balance between too much and too little. I think I did okay. In fact I think this particular style could be applied to a illustrated narrative. Maybe I'll make an artist's book. So many ideas. So many "maybes". Wish I had more time.

This print is available for purchase on my Etsy store here.