Block Prints

Daniel Smith Woodblock Print Workshop

Painting the blockYesterday I taught a workshop at the Seattle Daniel Smith Artist's Materials store.  We had the best time!  Participants had already carved their blocks, so we spent the whole day painting with beautiful colors, and printing with a wide array of papers.  I was  so impressed with the work created there, and with the open-minded approach to exploration and discovery that every one of the students brought to the workshop.  This is what art is all about! I will be teaching the same workshop at the Bellevue Daniel Smith store on March 12. The workshop is full, but if you are interested you can join the waitlist.   Prints from D Smith workshop


Let it Snow! Mt. Rainier National Park Webcam

Moon and Mountain Hemlocks 2 for web
Moon & Mountain Hemlocks

This morning I am sharing a woodblock print I did a couple of years ago using the Japanese moku hanga method.  It seemed a very appropriate piece of art for this season, and also for this year in our Cascades Range, where snow is falling so heavily that the Washington Department of Transportation has to keep closing Snoqualmie Pass. It is making me very happy, even though I have yet to get up there to personally experience this snow. It's a return to what feels more like our typical northwest weather, after the devastating fires and drought last summer. One thing I have been doing daily for over a week is checking out the Mt. Rainier National Park webcams. It's so much fun looking at Paradise Lodge, Jackson Visitor Center, and also checking to see if the mountain is out...well, this week it has hardly been out at all, but when it does come out, wow, is it ever spectacular!  

 


Northern Flicker Block Print

Northern Flicker for web
Northern Flicker Block Print $85

I see alot of flickers in my neighborhood, and they love our suet feeder.  I always enjoy listening to them hammering  on our chimney endcap--anything metal makes the kind of loud noise that they are after during their spring mating season.  Last year I carved this block print to celebrate the bird.  Right now I'm working on a new print of a three-toed woodpecker--I saw it several years ago on the Slough Creek Trail in Yellowstone.  I'd like to do a whole set of woodpeckers--so far I've done the Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Pileated, and now the Three-Toed.  Maybe next, I'll try the Downy!

 


Larches, Revisited

Larches, Oregon Cascades

 

Larches, Spruce and Fir for blog
Larches, Spruce and Fir Block Print

Today I am sharing a photo that I took on the way home from Bend, in the Central Oregon Cascades.  I saw several stands of larches, one on the way east to John Day, and the other in the Cascades. They are high elevation trees and don't grow in pure stands, but together with spruce and firs.  They are among my favorite trees, and when I created the print pictured here, I wasn't sure whether this art would find an audience.  But the North Cascades Institute used the image for a fall postcard, which brought the print to the attention of several people, and I met more at my recent exhibit and holiday sales who told me they liked it.   It made me aware that so many of the natural beauties that I love are equally loved by other people.

 


Swans in the Skagit Woodblock Print

Swans (2) for blog
Skagit Swans Woodblock Print

Today I'm writing about a woodblock print that I created this year after a visit to the Skagit Valley during winter with a friend who lives up in Stanwood. She's always aware of which birds are around and she invited me up last January and we drove and walked around in fields and roads and byways.  I am struck always by the contrast of the large white birds, swans and snow geese, that feed in flocks in the fallow fields, surrounded by the dun color of earth, or by greens of young plants.  This print required only 3 blocks, one for the blue, one for the green, and one for the swans' legs and bills.  It's fun working around the white of the paper, using that as yet another color.  This particular print employed oil-based inks, and though I haven't had much luck using watercolor-based printmaking on top of a block that has already been used for oil-based inks, I was able to try this one and have success with Akua inks.  I'll be sharing much more about this in a demo and workshop that I am offering in January at the Seattle Daniel Smith store.The demos are Saturday, January 9th at 11am and 1pm.  The workshop will be offered on Sunday, January 24th from 11 to 5pm, and I'm encouraging everyone to first come to the demo where they will learn how to carve, and then at the workshop our focus will be on applying color to the blocks in different ways.

 

 


Brandt's Cormorants Block Print

Brandt's Cormorants for blog
Brandt's Cormorants, 8 X 10", $95

Today I'm continuing to share my new work from the last year of printmaking efforts. Back in May we visited Monterey Bay and several natural reserves and state parks nearby.  Pt. Lobos was teeming with wildlife and many of the birds were nesting and in their breeding plumage. Perhaps most striking was this group of Brandt's Cormorants. I had no idea they were so colorful, as I've seen them in coastal areas of the Pacific northwest, but perhaps never at such close range, nor in these beautiful hues.


Crater Lake Block Print

Whitebark Pine for blog
Whitebark Pine & Crater Lake 8 X 10", $95

I'm writing about new prints this week on my blog and I'm focusing on a few of my favorites. In June of 2014 we traveled to Crater Lake when snow still frosted the high Lake rim, and the colors were just astonishing, snow white against the deep blue of the Lake.  And there were some stunning high altitude trees there that I wrote about and determined to make use of in my art.  Many of the whitebark pines were showing signs of dieback, and yet on most of them there was a small mat growing close to the ground so I could tell the trees' roots were still viable.  I loved making this print and coming up with the right blues to express it.  I've seen nothing like that blue outside of Crater Lake and a few Italian frescoes: Fra Angelico and Giotto come to mind!

 


New Block Prints

Crow, Cherry Blossoms & Moon for blog_edited-1
Crow, Moon & Cherry Blossoms, 8 X 10", $95

The art opening reception on Thursday night was lots of fun, with many old and new friends attending. I brought calendars, puzzles, coloring cards, notecards--all the work I've done that's been selected by Pomegranate's editor to publish--in addition to the framed and unframed prints. One of my favorite new works is this crow image, and in the coming days I plan to post new work here.  I was really happy to sell a number of things, and I'm most grateful to all the people who attended!  There are still some copies of the 2016 BIRDS Calendar available at the Miller Library, where the show remains up for the rest of the month, with some items going into December.  But if you are out and about, you'll also find that calendar at Seattle Audubon, PCC, and University Bookstore.


Upcoming Woodblock Printmaking Workshop

Moon and Mountain Hemlocks 2 for webI'm offering a one day woodblock printmaking workshop at Daniel Smith in Seattle on Sunday, January 24th, 2016 from 11 to 5pm. The cost is $100.  You can call the store any time to register at (206) 223-9599. There will also be a demo preceding the workshop on Saturday, January 9, from 11 to 12 or 1 to 2pm. I just offered a couple of demos this past Saturday on the same subject at the Bellevue Daniel Smith store and I was pleased to meet a great group of interested artists at each of the demos. I shared how I employ Akua inks as well as watercolor and rice paste in a more tradition Japanese moku hanga method, and it was a lot of fun.  I work alone for hours and hours, so when I get to go out and meet other artists and people with a curiosity about the medium it is always a real pleasure.   Please email me if you have any questions about the workshop.  Registration will be limited to 12 participants so if you're interested, register soon.  


Autumn in the North Cascades

Larch postcard-1I recently completed this print of larches, spruce and firs--it was inspired by a day last autumn up at Washington Pass in the North Cascades.  North Cascades Institute graphic designer Jessica Haag worked with my print to create the new Fall 2015 postcard. I was teaching a workshop for the North Cascades Institute on flora and fauna of the North Cascades and we traveled up to the Pass to see larches in fall color. I am delighted we are heading back up with a new workshop in October--this one is all about trees, and I am preparing a presentation which I'll give jointly with NCI Program Director Katie Roloson. I'm including some of my favorite photos, paintings and prints. Among the images will be larches, subalpine firs, Engelmann spruce and other trees of timberline. I love the trees of the higher elevations, their many forms, too. I'm having a great time putting this presentation together and I'm excited to share it with my students.