Clearing the Block

Carving the actual pattern is always fun and you can get to that zone where time doesn't exist anymore and you are one with the wood.  Awakening from this trance and having to face the boring and repetitious part of clearing away whatever you don't want to print can be absolutely brutal.  I wonder if it could be fatal to an older, arthritic person?  (Maybe we don't want to know the answer to that question.) On this block there is quite a bit of clearing away of unwanted wood and it is a rather hard wood (cherry) so it could be a daunting task, however - not in this case because it is Foredom to the rescue.  Foredom is a power tool much like a Dremel on steroids.  It has a flexible cable and interchangeable bits.  One cable is for etching, engraving, etc. and is what I used on the copper piece (see previous posts) and the other cable is for more like a chisel.  The clearing requires the latter.  You can see the tool head next to the block -

This was cleared in about 1/4 of the time it would have taken me to do it with the regular chisel (sitting next to the power head in this photo) and my hand would have ached for hours.  Not to mention how it would have felt during the process.  Using the Foredom I can hold it so that I am pushing from the shoulder in one continuous motion using both hands on the tool.  The blade only cuts back and forth when pressure is applied.  It is a really cool little toy!

There are no registration marks on this block, yet, because I really have no idea, or rather I have several ideas, of how to do this and will figure that out when I get to it...

Next - there is some computer work to get the drawing for the center image where I want it and then transferred to another block.

Beginning of the Flags

For years I've intended to carve blocks and make prayer flags for the garden.  And every year the project has played second fiddle to everything else.  Finally, I am off to a well intended beginning and, more or less, holding my breath that this time prayer flags will actually materialize.  For anyone not familiar with prayer flags they are a part of Nepalese and Tibetan Buddhist culture.  The flags are each dedicated to a particular element or virtue and as they flutter in the wind those wishes are carried on the air.  For a more detailed explanation (and probably more accurate, although I am going with the belief I just stated ,try this link.  I have never been one to be side-tracked by facts.)

My thought is to carve a border block which can be used for each individual print.  After many drawings and ideas I finally came up with a simple leaf and berry design with spirals in each corner. Traditionally the flags have a different image in each corner, but at our house we do spirals.

To get the image onto the block I scanned it first into the computer and then printed it out on the transfer paper sold by McClain's. Working quickly so the ink doesn't dry it is a simple matter of placing the transfer paper face down onto the block and burnishing it lightly with a baren.  Voila, the image is on the block!  Generally, with other transfer techniques, I like to tint the block with Sumi Ink, but if I had done that using the transfer paper obviously I would never be able to see it and I have enough trouble seeing things without interference. (Notice the magnifier hanging on the Hori-dai  which I learned about from my good friend Graham Scholes.)

A closer look at the quality of the transfer on a cherry block:

And so, tomorrow the carving commences!  Once I get to working on a project and the knife actually hits the wood I am committed to the project.  This block will be pretty easy - it will be the central images that will require most of the work.

Copper Piece Installed

Finally, the copper engraving of the creek, horse shoes, fir boughs and holly is mounted and installed.  I have to admit, it really does look pretty darned good in its new home.  Son Don was enlisted for aid in getting the piece installed - it wouldn't - couldn't - have happened without him.  We figured it weighed about 25 lbs. and was approximately 38" x 36" - rather unwieldy, anyway.  Here it is in its final home:

The front door is to the right where the mat is.  The walk from the street to the front door is quite a bit longer than shows in this photo.

This is a closer look, but it is still a bit difficult to make the image out if you don't know what you're looking for!  Somewhere, in a previous entry there may be a better photo, but darned if I know how to find out without risking the loss of everything I've just entered.  I wish they would forgo the well intended improvements and leave things the same on things like this.  We closet luddites lead a rough life!

Next I am on to a project I've wanted to do for a very long time and other obligations and previously planned jobs had to be done first.  So, now I really am going to do Prayer Flags.  They will be woodcuts.  I've vacillated between screen print or woodblock and finally settled on woodblock.  I probably won't get to the actual carving until the end of the month, but the drawings can get started tomorrow.  ;-)

Keepers of the Flame

Oh yeah, you have to remember to push the publish button when you've finished the post!  These older brains are something else - one would think I had never blogged before.  Apparently, the procedure was in the short term memory and we can see how good that is...

This image, "Keepers of the Flame" is part of the mythology series from Ancient Celtic Mythology.  In doing my research I found many references to the Pashcal Candle of Christianity, and how the symbol was carried on from pagan religions. In the time of the Druids and before, when religions were matriarchal, the interpretation of the candle's light was an honored symbol of Juno, or the local goddess of the moon, stars and sun.  It was believed that she gave newborns their gift of sight.  Personally, I think the candles were all scented and, hygiene being what it was back then, the more candles you could keep burning the better the smell.  My "Keepers of the Flame" represent all those feminine mystics from long ago who, like Motel 6, kept the candle in the window burning.

Keepers of the Flame

7.5 x 8.5

Solarplate™ intaglio

Akua intaglio ink, a la poupeé

chine collé

The long burning candle was also from ceremonial rekindling and encouraging of the new sun at the Winter Solstice.  If the candle extinguished before the specified time it was a sign of bad luck for the coming year.  Roman, Greek and Christians did away with any possibility of that happening by inducting the custom into organized religion and putting someone in charge of keeping that thing burning. The Romans left it up to the temple of Juno and the Christians to the church. Many of the old pagan festivals involving bonfires, torches, candles and other lights were originally dedicated to the Goddess-as-sun, or to the Goddess as controller of the sun and its cycles.  Well, thank goodness we got over that - I would hate to think women were saddled forever with the responsibility of the sun coming up every day.

Procession of the Birds

My artist statement says that I am trying to reach back and get in touch with my Celtic roots and that has involved some reading about early European mythology.  Some of the myths I have, more or less, tried to illustrate - not by any forethought of mine, I don't consider myself an illustrator, but it seems to have happened none the less.
Birds play a very important part in these mythologies - everything from being "familiars" (helpers to witches), to being the souls of the dear departed, to being just messengers from a parallel universe.  Feathers were symbols in many ancient beliefs: the early Egyptians believed that every seventh incarnation was a bird, Manx sailors never left on voyage without a feather from the sacred wren. It was traditional to slay wrens on New Years Day on the Isle of Man.  Birds and feathers often symbolized air as one of earth's basic elements. So - birds were important.  The image of a group of women traipsing through the woods  to release the birds came from nowhere in particular, maybe I wanted to free those wrens on the Isle of Man.  Since that particular period in our mythology evolution was one of matriarchal religions  women are everywhere, in all different ages, shapes and sizes and they all dance and sing with reckless abandon.

Solarplate™ intaglio inked a la poupeé

Akua intaglio inks, Somerset Satin paper

7.5" x 8.5"

I've become rather attached to these folks and think they will probably surface in a woodcut now that I have no particular deadline and can take my time!

Which Witch?

It is time to get around to posting again - it seems like years since I've entered anything.  Come to think of it, I was always like that with diaries, too.  Xmas would come and I would always get at least one and in the end I have a library of diaries with entries through the first two weeks of January and blank from then on.  That was mostly because I felt that my life was so mundane and uneventful that there was nothing interesting to write.  Little did I know that those would be among the most interesting days of my life!

But, just because I haven't been writing doesn't mean nothing has been happening around here.  Which Witch? was a fairly easy print to compose, but getting that black, black, blue black background was a bit tricky.  And finding the right chine collé paper was a task with pitfalls, too.  Paper too thin, too thick, not the right color - eek.  Finally, I went with what I had in the drawers and was pleased with the way the green grapes and the table cloth compliment.  At the opening of the exhibition Friday night I was amazed at the number of people who couldn't find the witches even when they were pointed out!

Which Witch? is a Solarplate™ print measuring approximately 14" x 16.5" and printed intaglio.  Incidentally, those witches are both very nice, gentle people, strictly vegetarian, maybe a glass of potion now and then, but basically of high moral character and pillars of their respective covens.  Nothing to fear from these two - they haven't cast a spell in so long that they have completely forgotten all incantations.  They were good studio mates and kept up an interesting banter throughout the process.  ;-)

Copper Complete

The Foredom has been grinding away, relentlessly, turning a lovely piece of copper into dust.  Yeah! we have an image - and one that I think conveys the tranquility of Tryon Creek State Park.  It is difficult to get a good photo of a metallic surface, but I hope you can tell a little of what is intended from this shot.

This piece is intended to exist as the copper plate mounted onto the exterior of a house.  But, there are some pretty interesting passages and I had to know how these marks might translate to paper.

detail from copper plate

So, I pulled a print using Akua Carbon Black -  the wonderful part of that is that after the print is pulled the plate cleans with soap and water and very little elbow grease (which is more than I can say for wiping the plate prior to printing!  I thought my arm was going to drop off.)

Obviously, this was not what I would like if this were intended as a print, but in this instance I think there is 

a lot to work with and as soon as the ink is dry I am ready to dive in and see what I can come up with.  Meanwhile, though, some of the marks translated quite differently than I would have thought.  Some are really dark, and some are quite transparent and almost fragile. 

detail from print

This little detail will give me something to muck about in and see what works and what doesn't.  Meanwhile, though, I think the copper will stand alone and that is what matters.  The Foredom will enjoy a nice rest.