Tag: Printmaking

Slow and Steady

Block Printing is a tactile experience. My hands not only hold and maneuver blocks, cutting tools, rollers, inks, and press parts, they also gauge the pressure. A certain amount of force determines the width of a cut and the depth. The V and U blades remove wider strips from the block with more pressure and finer strips come away with less pressure.

Too much force upon a block to the printing surface can cause unwanted smudges, halos, or other changes to the image transfer. Some blocks only require hand painting. Some patterns are most easily achieved with hand printing. My Llama project bags are one of my favorite hand printing tasks. It can be a bit slower than others to complete yet I enjoy the opportunity to slow down and still accomplish my task.

What do you enjoy doing slowly?

Recurring Delights

Recently I restructured my Patreon tiers to include more options! The best part is that Patreon allows me to easily offer you subscription options! For now, that includes a stationery subscription that will give you monthly cards, envelopes, and a cool pen.

What would you like to see added?

Join me on Patreon for extra delights!

Hard-Pressed Studio

Leafing Out

Around here we joke that Spring is all pollen and tornados. Mississippi does have the most active tornado season and parts of Mississippi have held pollen records for the country. Yet there are pleasant things about Spring. Walls of azalea bloom and oaks leaf out lacily, filtering increased hours of sunlight. I feel reenergized and spend a lot more time outside.

One of my favorite things to do is to go on nature walks around the yard. I get to see all kinds of critters and plant life! I also get to see them all interacting. What fun and what creative fodder!

What are your favorite Spring activities?

Spring Demonstration Day

Demonstration days have become a nice addition to the events of the Guild schedule. We guild members rarely have an opportunity to gather unless for a market and while we certainly offer our crafts on Demonstration Day my favorite part is getting to visit with fellow makers. We always enjoy seeing what projects each is getting up to.

Of course, sharing the process with the public is always fun too. Some watch and listen their reaction including an “aha!” moment when they see the print made. Then others receive the information with an energy of almost bursting to share that they too have made such prints. I’m glad for both reactions.

I hope those in wonder try it and I hope those who excitedly tell me about their past experiences with printmaking decide to take it up again. Perhaps they will consider joining the guild and be among us for the next Demonstration Day on the other side of the table.

All set up ready to talk block printing!
Kathryn White brought her Woodzilla press for us to demonstrate!

Herding Ideas and Planting Joy

A list of ideas, both for print subjects and for formats, how to present the images, sits before me. I’ve had a day with time to think and mentally play, both confined to a space with few distractions and enough energy to run laps feeds the creativity of the list.

After some hours, less caffeinated and far more distracted I find myself setting about the work of sorting ideas and working out logistics. Do I dive into a series or should I do a tet of the mechanics I want to add? Follow the dopamine as they say or methodically proceed in an orderly fashion? A bit of both will likely happen and that’s fine. So long as the making gets done and the joy is found along the way. After all, my main objective is to plant joy in the world. “Have fun” my grandmother always said. I will and I hope my creations help you have fun too.