Friends who belong to the group "Quilts on the Wall", which promotes member quilts in various venues, but is apparently now a ZOOM meeting group, convinced me to join them for a one day live workshop on carving and printing with linoleum blocks. There may be a new modern name for that, but so it was called sixty years or so ago when I did it for the first time. The teacher, Tara Ritacco, provided blocks and erasers to carve and a carving tool, along with other materials, so it was easy prep. We ran out of time and the printing part was a demo by Tara in possibilities to do at home. She is very imaginative and gave us a lot of inspiration to try different paints, inks, fabrics, and experiments. I carved two blocks in the class and did a little printing with textile paint at home. I enjoyed the day and even hit a gas station with gas for $4.99 a gallon - something I haven't seen for quite a long time. Since then I filled my tank at $4.79, so things are looking up for a less expensive road trip to.... somewhere!
This is the first block I carved. I was amazed that the technique came back to me after so many years. I think I did some blocks for a project in mid-1980s, but haven't even thought about it since then. I must have some old blocks in a box some place in this crowded house.
Then I tried some trees and my classmates thought this looked like trees with a bird house. I didn't intend that, but I agree. The large white triangle was a mistake, a problem that comes with thinking in reverse and carving away what you don't want to print. I am thinking of ways to put a couple little branches to fill the space a bit.
So, this is what I had to work with, including a commercial leaf stamp from a box of miscellaneous art stuff, the only stamp I could find when I wanted to try printing.
This was a first print. Need to do this so that corrections can be made to the block. I had to carve away some layers in the upper right corner to make a clean print.
Then I did a more "serious" test print combining the blocks. The fabric was a scrap from a previous dyeing class, I have a box of those leftovers. As You can see the prints are in reverse, something planned for when the carving starts. I think an opposite carving of the bird would make an interesting border with the birds facing each other.
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Erasers and EZ Cut is fun to play with. Back in art school we did linooleum which requires some muscle. I also did a couple of zinc plates with chemicals and a scriber. In fact I think I still have them somewhere. Fun to do. I like the bird idea. I have a friend who is going to a fab lab, they are taking drawings and etching them into wood blocks which she can print from, awesome projects. The colleges here are asking artists to explore the possibilities. I do some photoshop and indesign projects for her.
ReplyDeleteI love your bird!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Del. Lovely little bird!
ReplyDeleteback in the day, 197 something, i too carved a sketch into linoleum blocks using violet or brown printing ink and made Christmas cards and hang tags for items i sold. i have a online art pal in NYNY that uses erasers as her carved base. still use my 4" brayer when a process calls for it.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Del. Lovely little bird! my first craving Xmas card was of a dove on oatmeal construction paper!
Love your carvings and resulting printed fabric!
ReplyDeleteI definitely read your blog and would TRULY mias it. Please continue!
Johanne Gibson
Lovely little bird! Fun to get messy with paints occasionally. I did a monoprint/gelli printing class last week.
ReplyDelete