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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