July was an interesting month. My computer was dead but I didn't miss it one bit. Instead I spent 60 hours carving a 3x4' linoleum block (among other things) to be printed by a steamroller during the Anacortes Arts Festival.
Upon receiving the linoleum, I immediately went into shock: the largeness of it was a bit overwhelming so, I started carving and carving and carving.
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| Virgin linocut |
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The bottom half is starting
to look like something. |
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| Here I'm adding Mt Baker to the mix. |
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| Finished and ready to ink.. |
Then the day came for the printing. We worked in teams. Jean Behnke and I were the scheduled artists for our two hour time slot and had help from many friends, without whom, it would have been much harder and definitely not as successful.
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Here we are inking the lino.. a dirty job,
but somebody's got to do it.. |
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| Ready to print |
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We are placing the linocut and will then
cover it with the paper. |
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| Here comes the steamroller! |
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| Artist Proof |
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A friend generously offered space in
her workshop to hang my prints while they dry. |
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| Looking up at a couple of prints drying. |
This project was made possible by a grant from the Anacortes Arts Festival. Nine artists participated in this two day event. All materials were provided including, of course, the linoleum, the best oil based ink (Daniel Smith) and Lenox paper not to mention gloves, aprons, rollers, the steamroller and everything else needed to make this happen including lots of encouragement!
Two prints from each artist will be auctioned off by the Festival to provide funding for future events such as this. For anyone interested in viewing all the different artist's prints and possibly bidding on any, I will post the auction details when I receive them.
It was a great experience and I'm so glad to have been a part of it all. I'm looking forward to next year!
