Onion Watercolor

 

I used to spend some time drawing and painting on my grandfather's farm in Floyd.  This was a study that I did of some onions on the barn floor.  Watercolor is a tricky medium--you quickly learn that it wants to do it's own thing, so painting becomes something akin to herding cats.

 

Bodhran Linocut

 

Here's one more linocut.  This one depicts a bodhran, an Irish drum.  I bought one of these drums for myself when Jessie and I were in Ireland on our honeymoon.  I got it from a lady who's been making them for years, and mine is a special bass bodhran.  It's smaller and deeper, and the goat skin head has been dyed black...it's a real man's drum.

 

Winter's Call: Another Linocut

 

This print was a Christmas present from several years ago.  I made them for friends and family (some of you might have one).  It's another linocut, but this time I added a watercolor wash...for a more personal touch.  I've always been drawn to crows and ravens for some reason...I'm obviously not a farmer.

 

Thank-You Print

 

Back in 2003, Jessie threw a surprise birthday party for me.  She had been planning it for over a year and had invited tons of people that I have known from all corners of my life.  The best part of it was that she was sending us on a trip to Montana to retrace some of the Lewis and Clark journey (I'm a huge Lewis and Clark buff).  One of the the highlights of the trip was spending two nights in a tee pee on the Montana plains.

This print was an idea that I had for a "thank you" card to send to the guests.  It's a test print, so the quality isn't all that great--but you get the picture.

Hand Print

 

This is the process for another linocut.  I've shown the beginning concept in pencil, then the test print in black ink, and finally the finished print which is actually two-color.  The red background had to be printed first and then, being careful to keep proper registration, the black was printed.  

  

  

The above is an example of a bad print.  You can see how the black is spotty and not very uniform.  I think I got it better in the final.

  

 

Sometime, I'd love to start printing some Thistledown material with my letterpress.  It's all a matter of getting the time to do it.....sigh.

Linocuts: Coffee and Tea

 

These are some of my first linoleum block prints, otherwise known as linocuts.  They are from a coffee and tea series that I did several years ago.  I've always had a fascination with coffee (I usually prefer it to tea)...not just drinking it, but the whole art of brewing and enjoying it. 

  

I cranked out tons of these things in both black and brown.  I really love linocuts because you have to distill an object down to it's essential elements.  Then you have to be very careful when carving not to screw up the whole thing! 

 

I've done lots of these things, so I'll be sure to put more of them up later.

Pub Painting

 

This is the actual Irish pub painting.  Notice it's triangular shape.  I was intending to do another triangular painting of an Irish landscape to go on top of this one, but alas....time got away.  It's painted in acrylic on birch plywood that was primed with gesso.  I like the warm cozy feel it has...just like sitting by a warm fire on a chilly Irish evening listening to great music.  Maybe someday I'll get around to actually hanging it somewhere.