Print Preview: Spring Work

Well, its Tuesday-- and I barely made it before the sun went down, but I have lots of new work to share! I looked back on my first Process Post where I shared my sketches and am amazed by how different most of the finished results are. Sometimes I come across a scrap of inspiration and it just seems like far too strong an image to abandon for a thumbnail I've committed to but have grown less and less crazy about. After all, there's no sense in printing at all unless you're so excited you can barely wait to pull away the screen-- and that's how these came to be for me. This group, along with a few leftovers, will be at the next two shows. At that point (hopefully sooner!) I'll have to print up another big batch.

I still plan on making the stones/sequoia diptych from my sketches, and the landscape, but for now it looks like those will come a bit later on this spring.

So here they are, with a little bit on how I arrived at them.

Title: Hiawatha Birches
I love visiting the Upper Peninsula-- its like a whole different world up there. My favorite stretch is just after the Mackinaw Bridge on Highway 2, right along the coast between St. Ignace and Little Bay de Noc. Filled with old tourist traps, smoked fish and pastie shops and tiny painted cabins dotting the road, its wear-- the faded, peeling paint and rusty signs set against the trees, have always seemed magical to me. The best place in the whole state to visit birch trees is right up there in Hiawatha National Forest. This print is a little nod in that direction. I set the trees against various shades of smooth dolphin gray for a nice, neutral pop.

Title: Jade Stalks
We have a little jade plant that's doing really well, so here's my homage to her. I love the juicy leaves on jade that branch off on equal steps along the stem, and also that they grow straight up in the air. There's also an orange/green version of this print. I offset the registration on the leaves and background and don't have an opinion yet on how they turned out-- I might fill in that color with another, more kelly green at a later date.

Title: Vintage Cattails / Vintage Wheat
I had planned on a silhouette of wheat against orange in the original sketches, and taking cues from a retro Riverwalk sign near Michigan's capital city, Lansing, combined two ideas into one to come up with this set. The two tone color combination floats you back to the 70's with a plant silhouette framing one side. The subjects lended themselves very easily to blue and orange tones, and using those complementary colors also means that they look great as a pair.

Title: Log Slice
In my sketches I had a pile of log slices in various sizes, but I really liked the details I had a chance to depict in printing up just one. I got to make some nice rough bark, circles in varying thicknesses, and in troubleshooting a huge dilemma where my contact paper kept leaping from my screen, added the cracks which ended up really making the composition sing.

Title: Fleming Creek
This one is straight from my sketches-- my Fleming Creek woodcut print has been really successful and I wanted to translate the same image via screen print. The blue is a touch more teal in reality, and sets against the dreamsicle orange quite nicely. Reminds me of racing against daylight on the river and of that magical 5 o'clock hour in the summer where the light is stunning.

Title: Resurrection Fern

This is the second print I've named after an Iron and Wine song-- I couldn't help myself. I made a fern print the last time around and wanted to make another that looks a little more toward the actual plant. I did a little fern research and fell fast for the long broad leaves of the resurrection fern. This one will be available is 9x9" glass frames for the same price as regular screen prints. I had to sneak up on this one at a weird angle under lamplight to get an accurate representation of its color and keep glare off the glass, so that's why the photo is a bit wonky.

I have around 150 of these all together, and probably won't list them on Etsy until the first couple of shows are over. (early May) If you're absolutely over the moon for one I'll make a custom listing and get it out to ya in case they sell out! I will also have a special edition screen print offering in May in conjunction with my participation in IndieFixx's Feed Your Soul project.

I would really appreciate any feedback you have on these as I frame them up for shows. Trying to figure out which ones will sell and which ones won't is not a strong suit of mine-- so your comments help me do a little projection!

Now onto woodcuts!