Multi-carving?

Whoo-ee! Look at this view from the front porch this morning. Fiery! The remainder of the day has been rather gray... rumor has it that there's a storm coming. (Although we still haven't had any snow to speak of here in the upper Arkansas River valley, so it's hard to get excited about that sort of rumor.)

It's been a good day to stay indoors and work on the icon project. I have 6 blocks carved (14 or so more to go), but haven't started printing. For this particular project I left the linoleum unmounted, something I don't often like to do. But mounting takes time and material, and mounted blocks require more space for storage than do unmounted pieces. Since these are intended to be single color prints, well, it just seemed the most efficient way to work.

The other nice thing is that the unmounted linoleum responds very quickly to being set on the space heater in the studio. Warm lino cuts like butter, a consideration when facing a long carving project. My hands and shoulders appreciate a break.

So far the most fun little block to carve has been this 1930 (late 1920s?) Ford school bus. Charming, eh?

The funny thing about this project is that I've been working on these first six images simultaneously, rather than finishing them one at a time. I keep going from one to the other... a little carving here, a little carving there. I'm usually more of a one-at-a-time, start-to-finish sort of person. I don't like having too many things to juggle at the same time. Which probably sounds ludicrous to anyone who reads Brush and Baren very often. There's usually a lot going on around here.

Ferinstance, the next couple of weeks I expect my attention to be divided by an exhibition installation, several contract illustrations, and workshop preparations. I don't think I have enough brain cells available in the current budget to start in on the 16 x 20 chunk of lino that I mounted last week, but I don't want to lose momentum. This morning I mounted a small block for a new reduction print, to add to the queue with the 20 icons.

But, hey, lest you think I'm a neurotic printaholic... (okay, okay, I see your point)... I'd like you to know I DO still have the capacity to recognize other human beings and engage them in conversation once in a while. Just ask Jill Bergman of Art on the Page! Jill and her husband live in Steamboat Springs, another mountain town about 180 miles from here, but they both have roots in Salida. We had never met in person, until today! They were down visiting family and stopped by for quick visit before they headed back to the snowier end of the state. It's so nice to have a face and a voice to accompany the delightful work Jill shares on her blog. I encourage you to stop on over there and tell her hello, and check out her little traveling print book project, too. (Thanks for taking the time to connect, Jill!)

There's another human being here I'd like to engage in conversation for a while this evening, so it's time to sweep the lino crumbs off the table and hide the carving tools from myself for a few hours. It's Wednesday night, AKA "unplug-the-technology-and-spend-quiet-time-with-the-Darling-Man-night"!