Linocut in Progress: (After too long away)

Hooray! Summer is officially over!

Yeah, I'm weird that way. Summer is not my favorite season.

There are a lot of reasons not to like summer, most of which are a bit whiney... but the greatest reason is that summer tends not to allow for much studio time. And studio time is kind of imperative if one intends to produce new work.

I've got one more week of workshop ahead of me, but in the past few days I did manage to squeeze out a couple of hours to start a small reduction linocut. This one is just 9" x 6"– sort of like going back to training wheels after one has been off of a bicycle for too long. Maybe.

Linocut in progress, Step 1

But here we go! First color pass was a flat, light, transparent gray. Nothing fancy.

Linocut in progress, Step 2

Of course I can never keep things simple for long... Step 2 employed both a blue-to-light blue blended roll AND a little selective wiping out of the block to keep the bird shapes clear. I'm not really settled about what I'm going to do with them yet... so I can avoid having to make decisions by not inking them at all.

Yesterday afternoon I gave a short, informal demo at the Stable Gallery in Damariscotta, Maine...but in the morning I managed to complete the third color pass... another blue-to-lighter blue blended roll.

Linocut in progress, Step 3

I'm still on the fence about how to handle the birds, but since they're so tiny I can continue to keep them clear of ink and make that decision after other parts of the image get a little more resolved.

Progress will slow down a little bit this week, since I'll be leading a Field Sketching course at the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland every day, but now that my tools are warmed up again and my brayers are rolling a more regular studio routine can't be far behind.

Birds in Art 2019!

One of the highlights of any year (but especially of those years in which I have a piece in the show) is the annual Birds in Art exhibition at the Woodson Art Museum in Wisconsin. Birds in Art is the museum's flagship juried show, highlighting work by some of the world's best wildlife artists.

Of the approximately 130 artists with work in this year's exhibition, 73 attended the opening. Some travelled from as far away as Australia, Japan, the Netherlands, and Sweden.

The opening weekend is always a stellar event, and a fun opportunity to visit with friends, colleagues, and the amazingly supportive and enthusiastic citizens of Wausau and its surrounding communities. In addition, colored-pencil artist Alan Woollett of England was named this year's Master Wildlife Artist. Birds in Art includes a mini show-within-the-show of fifteen of Alan's pieces, and Saturday visitors were treated to his presentation under the big tent in the museum's sculpture garden.

At the Saturday morning public opening. Find the linocut on the wall in this picture!

Funny thing about trying to shoot a panorama when people are moving around.
One tends to get some funny camera effects. Anyway... there are actually TWO
linocuts on the opposite wall... mine in the corner and Sue Medaris's by the door.

A better look at that corner, except missing Sue Medaris's piece.
To my left, Chris Maynard, to the right Paul Rhymer.

Patron dinner... only half of us in this room!

Alan Woollett's Saturday morning talk.

An added bonus for me (and hopefully for exhibition visitors) is a short video put together about the process for my piece, Four on the Fence, which is included in the show. The video can be seen on the Woodson Art Museum's YouTube channel, or on the museum's app. Or right here:

Birds in Art continues at the Woodson Art Museum until December 1, so don't miss it!