Change of perspective

You know, in "the olden days," BDM (Before Darling Man), I used to relish holidays as a GREAT time to catch up on work. Two or three days in which I knew I wouldn't be interrupted by clients, or pretty much anyone else... it was perfect! I'd work all weekend, send everything off to clients on the last evening, and THEN (maybe) take a day off when everyone else went back to work.

Those halcyon* days seem to be in the past. The DM actually likes to do stuff other than work on the weekends. I don't get it! But I admit that our little jaunts on Monday were fun.

First thing in the morning we went to the top of "S" Mountain (AKA Tenderfoot Hill), the iconic conical peak directly across the river from town. It's always good to get a different view of the place one lives, I think. If you knew where to look, you could see our house from here.

I used my camera to take a little video of the panorama, but we're waiting for the DM to put a new soundtrack on it. Right now all you can hear is the ear-splitting whoosh of the wind through tiny microphone.

After that we popped home to grab some snacks and headed just out of town to Castle Gardens. This is a fabulous little area of BLM land... great rock formations and ancient junipers among the piñon pines. Unfortunately it's also crossed in many places by the tracks of dirt bikes. (sigh) We heard some further up the canyon but never actually saw them. Otherwise we had the place to ourselves.

So now it's back to work like everyone else. I spent a goodly chunk of yesterday writing text for a new set of interp signs, and will do so again today. I've also been charged with a little more photo research for the fine team at National Audubon, and of COURSE I want to finish the little bitty linocuts I started last week. Here, a monarch and a damselfly... image size 2.5 x 2.5, editions of 15.

(* Hey, bird-types... we should be using this word more often in our daily conversations. It has to do with kingfishers, ya know. )

Monarch, milkweed and my week

I think I've finished the last new piece for the exhibition at cultureclash next week! Hooray! Now I just have to hope that it dries in time to get fit in the frame. It's a little reduction linocut of a monarch from a sketch I made last summer down by the river, and for once I had the presence of mind to take photos as the process unfolded.

In a reduction linocut, the entire print is made from one block. For each successive color more material is carved away, so there's no going back.

Step one: The first color will ultimately only be seen on the underside of the butterfly's wings, but it lays the groundwork for the entire image. I carved away everything that was to remain the color of the paper. (Which is white, although in these shots it looks dark.)

Step two: A little more carving, and I can put down the color for the milkweed blooms and the underwing orange. That's the block on the left, the print on the right. Since the orange and pink colors are completely separate from each other in the final print, I can ink up both at the same time and save myself a step.


Step three: A bit more carving, and the leaf colors can go down. The blended greens were created by careful rolling with the brayer.


Last pass: Remove all the material from the block except those areas that will print black. And voila! Monarch and milkweed.