Rainy Days and New Years, or, Let's Go 2020!

Studio window view on a rainy December day

One of the things about life in Maine that still puzzles me is the persistence of rain through the winter months. Back home in the Rockies winter precipitation came in the form of snow... maayybe sleet once in a while, but not rain. Rain was for summer afternoons, if we were lucky.

But here I am on a Friday afternoon at the end of December, watching the rain come down, and it's definitely NOT summer. I've got a fire going in the wood stove, a cup of tea at hand... and the 2020 calendar laid out in front of me. Holy cow, it's already getting full!

2019 has been a year full of making connections and finding my way in a community that is still new to me. I'm thankful for the support and camaraderie of collectors, students, colleagues, and friends across the United States and across the pond, and I hope I'll have the opportunity to spend time with all of you in the new year ahead... at exhibitions, workshops... or the local coffee shop.

My last completed linocut of 2019 was a pair of shirts for my grand-nephews, who will both turn two years old in March. "Let's Go!" seemed to be an appropriate theme for the lives of busy toddlers, but as I carved the lettering I thought perhaps it was also a good attitude to be embraced by their grand-auntie. I didn't make myself a shirt (yet)... but I've already got a photo of one of the little goobers wearing his... and I'm keeping it nearby to inspire me in the year ahead.

2020? Let's Go!

Hoppiness is a toad linocut

Ready to print!

Perhaps I should call it a toad-o-cut. This cheery fellow is part of a small contract job that just came up for one of our local natural resource agencies.

Once common in montane habitats (7,000-12,000 feet elevation) here in the southern Rockies, the boreal toad (Bufo boreas boreas) population has declined significantly in the last 20 years, due in part to infection by the Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) chytrid fungus. 

The boreal toad is listed as an endangered species in both Colorado and New Mexico, and is a protected species in Wyoming. One of its strongholds lies in the national forest on the western boundary of my county, and last year I worked with the US Forest Service and Colorado Parks and Wildlife to create an information kiosk about that critical toad habitat. Our little buddy here will expand that public information effort by appearing on some cautionary signs.

I'd watch my step if I saw this, wouldn't you?