linocut wrapping paper

I decided to try making my own wrapping paper this year. I have plenty of Wondercut linoleum, so I got out my cutters and gave it a go! Below are the results:



I will do a lot of things differently next year, such as:
-Make larger "stamps" so that I can get more printed with each inking.
-Wrap gifts first, then print. Since my stamps were small and not totally covering every part of my craft paper, on some gifts I've wound up having very little printing in prominent places, ack!
-Reink EVERY print. I thought I'd save time and energy by using each stamp twice before re-inking. I also thought the faded, rustic look would be desirable... in the end, I think it looks too.. country? and not crisp enough for my taste.
-Maybe use ink instead of paint? I used paint because I have tons of it and it's cheaper than ink, but sometimes maybe you get what you pay for?

Treetop Love Factories

Dear blog, I finished my newest linocut yesterday. I finally broke down and bought some big sheets of linoleum and new cutting tools. I got a set of 4 Namisei Moku Hanga To cutters, and I am incredibly happy with them. I bought Blick's Wondercut linoleum, and it cuts like a dream.

I got the idea for this woodcut from a National Geographic article about Redwood trees that are so huge that other trees grow on their limbs and get big enough to produce cones. I had this image in my mind of little villages or factories all on tree limbs, and maybe the tree limbs were so large that the villages and/or factories weren't even aware that they weren't on the ground. But, obviously the trees in the linocut are leaning more towards birches than redwoods.

handmade salmon

Dear blog,
I've been making lots of salmon-related things lately. First was my halloween costume, then my newest woodcut.
The new woodcut, which I think I'm calling "Upstream", is aaaalmost my biggest yet. I have sore hands to prove it.
My Halloween costume was made out of 3/4" foam, which I painted in a salmon-y fashion. I then made it into a sash with a ribbon.

new Etsy shop

I just opened a brand new Etsy shop exclusively for woodcuts. Although they come from wood, they have such a different feel from the things in my original Etsy shop, I thought they warranted their own place. Check it!


I'm going to be hard at work producing more woodcuts over the next few months, because I just found out that I'm going to be having a solo show at a gallery here in Anchorage!

2 new woodcuts

I finished these woodcuts in record speed. I have a portfolio review for a solo show today, so I wanted to finish a few more woodcuts to round out my collection.
I like to show both the black and white, and painted versions of the woodcuts because they have totally different feels and appeal to different people.
I wanted to incorporate salmon into a woodcut somehow, and I was really at a loss and couldn't come up with any ideas that I liked. I had only 3 days to begin and complete this woodcut, and I wasted an entire day rummaging through ideas in my head trying to find something I liked. Luckily, the next morning the idea just popped into my head. I love it when my subconscious brain chimes in and solves creative dilemmas.

framed woodcuts

Yesterday I framed 6 woodcuts to go in a gallery here in Anchorage. I think they look really nice in their new frames. This will be the first time I've shown and attempted to sell any woodcuts, so I'm pretty excited. There were some older ladies at the frame shop who were pretty crazy for my prints, which is exciting because I would certainly not expect them to be my audience.
"Contrast & Compare"
"Wind, Power"
"Cacti, bike, yard"
"Street"
"Products from the Sky"
"Gifts from God"

new necklaces

I just finished some new necklaces for an Anchorage gallery. There will be some funkier, chunkier ones on the way as well!