Welcome back into the studio, everyone! I’m happy that you have decided to stop by. Let me tell you what has been happening in the past few days. Apart from interruptions like the weather and too much football on TV, I actually managed to get a few things done in the studio. I got the fake Franklin Booth drawing delivered down to the Spring Bull Gallery in Newport - only to have the opening canceled because of a snow storm and parking bans. The opening has been postponed to this coming Saturday from 2 to 4 which is the exact same time as the opening of the Members Show at the Portsmouth Arts Guild. Of course these two places are at the opposite ends of Aquidneck Island… It’s gonna be a fun Saturday afternoon .
After making the frame for the lighthouse drawing, I had a few odd pieces of Butternut left over. Butternut is a wonderful carving wood, which is why I bought it in the first place. When I purchased it the thought of making a picture frame out of it had not entered my mind. Recently I have been doing some linoleum printmaking and the thought occurred to me that the Butternut might be a good printmaking wood. An experiment was born. The scrap I chose was a longish piece and I had some good sketches of whales….. I scanned the whale I wanted and transferred the image onto the block of wood and went over it with a Sharpie marker, defining the areas I wanted to print. Of course I forgot to document this process, but I will cover that in a later post. I honed my chisels and gouges and started right in.
Marker drawing on the block, starting to remove the area around the whale
The Butternut proved to be a fantastic wood for making a block to print with. It carved like butter!
You can see that it cut very cleanly, you can also see just how poorly sketched out it was - just an experiment.
Once the outline was cleared and the background removed down to a level that I thought would not print, I started in on the detail of the whale.
Using smaller gouges I began removing wood with more accuracy, the Butternut held up very nicely and didn’t put up much of a fight.
The first inking.
I made a quick print - this is the first chance to really see where adjustments need to be made. I did a quick cleanup and I re-carved some small details, but I feel like it was close - not too bad for a first attempt.
Inking
My printing press, don’t tell Carol….
Printing a block print can be quite straightforward. The simplest is just with a spoon. Some people like wooden spoons, some use a small class jar, like a baby food jar. And some use a baren - a tool actually made to do the job. I use my baren just to do the initial press down onto the ink, then I go over the image with the spoon to insure a good transfer of the ink.
So I made a few prints
And hung them up to dry
Now I just have to figure out just what to do with these small whale prints. I am thinking that I will use them as a ‘Thank You card’ when I package up prints or watercolors or other art that I sell on the web. I think it would be a nice personal touch.. Let me know what you think.
The other thing that has been keeping me busy this past week is preparation for the upcoming Members Show at the Portsmouth Arts Guild. I have been a member there for the past few years and am delighted to be associated with that group. The guild has provided me with so much inspiration and I have made so many new friends, a fine group indeed. The Guild provides open studio time, great classes and workshops and demonstrations as well as having several shows throughout each year. The upcoming show is the Members Show and is open to all members. The opening is Saturday January 24, 2026 from 2 to 4 PM. Please feel free to stop by and enjoy a wonderful show and gathering of artists and friends. I had three pieces I wanted to submit, and of course none of them were framed so it made for a busy week, as procrastination had pushed me to almost the very last minute. Below is my watercolor entry, Winter Shadows. It was done in my studio from a photo I took at the end of a hike on Christmas Day, just about a month ago. We had been hiking in Dartmouth Massachusetts at the Slocum’s River Reserve. and as we were getting back into the car I spotted this house across the field and took a picture through the windshield with my phone. The painting below is the result of that photo.
Winter Shadows - Original watercolor on Arches 300 GSM cold pressed paper, framed in Cherry
An interesting story about the frame. In the early 1970's my father bought a house for $1 with the stipulation that he remove the house from its property in one year's time. Dad was after the wood in this old farm house, he was a woodworker. It was situated just outside of Kenney, Illinois where Mom and Dad lived. Dad accomplished his goal, and the old house provided him with lots of local wood, as the house was constructed in the 1840's from locally sourced timber. He got three boards of cherry that he said were a full 22 inches wide and 15 feet long. They were shelves in the pantry of the house. Out of this cherry, he made a cradle for Jason. The cradle was treasured, and later our daughter Megan used this cradle as well. We even had grand children sleeping in the cradle years later. About a year ago we had a pipe burst in our cellar - where the cradle was stored. I thought I could save it but the water damage destroyed the bottom and several joints so with a heavy heart I salvaged what wood I could. This frame is made from that old farmhouse's pantry shelves that stood for over a hundred years near Kenney, Illinois, later to serve as a cradle for our kids and grandkids. I am happy to pass this wood along and hopefully it will bring someone just a little bit of pleasure.
Taos Pueblo Chapel - Original pen and ink drawing, 6X8 inches on Strathmore Series 400 Bristol
The image above is from our recent trip to Taos, New Mexico. It is of the Saint Geronimo Chapel at the Taos Pueblo, a World Heritage site. The pueblo is an adobe structure that has been continuously occupied for over 1000 years by the Puebloan people. This chapel serves the pueblo and the Red Willow people, was built in1850 after the older structure was destroyed. The original church built by Spanish missionaries was started in 1627. This drawing is from a photo I snapped during our visit and was completed in my studio.
Good Morning - Original linoleum cut print, 6x6 inches, oil based ink on archival paper
The image above entitled ‘Good Morning’ is of our dog Harper. This is the inquisitive smile I get every morning. Harper is a 7 year old Chiweenie and is big part of our lives. She goes everywhere with us and provides us with such happiness. The process of creating this is a lot like the whale example above except instead of a block of wood, it was cut from a linoleum block. I transferred my drawing to the block and cut it with the same tools. I have done an edition of 25 on Japanese mulberry paper with an oil based ink. This image that will hang in the show is on a smooth white archival printmaking paper by Richeson. It is an artist proof, meaning one of a kind, not part of an edition.
Framing ‘Winter Shadows’ for the Members Show
Above is a short video of the framing process of the cherry frame for my watercolor for the show. I hope you have enjoyed this post. I will post again in a week and update on the openings and on what is happening in the studio. I am open to suggestions if there is something you would like me to address. I have a couple of watercolors in the planning/development stage and several ideas for prints.. maybe even a commission or two in the works.
Thanks again for stopping by.