Rabbit Foot

Rabbit Foot

Chiarascuro Linocut 5"X 7"

2016

Chiaroscuro Chipmunk

Chipmunk

Chiaroscuro linocut 7" X 5"

2016

This little chipper moved into our new stone wall about five minutes after the first stones were placed. Since then he's snuck into our basement/garage to steal sunflower seeds out of the bag. Once he tried to escape Rumi, our kind-hearted cockapoo, by running up the downspout of our rain gutter. Too slippery! So he was stuck there with his tail end hanging out. Rumi just wished he'd come out and play!

Another Chiaroscuro Critter

Bobcat

Chiaroscuro Linocut 5"X7"

2016

Chiaroscuro Linocuts

Saving Nails

Chiaroscuro Linocut 5"X 7"

2016

I’m trying my hand at chiaroscuro (key-are-oh-scu-ro) block printmaking. The word is Italian—chiaro = light, oscuro = dark—and it’s used to describe the dramatic effect of contrasting light and dark areas in artwork. Chiaroscuro woodcuts originated in the 16th Century and were comprised of three or more tones—dark (black), light (white highlights), and middle (one or more subtle colors to suggest shading). "Saving Nails" is my first attempt. It's the cover illustration for my husband Tom's third book of poetry due out this Fall with Moon Pie Press of Westbrook, Maine. 

  

Here's my second chiaroscuro linocut—"Great Horned Owl"—and a breakdown of the process. 

Great Horned Owl

Chiaroscuro Linocut 4"X6"

2016

I began with a photograph I took of a great horned owl at Birdsacre, in Ellsworth, Maine. It's a wildlife sanctuary that provides habitats for birds and gives shelter to permanently injured birds unable to survive in the wild. 

 I used two blocks of linoleum and two colors for my chiascuro owl print. 

Key Block

First I carved the key block, which could stand alone as a black-and-white print.    

Tone Block with White Highlights

Then I carved white highlights out of the tone block and printed it in burnt sienna. 

Finished Print

Finally I printed the black key block over the burnt sienna print. 

Tonka

Tonka

5" X 7" colored pen-and-ink drawing

2016

"Thank you again for doing such a beautiful job on Tonka's portrait. Our friends John and Celeste were very touched. They absoutely love it.

They have a whole bunch of cats, so maybe they'll decide to commission a series!"

~Michael and Marleen

Fairfax, California

Misty

Misty

8" X 10" pen-and-ink drawing

2016

"Thank you so much for the portrait of Misty. It's PERFECT. I cannot wait for my mom to see it--she's going to fall in love!! You are so talented...I'm continually amazed at all your work.'

~Kristin
Fairway, Kansas

Cabbage Hands, a reduction print in progress

Cabbage Hands in Yellow

Linoleum block print -- two blocks, four colors

8" X 10"

2016

Here's how I did it:

First I carved out all the white areas -- background, cabbage veins, fingernails. 

Then I printed flesh color.

I decided I wanted the option of printing a colored background, so I had to carve a new block for that as I'd already carved out the background on the first block. I printed the background in four colors -- yellow, blue, green, and silver. 

Then I carved out the hands on the first block and printed purple.

I decided that the purple was too dark so I reprinted it in a lighter color.  

Finally I printed the black key block.

This is just the black key block.

Cabbage Hands in Blue

Linoleum block print -- two blocks, four colors

8" X 10"

2016

Cabbage Hands in Silver

Linoleum block print -- two blocks, two colors

8" X 10"

2016

Cabbage Hands in White

Linoleum block print -- one block, three colors

8" X 10"

2016

BTW, that's Tom's home-grown cabbage and, of course, his hands!

Twisted Carrots

Twisted Carrots

Reduction Linoleum Block Print

One block: five colors

4" X 6" 

2016

Tom has decided he likes vegetable art for a change, so I carved this lino-block print for him for our 33rd wedding anniversary. Yes, he grew the twisted carrots! 

I'm fascinated with reduction prints because they're such brutal brain teasers. One block. Five colors. Multiple printings. Painstaking registery. I just wonder when I'll ever get the hang of it!

Three Jack Russells

Seamus

Rough-coated Jack Russell terrier

4" X 6" colored pen-and-ink

2016

Otis

Smooth-coated Jack Russell terrier

4" X 6" colored pen-and-ink

2016

Lucy

Broken-coated Jack Russell terrier

4" X 6" colored pen-and-ink

2016

Three Terrier Triptych

These are the first PenPets portraits I've drawn in our new town (Belfast, Maine), in my new backyard studio, in a new size (4" X 6"). They're perfect examples of the different coats Jack Russells come in -- rough, smooth, and broken.