Printsy Thursday #6.

Ok - It has been two weeks since my last Printsy Thursday post - and I do feel a little bad - because there are so many wonderful Printsy artists that need to be shown!

My favorite Printsy artist this week is Jennifer of LittleBirdDesigns. How great are these images of household appliances( and the ever elusive cupcake)? They look like they could just start speaking to you. I sometimes feel that my appliances are my friends - when they are working away while I take a sip of my tea... The best is when you can get two working at the same time (oven and washing machine for example). It's the only way I can delegate these days ...

So when I saw Jennifer's work - it really hit a cord with me. Needless to say her images of Scottish fishing villages are right up my alley too - check out this wonderful town. Looks familliar - and really captures the essence of the character of those small towns!

So thanks for looking and if you love your washer as much as I do - pick up a print for the laundry room to let it know!

Printsy Interview - Me

Thanks so much to Viza for interviewing me in this week's Printsy Blog post. Check it out here. There is a new interview up each week -so check it out - it's a great way to see how printmakers develop their work.


This is me - printing in the kitchen.

Ok - enough for today!

Home Sick.

I don’t know how your houses are this winter – but mine seems to be full of little sickies. Well, one little sick person in particular. My son has gotten every type of cough/cold – flu and earache for the last three weeks. So today, he is with me at home recovering again. I needed to make a few new prints of The House Next Door, so he decided to try his hand at creating his own print.

This is a really fun and easy activity to do with kids.

First he drew his idea onto the rubbery stamp material. It’s good to leave a bit of space between the elements so that the cutting tool has enough room to delineate each clearly. (please note PJ chic)


With smaller children ( and even big ones) it is important to show the proper way of holding the block while you cut– Behind your cutting hand. It is easy – even on these soft blocks to have the cutting tool get away from you and slip forward – this can make a nasty cut if your hand is in the way.



So here he is cutting out the negative space ( those areas which will not have ink).

Ok – all inked up (put on with rolling brayer for an even coating – nice and thick). I use an old picture glass from a frame that broke - watch the corners for sharp edges.



Try a test first to make sure that all of the areas look right – if not – then you can go in again to cut away more. I use water-based ink so cleaning up is really easy. The ink does stain clothes.


And here are the final prints – with some mixed media (crayon) embellishment. He is ready to open his own shop – what do you think?? They are titled "Rocket Off".

Now this is fun!

Now this is fun!

I had this urge last month to take some pictures of houses in my neighborhood. There are some great house shapes on my street. Some are Sears’s kit houses from the 20’s and this one is a Victorian from the late 1800’s. This image shows a linoleum block that I cut out using the victorian as a reference – a sort of portrait.


The best part about linoleum printing is how satisfyingly quick and easy the printing is. Carving the block is another story. I used my rolling pin and meat pounder to press the paper onto the block– but will upgrade to real tools as soon as I have a chance.


These are the first prints. I plan on doing some in bright colors – I love seeing the multiples.


On a couple I have painted in the sky with gouache, which gives a moody feeling. Check them out in my shop when you have a chance and let me know if anyone has any good tricks for printing. I have a hard time getting the ink to print completely evenly.

All for tonight…