Happy New Year!

The Holidays are almost over and it's been a fun season for us. I'm working toward some art progress photos after the Christmas decorations are packed away. In the meantime, we made our annual trip to Longwood Gardens for inspiration and holiday festivities. I'm sharing some of my favorite photos with you.

Inspiring Maine!

 I took a brief break from the studio to visit Maine, the rocky coast, and family.  It is so inspiring to see the beautiful autumn colors Maine has to offer!  It was a lovely trip!  I always fine joy in the scenery there!

Hope to post some "in progress photos" later this week from the studio.  In the meantime, here are a few shots from the rocky coast!

Getting back to work...

 Now that the studio tour has passed, I am back to work on new subjects for the white line woodcuts.  I am also pulling a second print from some of the favorites.  My supply of finished work is looking depleted!

I wanted to get a print of Owl's Head Lighthouse finished before the tour, but a family emergency prevented it.  It feels good to get back to work and move ahead with this print.

Here are some photos of things in various stages of progress.  I'm also pulling another small print of Pemaquid Lighthouse.  No photo yet. 

The large prints can take over 130 hours to complete.  This is a demanding process, but so worth it.

 

Farmers Market flowers

 

Hendricks Head Lighthouse, I just love that red roof!!

 

Savannah road Magnolia, transferring to the block.  This one is 16 x 20.

 

Owl's Head Lighthouse, the block is carved.  This will be a 18 x 24 print.

Lewes Artists Studio Tour!

 Thanks so much to everyone who came out to enjoy the beautiful day on Saturday!  The winner of the drawing was Sean from Baltimore!

We got to speak with lots of guests Saturday.  Many of the visitors had no experience with Provincetown Printmaking and were curious about the process.

I had a question from a visitor that I thought would be a great topic to address in the blog.  The guest asked me how a novice art collector should get started.  In thinking about it after the tour, I came up with a few suggestions from my own experience.  Here they are!

Buy original art.  This is probably the most important suggestion I can make.  If your budget is small, you can always find something that is original in your price range.

Buy what you LOVE!  I've often seen people buying art from artists because it's trendy or popular to collect someones work.  If you don't love it, you won't want to look at it everyday for the next decade (or longer).  The first painting we purchased is still hanging in a conspicuous place in our home 40 years later.  I never get tired of seeing it.

Buy the best piece of art you can afford on your budget.  One of my biggest regrets as a collector is walking away from a purchase to save a few dollars.  I went back the next year and not only was the painting gone, but so was the artist.

Start somewhere.  Visit outdoor art shows and gallery exhibits to get a feel for the kind of art that makes you happy.  Look at pricing, gather the names of artists whose work you like, visit their studios.

Support women artists.  I was told by a well published art historian that only 3% of all the art in all the museums in the world is women's art.  In 2022 this is shocking to me!

Thanks again to all who turned out and especially to the patrons who supported my art! 

A HUGE thank you to Leanne Wilkinson for the generous donation to print the art tour brochures!!

 

Lewes Artists Studio Tour

 It's almost here!  I'm looking forward to seeing old and new faces this year!  I've been working to get ready all month and thought I would share these last prints I finished just in time for the tour!  Hope you can make it out on Saturday.

"Lobster Trappings III"

"Mary Vessels Park II"

It's that time of year again!

 We're getting close to the Lewes Artists Studio Tour!  If you haven't been on the tour before this is a great opportunity for you to see the studios of working artists up close.  I'm excited to be on the tour for the second year.  You can look forward to seeing new prints and drawings and paintings as well as some of my textile pieces.

https://www.lewesartistsstudiotour.com/ 

A special thank you to the Lewes Chamber of Commerce https://www.leweschamber.com/ for always distributing the brochures and maps for us.  Also a big thanks to the Lewes Line (https://www.ci.lewes.de.us/363/Lewes-Line), who are distributing brochures and will be happy to direct you to the studios that are along the line.  Free parking is available for the Lewes Line at Cape Henlopen High School, and at the trail head at the Lewes Public Library, and at the Cape May-Lewes Ferry Terminal.  Ride tickets may be purchased for 5 dollars for 12 rides around town or on the bus.  Individual rides are 1 dollar.  You can download the app and see where the bus is in real time.

 Also, many of the local restaurants have graciously been distributing brochures for the tour!  Visit them!

Raas:  https://www.raaslewes.com/

Bramble and Brine:  https://megancollective.com/

Harbor restaurant:  https://www.harbourlewes.com/

Nectar Lewes:  https://www.cafenectar.com/ 

Fish On:  https://fishonlewes.com/  

 

Here's a new print I did for fun!  "Pumpkin Time" at Ray's Produce at the Brush Factory in Lewes!

New Prints!

 I'm looking forward to the Lewes Artists Studio Tour this September 17th!  Thought I would share a few new prints that will be at my studio.  The first is West Point Lighthouse in Puget Sound, the second is Mary Vessels Park in Lewes.  More information about this year's tour in a later post!!

New works in progress

I'm back to work in the studio this week and thought I would take a moment to share some drawings and prints in progress.  I'm so inspired by the rocky coasts of Maine and Washington state!!  I also found some inspiration right here in Lewes!  Looking forward to making these completed prints!  The first print in progress is West Point Lighthouse in Puget Sound, the second is Les Trois Amis, Rockport Maine.  Still on the blocks so they might seem a little distorted.

The drawings are of Rays pumpkins, at the Brush Factory in Lewes, The Gazebo at Mary Vessels park in Lewes, and Owl's Head Lighthouse in Maine.  I'm also pulling another print of "Lobster Trappings" with the hope of having it ready for the Studio tour this September!  So many sources of inspiration, so little time!!

New Inspiration

 I just got back from a wonderful visit to the Pacific Northwest!  I haven't had time to put inspiration onto paper yet but I got some fantastic photographs while I was there.  Thought I would share some!  From the Rain forest in the Olympics to the Glaciers in the Cascades and of course, Mt. Rainier!  The glacier and lake at about 5000 feet, was reached by hiking about 5 miles and 1400 feet in elevation over very rugged rocky terrain.  It was worth it!

There are landscapes and lighthouses too.  I have a year's worth of inspiring scenes to look forward to making into drawings and prints!

Artistic Inspiration

 I've never thought of myself as a photographer.  I have won a few awards for photographs, but I don't see the medium as a sole creative outlet for me.  That said, I have had a camera in my hands since my first Brownie when I was a very young girl.  I am a good art school student in that I never leave home without one or more cameras.  These become the inspiration for much of my work.  Some of them are inspiring in their own right.  Here are a few.

 

Fog over Brooklyn- From the top of the Millennium Hilton NYC

 

Tree of Life

 

Rialto Beach

Lewes Beach after the storm

Winter sky Red Mill Pond

Rialto Beach Cobble

New prints

Lobster Lane- Owl's Head ME

Petunia- Rockport ME

The Bell House-Pemiquid ME

 I did a series of photographs of this print as I was working on it.  I thought it would be fun to share the progression from start to finish of the printing process.  In all I spent about 100 hours on this large print.

I started working the sky and the rocks first.  I chose this woodblock because of the grain and hoped I could use it in the making of the clouds, which are very distinctive in this location.

More detail was added to the rocks.  This was by far the most time consuming part of this print.

I then layered in color in the bell house and the shading of the windows and shadows of the lighthouse.

The nearly complete print.  I had to add in some of the grasses with a rigger.

Finished print!

New print- "Les Trois Amis- Rockport ME"

 I've completed a first pull of one of the new white line woodcuts I'm working on this spring.  Since I'm moving away from botanical works in these new prints, I'm learning a lot.  I'll probably do another pull of this print because I enjoyed playing around with the color in the shading so much.

I chose this particular wood block for this print because I thought the wood grain looked like moving water.

Les Trois Amis- Rockport ME  (18x24)

Spring is coming!

 I took a winter break from the blog, but NOT from working!!  I am playing with some new themes in my work.  Also revisiting some old friends, especially my favorite lighthouse.  I'm holding off sharing the lighthouse print for now though, I may do something special with it when it's finished.

The daffodils are just starting to appear here at the beach, and with the exceptionally warm temperatures today, I suspect they will be blooming soon.  Summer won't be far away!

Drawings and prints in progress, they make me dream of warm summer days.  These are some of the more than 12 new prints I hope to complete this spring.

Happy Monday!