Long due for an update!

What's been going on?! No posts since May, I can't believe it. Well, I can, really, that's just the way artists are. I've been remodeling and catching up on home projects again and I seem to be a one-project-at-a-time person.

The latest always available on my website, of course. But here is a print I just finished for a donation to the Japan Tsunami survivors. The prints will be available for sale and I will update when and where in the online world. All proceeds go to the survivors.
Here is my contribution:

Print Title: Inspired by Japan

Paper Dim: 10 x 15 inches

Image Dim: 8 x 12.5 inches

Block: Five cherry blocks

Pigment or ink: Oil based Daniel Smith inks and shimmer-pearl pigment

Paper: Rives Moulin du Gue

Edition: 64 

Comments: The theme “Inspired by Japan” immediately brought images of cherry trees and cherry blooms, the ocean and the delicate legacy of Japanese prints.

All those images are far from my usual work, but I decided that I would honor the Japanese in this dedication and try to work my image accordingly. I went to the web and immediately fell in love with the shape of a map of Japan. After printing out a bunch of cherry trees, blooms and maps, the image came together of the islands that compose Japan bathed in cherry blooms and buds, signifying beauty and renewal.

The background was printed with shimmer-pearl and heavily embossed to simulate both ocean and the cherry wood I love to carve.

A couple of details:

That's about it. The cherrywood was hard and tough to carve and I tried to give the print that Japanese feeling. I enjoyed it even though I was too much of a coward to do it in the traditional Japanese waterbased pigment style. I thought it came out pretty neat even though you can't see the pearl shining in the ocean on the web pics.