lino block printing

Several months ago I signed up for a class at  The Art Tree  to try my hand at making lino  prints. Over the course of three weeks we carved and printed using a variety of materials. I’d done some of this printing years ago, but the softer carving materials which are now available make the process really enjoyable. During the course I carved several blocks with heart shapes, a baby portrait and an elaborate flower. I was hooked.

I’ve spent several evenings since then working with my friend, Susan Fae, carving and printing. In my usual enthusiastic manner, I ordered some supplies from  Curry’s Art Supply  in Toronto. Now I have enough block material to keep me occupied for quite some time!  (That time could be measured in years rather than months or weeks.)  I discovered that I love carving blocks. This is of course part of my problem – I love SO MANY THINGS!

I thought it would be fun to carve a design for a Christmas card. Here’s the snowman block I made. Notice that the snowman isn’t actually printed on a card yet, as I’m still getting a feel for the printing process. I like the effect of printing on a map and can’t wait to try other printed backgrounds.

Since I don’t need a lot of Christmas card designs, I figured a very usable image would be for thank you notes. I carved one version of “thank you” tonight.  I printed on tags which Susan Fae was going to recycle.  (She changed her mind and kept them for us to print on. She is learning to think like me.) I think they look great.

I’ve carved some background texture stamps, but I’m not sure what to carve next – there are just so many possibilities!  Any suggestions? I’ll post more photos of the printing session later.