It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything. Sorry about that. Winter has been a struggle here in PA, as in many other areas in the northeast. I haven’t been out shooting very much which tends to make me cranky. But I did make it to the Flower Show in Philadelphia with my family and took a lot of point-and-shoot photos, which felt great.

I will soon embark on a new artistic endeavor, known by several names: block printing, lino printing, and relief printing. It’s all the same thing, as far as I can tell. Think of it as creating your own rubber stamps to create art. I’m still gathering supplies and ideas right now. I bought a handle, carving blades and a few practice pieces. Ordered an actual starter kit that has a tube of black ink, the rubber roller to spread the ink (called a brayer), an inking tray, another handle and some duplicate carving blades. With two handles and multiple blades, I won’t have to switch blades constantly, just which handle I’m using. It seemed like a good idea.

I’m pretty excited but also a bit intimidated by it as I never considered myself much of an “artist.” Drawing and creating from scratch doesn’t come easily to me. I’ve seen some work online by incredibly talented (and patient) artists using this printing process. Their designs can get quite intricate. I plan to start off slowly and on a small scale, building up from there. Perhaps creating some collages, in addition to single subject prints.

I’ve been bugging a coworker for information, suggestions, and general thoughts. Hopefully she wasn’t too annoyed with all of my beginner questions. I’ve been told this gets pretty messy and I’m not ready for that just yet. But since I don’t have the ink or anything to print, I have time to prepare and gather newspapers to cover the table (and floor underneath).

We’ll see where this goes. Stay tuned…