words + pictures from the studio of Joan Colbert
You are currently browsing articles tagged linocut.
Three prints from the ‘pod’ series were recently loaned to the Akron Community Foundation. Each features a linocut print within a woodcut of a pod from the Chinese Lantern plant.
left to right: Peas + Pod, Skeleton, Lantern Plant
Many thanks to Chris Miller for the invitation – along with pick-up, delivery and installation!
image: Lantern Plant, woodcut/linocut
Tags: Chinese Lantern plant, linocut, printmaking, relief print, woodcut
Foxglove
Digitalis purpurea
“The operation of this herb, internally taken, is often violent, even in small doses: it is best therefore not to meddle with it, lest the cure should end in the churchyard.”
Nicholas Culpeper (1616 – 1654)
Tags: as potent as a charm, digitalis, foxglove, linocut, printmaking, relief print
The Solanaceae prints seemed complete when the fifth one was printed, but apparently there will be a new addition to the family. Envisioning a triptych, I decided to add another pairing that plays off of the tabletop motif of two of the earlier prints. When complete this sixth image will feature Datura stramonium and Physalis alkekengi, Chinese Lantern plant.
Tags: Chinese Lantern plant, Datura, linocut, linoleum print, moth, printmaking, Solanaceae
Took a break from black ink and relief prints to work with watercolor, pastel and color (!) in this portrait of Ava, a fawn-colored Doberman.
Commissioned for a gift, there’s a bit of a ‘small world’ story to go with the artwork. The purchaser now lives in China, but the recipient is local. Apparently Ava lived nearby several years ago and participated in a monthly dog walk that was dubbed the Pooch Patrol. One of the evening strolls, and snapshots of the event, inspired my print, Ready to Walk – and there she is, with a couple of her walking buddies! Who knew?!
images:
Ava, mixed media
Ready to Walk, block print
Tags: Doberman, dog, linocut, mixed media, pastel, pet portrait, printmaking, watercolor
The mandrakes, Mandragora, make another appearance in the As Potent as a Charm series – this time in the fifth pairing from the Solanaceae family. Apparently they’ve been unearthed by a hapless dog that couldn’t resist digging in the dirt. Their underground relative, the potato, is a much kinder, gentler variety of nightshade.
image: Scuttle, block print
Click on the links to read more about As Potent as a Charm or check out the mandrakes in Red as a Beet.
Tags: dog, linocut, mandrake, nightshade, potato, printmaking, relief print, Solanaceae
Oh, those Best Laid Plans . . . which seems an apt title for another pairing from the plant family Solanaceae. That’s Henbane, Hyoscyamus niger, causing the chicken to be a little, uh, chicken. This is the fourth print of unlikely familial pairs from the nightshade family. Although the related vegetable isn’t visible in the above detail, the logical partner for henbane is (what else?) eggplant!
image: Best Laid Plans, block print
Tags: block print, chicken, egg, eggplant, henbane, linocut, printmaking, relief print, Solanaceae
Of the five planned botanical prints of Solanaceae pairs, four combine a poisonous plant with a vegetable. The remaining one is a floral, featuring Deadly Nightshade and Petunia. The edition of Loves Me Not is finished – and it’s a good guess that the romance is too! There’s no doubt that Atropa belladonna (Deadly Nightshade) is heartless, but the pretty Petunia? In the Language of Flowers it actually symbolizes anger and resentment.
Tags: belladonna, block print, deadly nightshade, linocut, petunia, poison, printmaking, Solanaceae, wasp
It figures. Last week I printed the small edition of the woody nightshade/tomato print and a day later decided I was somewhat unhappy with it. It was that darn black sheep, living up to his troublemaking reputation. Actually, it really was the black sheep, but the problem was my fault. His curly fur was too busy and too distracting. It was very tempting to just recut the block, but first I decided to try my hand at pochoir and change the existing print.
Using a stencil (the French/English translation of pochoir) I was able to lightly roll ink over the small area of white curlicues and successfully redeem the disappointing image.
Pleased with the results, I titled the print, Bittersweet, not just for the woody nightshade wallpaper, but for the happy ending.
Tags: black sheep, linocut, pochoir, poison, printmaking, relief print, Solanaceae, stencil, tomato, woody nightshade
Things are heating up both inside and out! Smokin’ Hot is the most recent addition to the Solanaceae prints, combining the fierce Capsicum (chili pepper) with its deadly cousin Nicotiana tabacum (tobacco).
For more information on the series visit As Potent as a Charm on my website.
Tags: block print, chili pepper, linocut, printmaking, relief print, skeleton, Solanaceae, tobacco
It’s exciting to finally begin printing the pieces in the Solanaceae group, the newest in the As Potent as a Charm series. Solanaceae contains both botanical bad guys and garden favorites, so each will feature an unlikely pairing, such as the Tomato, Solanum lycopersicum, with Woody Nightshade, Solanum dulcamara, in this yet to be titled print.
Tags: block print, linocut, poison, printmaking, Solanaceae, tomato, woody nightshade
