There’s some serious gear-shifting going on in the studio these days. The Woolworth Windows murals are white walls again, ready for the next artist to transform the space. Prop Cake is sold out, and we’re down to the very last Tugboat Thea (now sold out, too—thanks!). I’m preparing to teach a digital letterpress class at the School of Visual Concepts next month, and my new artist book project is beginning to take shape (more on that topic later). I feel like I’m in that tiny, transitional moment between exhale and inhale.
In between all these deep breaths and ambitious projects, I’ve been getting back to basics, and enjoying the simple mechanics of drawing, carving, and printing images. No fancy photopolymer plates this time—just ink, paper, watercolor, and good old linoleum blocks.
What started as an excuse to get my little Kelsey tabletop press in working order has turned into a budding interest in birding. There is a stunning array of avian wildlife in the region; I’m just creating a tiny illustrated cross-section of what’s out there.
The suite tweet of prints is called Flock, and the first nine are currently on display at the Rosewood Café in Tacoma until July 31.
Each print is a hand-colored linocut, printed in an edition of 25, and priced (unframed) at $25. There will be 25 birds in all, and at the end of the series, there will be ten handmade boxed sets—each containing all 25 birds.
If you can’t make it to the Rosewood (the prints there are framed and priced at $100), you can find the birds on Etsy. I’ll be printing more birds in August, and the Flock box sets will be finished sometime in February—eight of the ten sets are spoken for already, but if you’re interested, feel free to drop me a line. I’ll just be in the studio, happily chirping, cawing, quacking, and twittering away.
