100 Days of Hand-Carved Stamps: Week 9 Update

Week 9 yielded 10 newly carved shapes which included a circle, leaf, triangle, square, a skinny rectangle, and an exciting new shell! Read on to learn more about the inspiration behind each of these carved blocks and the fun prints they created...

 

57/100: No Dice Roll-Repeat Patterns Deep Dive 1 Class


Today marked the conclusion of Repeat Patterns - Deep Dive 1 workshop with Ali Baecker of 3 Dotted Penguins. Each session was packed with wonderful design inspiration and lots of practical tips for carving, stamping, playing with color, and so much more! If you are curious to learn about designing, carving, and stamping, I highly recommend Ali's online block printing classes!

In lieu of rolling the dice, I completed my homework assignment of designing, carving, and stamping a shell motif! I was surprised by how easy it was to print into different layouts demonstrated by Ali. There will definitely be more shell designs to come in my carving/stamping adventures.
And I am already looking forward to continuing my studies in her Repeat Patterns Deep Dive 2 class kicking off in June! Thank you Ali!!
"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom."
-Marcel Proust, French novelist

58/100: Skinny Rectangle + Artist's Choice

"If you want a place in the sun, you have to expect a few blisters."
-Loretta Young, American actress/Academy Award Winner
It's easy to get carried away with the printing process...so much so that I have a lovely blister on my thumb! My little boo boo inspired tonight's quick and easy carved bandaid design. Although once again I couldn't stop printing!

And more printing possibilities! I may now have a bit of a callous--but that is just a friendly reminder of all the printing fun I am having and will continue to have in the remaining weeks ahead!

59/100: Triangle + Pattern/Repetition

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."
-Elizabeth Appell, American Writer/Director
I accidentally ended up designing a repeat pattern, but it features some of my favorite patterns: dots, spirals, and radiating lines. That's my story and I am sticking with it! Once printed, it reminded me of a clematis flower with its tendrils climbing up a trellis! Enjoy!

60/100: Circle + Nature

"Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out."
-James Bryant Conant, American Chemist, President of Harvard University, and the first U.S. Ambassador to West Germany
Celebrating 60 days of making daily progress and putting myself out there with these block prints! Tonight focused on a turtle (or tortoise) shell. I had fun studying various shell designs and shapes before designing this one featuring carved spirangles.

I couldn't resist turning a few scraps into a head and tail while reusing a previously carved stamp for the feet. That little spikey stamp is super versatile making for great cactii flowers, used mandalas, and now turtle feet! I love my little printed turtles!

61/100: Triangle + Pattern/Repetition

"Good art is art that allows you to enter it from a variety of angles and to emerge with a variety of views."
-Mary Schmich, American Journalist
Exploring angles and patterns for tonight's carved block and prints. The larger triangle was subdivided into a variety of smaller triangles and filled in with some of my favorite carved textures. I wasn't sure how it would look once printed, but it turned out better than I had expected. 

62/100: Leaf + Nature

"Lean forward into your life...
catch the best bits and the finest wind.
Just tip your feathers in flight a wee bit
and see how dramatically that small lean
can change your life."
-Mary Anne Radmacher, Writer/Artist
Leaning forward and taking flight! A few weeks ago, my mother suggested carving a feather stamp. I found a "How to Draw a Feather" online tutorial that helped get me started. Initially I carved it in grey and did a bit more carving along the way. I especially loved overlapping grey and purple feathers, including the ghost prints for a delicate all over floating feathers print!

63/100: Square + Line

"The world is full of poetry. The air is living with its spirit; and the waves dance to the music of its melodies, and sparkle in its brightness."
-James Gates Percival, American Poet, Surgeon, and Geologist
Making waves dance with tonight's duo of carved stamps featuring the same motif rotated clockwise vs. counterclockwise for mirror image stamps. Repeating just one stamp yields an apple core/S-curve where the edges align. If you alternate between clockwise and counterclockwise blocks, you get a gorgeous clamshell/gingko leaves design!  

I had a hunch there was great design potential by overlapping both stamps and tried to visualize what it might entail. Wow! These overlapped prints totally exceeded my expectations as they created all kinds of amazing lines, stripes, and shapes including circles, leaves, diamonds, and stars! The more you look, the more you discover...

And that brings my total up to 63 days of hand-carved stamps. These carving/printing sessions also bring great delight to my day (usually my night) as I am in awe of new discoveries and designs! There's still more than a month remaining in my project, which I am sure will include more exploration and play ahead.


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