Carve December: Week 3

This was another great week of #CarveDecember with 17 newly carved stamps inspired by the provided prompts. Read on to learn more about my design inspiration which includes several holiday celebrations!

12/15: Soft

"Cotton: The fabric of our lives."

As I was carving/printing this evening, I reflected on cotton's impact on American history and my own life.

The cotton fluff is based on a clamshell shape although the stem and leaves/shell certainly introduces new printing possibilities!

12/16: Plaid

"Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy."
-Albert Einstein, German-born theoretical physicist

Going mad for plaid this evening. It all began with simple hashtags/pound signs which were then layered, rotated, and combined with Xs and Os to create plaids, snowflakes, and a Tic Tac Toe board!

12/17: Intricate

“Christmas is a box of tree ornaments that have become part of the family.”
— Charles M. Schulz, American cartoonist and the creator of the comic strip Peanuts

Today's intricate carve was inspired by the ornaments waiting to be hung on our Christmas tree. Seeing these prints inspires me to make wrapping paper/gift bags for next year!

After the printing was done, we pulled out our boxes of ornaments and decorated our Christmas tree. It was a joy to revisit each ornament and the many wonderful memories of family and friends.

12/18: Clear

"If you light a lantern for another, it will also brighten your own way."

-Nichiren, Japanese Buddhist priest and philosopher

Seeing this Coleman lantern ornament hanging on our Christmas tree reminded me of my Dad's collection of Coleman lanterns. 

He loved finding them at the flea market and bringing them home to refurbish. You can see him polishing the glass of one of his lanterns keeping it clear and bright.

12/19: Grunge

"Black socks, they never get dirty

The longer you wear them, the blacker they get

Sometimes I think I should wash them

But something keeps telling me

Don't do it yet, not yet, not yet, not yet"

Today's Grunge prompt reminded me of this Girl Scout summer campfire favorite (which was especially fun sang as a round).

Many thanks to my partner Doug for lending me his (clean) black socks for design inspiration. I too was wearing my favorite (clean) black socks!

12/20: Bubble

"Actually, any time I get to blow bubbles pretty much lights me up."

-David Helvarg, American Journalist/Environmental Activist

I was "bubbling" with excitement for today's carve. These prints were a whole "lava" fun as new layouts kept "flowing." The background liquid involved the lighter ghost prints, so after a while I started incorporating the first stamp into its own festive print!

Wishing y'all hippie holidays!!

12/21: Texture

"Like a snake sheds its skin, we are capable of getting rid of assembled habits, creating space to call matters into question."

-Erik Pevernagie, Belgian painter and writer

Studying lizard skin for today's texture prompt. Lots of printing potential including repeat patterns, rotations, and ghost prints...

...layering the designs in alternate directions/shades

And I was especially intrigued by the dimension achieved when offsetting the prints to create shadows!

Here is my growing collection of hand-carved blocks from the first 3 weeks...

And all 21 index cards with their respective blocks...

Stay tuned for more block printing fun and inspiration!