Lily S. May–Life with Art
Some highlights from the past week: First, The Proofs: I've continued working on rough proofs, trial block prints, that I'll be submitting to BIMPE--Biennial International Miniature Print Exhibition. I've gotten them to the point where I'm ready to print them in their final form. Here's the three of them. I think of the first as… Continue reading Proofs and the Past
As I'm going through my old journals, I find forgotten elements--particularly the content of dreams. A few weeks ago, I came upon a curious and appealing dream fragment from June of 1993. At that time, I awoke with words telling me that centuries would pass before we discovered that the "L" in "Lion" was understood… Continue reading The Lion’s Birdnote
The 21 Heart Salute miniature cards are back from the printer. I'm very happy with the way they turned out. Here's photos of some of them. As I mentioned, I've put the deck in my etsy shop as well.
As I continue to reconsider some of the prints I made 20 to 40 years ago, I have realized that this work is part of a process of rescuing my younger self. As part of that, I have returned to a miniature card deck I made in 1995, a year after I made the larger… Continue reading 21 Heart Salute
I have one of my favourite linocuts hanging in my work room. Here’s a photo of it, wrinkles and all. I made this linocut in 1990 under my birth name, so not to wonder what’s up with the name—if you’re interested in such things. I call this print The Rose Tattoo after a dream I… Continue reading The Rose Tattoo Linocut
In an earlier post, I showed two origami models I made from old prints. Here's another related model, though more complex than the previous ones. I love this puzzle purse design which you can open and close with a twist. I used part of an old woodcut to fold the model. When closed, it measures 3 inches… Continue reading Woodcut Origami
I’m continuing to refashion my old linocuts and woodcuts. I’ve been thinking of quilting some of my prints for a few years and decided to begin the process with this small 5 x 7 inch linocut. Once again, my aim was to do the work with a sense of freedom. That’s why I used large… Continue reading Paper Quilt from “Flower Elephants” Linocut
As I’ve continued looking through my old prints and refashioning them, I came upon another linocut I made in the 1970s that I called Roots and Ruins. This is a scene from my visits to the Virgin Islands years ago. A favourite site of mine was a place, now wooded, which had once held a… Continue reading Roots and Ruins
Here are the origami models I mentioned in the last post. I made them from parts of an abstract linocut, Introspection, which I printed in the 1970s and recently coloured with pigment markers. I then thought of making a larger pinwheel envelope out of waxed paper. I put the others inside where they could be… Continue reading Mail Art Origami & Waxed Paper
I often find that during the process of making art work, I experience physical pain from repetitive movements. Oil painting at an easel was the only pain free work that I’ve done. And so, a few weeks ago, I took a break from making booklets out of old prints and rose from sitting to standing. … Continue reading Small Collages Out of Old Prints
Arts of May 