Lily S. May–Life with Art
This is a proof of my most recent block print. I've been using this blue water-based ink for proofing because it's easy to clean up. It gives me enough of an idea of the shapes and textures to see if I need to make any changes. For completed prints I use a washable oil based… Continue reading Portrait of a Wary Bird
Here's part of the proof of the lino block that I showed in my last post. The full print had a bit too much body and humorously looked like a cross between a cloud and sheep. When I played around with folding the paper, I preferred the image you see here. I'm going to print… Continue reading Amended Lino
This is another block print I recently made but did not enter in The Heart Show that the other four will be in. I felt this one--another version of a heart of fire--stood outside the series I had made and stood on its own. So, another time and place... The Heart Show--January 30 - February… Continue reading Another Heart and A Show
This is the 2nd block print that I've carved out of softoleum over the last two weeks. Softoleum is, as its name suggests, a softer than linoleum carving material. This print, like the one in my previous post, is around 4" x 6". I adapted the print from a line drawing I made a few years… Continue reading In the Beginning
I've just gotten back from a wonderful trip to Italy--somewhere I've never been. I didn't draw while there but saw some fabulous artwork and architecture and took many photos that I'll be showing here. On returning home I saw that a catalogue had been produced for BIMPE X, the miniature print exhibit I'd entered in… Continue reading The Print That Got In
This is the work I showed a detail of in my last post. It has gone through extreme changes and finally developed into this image that I am now going to stop working on and let be. In some ways it's an awkward piece and I felt it was trying to tell me something, so… Continue reading Raw
I've been looking for a new direction in my work over the past few months and have posted some of my ideas on the blog. Yet none of them have stayed with me as a path to follow--not the ideas for a dystopian card deck, nor the series on the heart. One thing I have… Continue reading Gouache Woodcut Collage
I'm going to enter four linocuts into another exhibit at Gerrard Art Space in Toronto. It'll be from the end of June into the first 2 weeks of July. One of the prints I've taken to my local framer is the one below. I carved it in the 1990s and for some reason that I… Continue reading Dream Linocut–The Search
It's a beastly day here in Toronto--the whole weekend we've had freezing rain and ice pellets. Wind and rain are due tonight. To the rescue comes a little linocut I made in the '80s or '90s. I unearthed this forgotten piece just before working on the prints I'm going to enter into the miniature print show,… Continue reading Little Face Lino
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
Arts of May 