Lily S. May–Life with Art
During December I did a series of pencil drawings of objects around me that I like--many of them handmade and beautiful for their non-perfection. I haven't drawn with pencil recently and I did so while seeing if I could come up with ideas for a miniature print competition I'm thinking of entering. The ideas for… Continue reading Drawing and Printing
As we move into winter in the north, I'll be counting the seconds as longer days return.
Global warming is on my mind every day. It is with me in the art work I do. I tend to do most of my work without a lot of detailed planning because that keeps the process more alive for me. So it's not that I decide: ok, today I'll make an image related to… Continue reading The Global Climate Strike
I've spent a few weeks seeing if I could come up with a plan to turn two paragraphs of my writing into a linocut--the actual words, that is. At first the plans had little grace, then the reality of carving so many letters felt stifling. A few words here and there is something I enjoy,… Continue reading Box Mask Print
I began carving this print last month on gomuban, a Japanese carving material that's like a synthetic rubber, similar to linoleum but smoother and a little easier to carve. It began as lines and shapes of movement and developed into an expression of love of plants and flowers. I had recently been to Le Jardin… Continue reading Botanical Garden
Here's two very small prints--under four inches longest side each--that I made while thinking of entering a print exchange in the UK. Nothing was going smoothly and I finally decided not to enter the show. The first one morphed from a sunny face into one that began looking like some politicians I dislike and into… Continue reading Two Tiny Prints & A Show
Yesterday I printed the "Portrait of a Wary Bird" in black oil based ink. It's on a lovely Japanese paper whose name I have unfortunately misplaced. Here she or he is:
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
I'm still out here. I've been ill off and on but now I want to show you what I've been doing over the last month. First of all I received the catalogue for the international miniature print exhibits that I was in. It was fabulous to see one of my prints among so many excellent… Continue reading Back Again
Arts of May 