Lily S. May–Life with Art
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
Here's another woodcut--this time it's one of the first I made. Some of the earliest prints I made began as scribbled drawings. In "Orange Girl," I included some the lines from the drawing in the print, showing its origins. I recall that I experimented with carving a hard wood--either maple or oak. It wasn't easy,… Continue reading Orange Girl Woodcut
As I meander through the art work I've done, I wanted to show you this linocut I made when I was just learning printmaking. I called this print "Monk Bird" because I thought the bird looked like a monk of sorts. The photo here is of a proof I made, meaning it's not one of… Continue reading Early Linocut–Monk Bird
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
Back to printmaking. This is one of my favourite colour linocuts. I made it using the same process--subtraction printing--that I described in Mental Gymnastics. The print is one of several abstract ones I made in 1993. I didn't plan the design ahead, but let the work develop as I moved along, allowing shapes to appear.… Continue reading Inner Landscape Linocut
When I did printmaking I greatly enjoyed the mental gymnastics that were part of the process. First of all, you have to consider that everything you carve prints in reverse. This requires particular attention when you include words or numbers in the image. I recall times when my mind wandered and I found myself carving… Continue reading Mental Gymnastics in Printmaking
Arts of May 