September 2007

It was Sunday and Teri’s birthday was on the Thursday before and we had nothing… Then I had this great idea of making up a portrait with Teri, India, and Ezra. So we did. I was inspired by this artist Claudine Hellmuth who will create a portrait almost like a caricature you would get at the fair… only one hundred times more beautiful and something you would be proud to have on your wall for years to come.
Our version was a bit rougher then any of hers but it was something that India and I could do together. We both tore the paper and pasted it down and India drew the bodies for each of the heads. All I had to do was sketch out the beach scene and print out the heads. What a great Sunday afternoon activity. It was a blast.

India and I were watching the Martha Stewart Show together. Yes, we sometimes watch that show. I typically fast-forward past Martha’s sometimes awkward banter to get to the good stuff. I love Tivo. India saw them coloring in bird stamps with makeup. Coloring and makeup?? She had to do it. I told her we could make a stamp and create our own bird picture.
Later that night she kept telling me that she could cut four pieces of paper at the same time. I thought that was great, but had no idea what she was up to. The next day I came to our project room (yes, we now have a project room/office) and I saw this:

I asked her what it was. She promptly told me it was her bird stamp that she made. How great is that?
I let her know that I had just bought some blocks and ink so we could make our own stamp. Not from paper. Basically I purchased more block printing supplies.
Last year I had made a passport for a church activity. I carved my own ‘stamp’, if you will, out of that very soft woodblock printing block that is available at any art supply store (even Michael’s has it, but that is all you’ll find). It was so easy to do that I wanted to give the harder, linoleum blocks a try. That way the block would last longer and I could make finer lines more easily. My desire to get back to woodblock printing began a couple weeks ago. I was inspired by a friend’s collection of greeting cards displayed in her home. I thought, I can do that.
Well, India beat me to it. We printed out a few images of birds for her to copy and this is what she came up with. I carved the block and she did the rest!
This is the block:

and this is a print: