HELLO AND WELCOME FRIENDS,

I neglected to post last time. So this blog is about two new prints and a bit more in depth than many of my blog posts.

The first print was inspired by another trip over to the Finger Lakes Region of Upstate New York. The rolling hills, dramatic lakes and thousands of acres of beautiful farm land make for a very enjoyable time to explore this area. You may recall last year that I did a print called "Late Summer Falls" which was inspired by a waterfall in downtown Ithaca, Cascadilla Falls. This time I was struck by the rolled bales of hay waiting to be wrapped.

It was really challenging to carve the wispy cirrus clouds. I wanted this to feel like a bright, clear day. It is a lot of information to pack into these little images. But in all it I used three blocks in nine impressions. I probably used around 21 colors. Below is the final print, "Summer Field."

"Summer Field" linocut print, 12" x 9" (31 x 23.5)

The next print also used three blocks. The first two were carved away like a jigsaw puzzle in two pieces. One was the autumn leaves on the ground. The other was forest, rocks and stream. Just to prepare for the first impressions took more than a week of work. Below is one of the two main blocks before carving away everything that is blue. The blue areas will be printed by the other block and will be autumn leaves.

So I could see that this was going to be challenging as far as color was concerned. Anticipating how a color is going to look before being able to see it with the following colors makes some calculated guess work for me in the early stages.

Here are my choices for the first six impressions, three from each block. First was the 'leaves' next the forest, rocks and stream and so on, alternating blocks. Below is the inked block (after carving away the blue, above) using four colors for the second impression in the sequence that follows.

Below is a part of the block that is printing the leaves. I think you can see that I'm really not carving every leaf. I couldn't if I wanted to. So I think of this process as creating a rhythm of patterns within various shapes. You can probably discern that I using a V-shaped gouge in different, stabs to remove cuneiform-like pieces of the linoleum. Some cuts are smaller, some larger, distributed in flows that I try to envision for their results to come.

Below are four more stages which concentrate mostly on the stream. But you see that the last frame is a good deal darker all around. At that stage I printed what remained of both blocks with the same, dark green. This tied the whole image together, I think.

Below are the two main blocks in their last stage, inked with the dark green for making the last image above.

I thought I would be finished after this. But I've learned that if something is bothering me about an image, I need to address it. Something was bothering me. I felt that the lightest areas of the water needed to be darker and enlivened a bit. So I carved this third block and laid down a layer of color that was a transparent version of the darkest green, above. Here is that block.

And here is the final print, "Autumn Cascade."

"Autumn Cascade", linocut print, 12" x 9" (31 x 23.5)

And that about covers nearly the past three months. I've enjoyed it and have been greatly challenged by these two prints. I hope you've enjoyed looking at the process.

If you find yourself in Western Massachusetts stop by. With a little notice, I'm pretty flexible and would love to receive you. Also, take a look at the galleries which feature my work while you’re out in the months ahead. Either way, stop by and see my prints in person! Of course, "Autumn Cascade" is available for purchase on this website. 

Feel free to write. I enjoy hearing from you!

Yours,

William H. Hays