Monday, March 7, 2011

Big Trees

So, this is part of a big block I spent a few weeks carving at the end of 2010 and beginning of 2011. It was slow going at times because of the detail, but I was really enjoying this 24" x 20" piece of Shina plywood so I tried not to keep track of the time spent carving it. I'm realizing that I don't have much to say about it except that I still haven't figured out exactly how it looks best printed. I've tried a few on monotype-ish blue background as well as a couple on a burnt sienna background. And there's something about the tree in the upper right hand corner I don't like, so that may change before I print again.

Anyway, one of them won an Award of Excellence at the annual Dayton Area Works on Paper. And there was this article in the Dayton Daily News where I gave some odd sounding quote about why I print trees. If you do read it, I didn't say a word about the condition of my hands after the carving, but I did show my calluses to a couple of people. Hell, I was proud of them....they made carving NOT hurt! So there's a paragraph about hurting my fingers and suffering for art and that kind of thing, which taught me that when you are an award winning artist you need to watch what you say about your art. (sarcasm)

Here it is.

And the award winning version where I left out the awkward branches.





2 comments:

Nighthawk said...

And your joy in the work you do is evident in the work you produce..great job...Mom

Mary Sonya conti said...

the "awkward" branches pull one in. Such lovely work. Often we are so busy in life we don't pause and look up. We are so focused on the objectives that we spend time looking forward instead of pausing and taking in what lies in and around us. Congrats on the show and well deserved