Highway Willows

Slowly but surely...

I'm getting there. I'm still fussing with my little press to get it printing the way I want it. Remember this:



...the type that was set by the previous owner in the 50's? Well I got it to print evenly, although not quite as perfectly as I would have liked:



It's a labor of love. I will update with my beautiful results when I have them.

I can't believe how quickly Christmas always goes by! I hope everyone had a wonderful day. This is a little snippit of a commissioned portrait I did before Christmas. In the rush of trying to get it done in time, I actually forgot to scan the finished product, so all I have is the sketch. Oh well. I hope the recipient was pleased.

Jess and I also did a gift swap. A bun for a bun. I gave her my Jack Rabbit for her to give to her mother, and I got one of her little fat bunny paintings to give to my little fat nephew.

Seraphim...

...is a good word. This is one of my most recent prints that was inspired by a poem by Charles Simic.

Painters of Angels and Seraphim

After a long lunch of roast lamb
And many heavy glasses of heavy red wine,
I fell asleep in a rowboat
That I never got around to untie
From its mooring under the willows
That went on fussing over my head
As if to make my shade even deeper.

I woke once to pull my shirt off,
And once when I heard my name
Called by a woman, distant and worried,
Since it was past sundown,
The water reflecting the dark hills,
And the sky of that chill blue
That used to signify a state of grace.

-Charles Simic

Where did the time go?

Hello and thank you to everyone who went to the Massart sale. I had a good turnover of artwork that will definitely help me through the holiday season, so thanks!

I have a few different projects going on right now and some new artwork piling up on my desk, but for now I will just share another sketch from my ongoing little series:



...and also the newest little addition in my family as of December 6th, my new nephew George:

and...........GO!!!

Today is the first day of the MassArt Holiday Sale. To your right you will see some samples of work I have there. The sale is up through the end of the week and is open everyday from 10-7 in the Tower Building Lobby.

It's always a great place to get unique gifts and see some great artwork at reasonable prices. You can read a little more about it in the Weekly Dig


K. Thanks.

Meet Kelsey

Last weekend I made a trip up to Madison, NH to visit a woman who was selling her Kelsey Excelsior 5x8 press after over 50 years. She had an enormous beautiful barn filled with lots of ancient treasures. I've been toying with the idea of purchasing my own letterpress for a while now (one much smaller than the ones I operate at work) and needless to say, when I saw what beautiful condition this little press was in, I couldn't turn it away.




This particular model is from 1893, so the fact that it still has all it's accessories is pretty amazing. It also came with 6 full drawers of type and one of the chases was still set up from the last thing that was printed in the 50's.



I'm just waiting on new rollers to be able to put her to full use.....Lastly, here is a photo of my little shop with it's newest addition: