Welcome to What Are You Working On? where we talk about (and often display) our handiwork, whether yarn and fabric crafts, woodwork, metalwork, art, or anything else “crafty”.
This week hosted by your fuzzy-headed friend, Marko the Werelynx.
I've been making my own New Year’s greetings cards since the 1990s. They're a Czech tradition dating back to the end of the 19th century these PF cards. The “PF” stands for Pour féliciter, a bit of French to congratulate, here used as more of a “best wishes.”
Lino cutting is a method of print making where the printing block is a fancy sheet of LinoleumTM glued to a hunk of wood and sold in arts and crafts shops for ridiculous prices— (or a discarded piece of vinyl flooring which is free for those brave enough to dumpster dive), which then has a design carved into its surface. What’s gouged away will not take any of the printing ink, so you're basically working your way around your design. The lines will be what you leave behind.
I began doing lino cutting when I was in elementary school— and then didn't do it for a decade or two. Okay, maybe three. Eventually, with a few of these PF cards done in various media (an ink line drawing, an acrylic painting ...) I decided to try my hand again at a linocut for my PF 2000 card. And since then I've returned to making a linocut card several times. Only once did I give people actual handmade prints— never again, not with our mailing list. Whatever I cobble together this year I'll digitally turn into a card-sized layout for someone else to print on some nice paper.
For this year’s card I perhaps got a bit too ambitious, making a larger scale piece with far greater detail than I'd ever attempted before.
I applied some ink to the unfinished block with a little roller and tried a test print.
After doing the test print, I realized that I'd probably need the help of a friend who does a lot more of this kind of thing and actually owns a proper press— you know, for squashing the paper onto the inked block with massive, even force— quite unlike rubbing the back of the paper with the bottom of a spoon or a rolling pin.
Earlier this week, I finally finished gouging my sheet of vinyl flooring and called my friend. He didn't have time to help me with the printing until today. I decided to try a couple test prints on Friday.
Maybe a couple more attempts and I'd get it, but I should get out and buy some larger format paper first before trying— and at this point, I'd soon be enlisting the help of an expert.
Still, I'm pleased with some of the details from that last attempt:
This morning I took my printing block over to my friend Pavel's studio. About all I did was cut paper and watch Pavel work.
We packed up all the prints by placing them back to back and covering them with sheets of newspaper. The covered prints were then rolled up and secured with tape. I was given instructions to unpack them as soon as I got home and spread them out to dry— which they are doing in a room in the basement of our apartment building as I write this.
I'll hop down tomorrow morning to see how they're doing and sort them. I can already tell that I may want to piece together bits from different prints digitally. Like the dome on one of the buildings in the middle there is kinda blobby. The ink spread over the thin grooves detailing the dome. There may be a few blobs and splotches that I can't live with, but in general I'm pretty happy with the results. One fairly reasonable print was all I really needed. I could go back into the block with my gouge and deepen and widen the grooves that seemed to disappear most often and try for a better print, but I'm past the point of saying enough is enough— I mean, if folks are going to get my New Year's card before February …
Do you knit? crochet? sew? make jewelry? do metal (or other) sculpting? build furniture? create with your hands and heart?
If you do anything 'crafty' please consider doing one of our Sunday afternoon/evening diaries. You can volunteer by replying in the comments or by sending vgranucci a Kos-message. Hopefully they'll be popping into the comments to post the current schedule.