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The medium of woodblock printmaking is very simple and low tech. A plank of wood is carved by hand with chisels and gouges. The uncarved wood that remains in relief is rolled with ink and printed through a press on to a sheet of paper. I am drawn to this simple process because it has the ability to quickly become a technically complex jigsaw puzzle of shapes and colors.
A lot of time and sketching goes into the planning of a print before it is begun. I achieve multiple colors by using one wood block for each separate color. The order in which the colors are printed is very important as the ink is translucent, and the colors will affect each other as they overlap. Traditionally, lighter colors are applied first, with successively darker colors printed on top. I like to play with, and break this tradition by printing lighter colors over darker colors to create new color combinations that could be only created on the paper instead of the palette. As the number of blocks and colors increases, the resulting print becomes a complex labyrinth of color and texture.
The wood itself makes its own contribution to the print. It guides the direction of carving by its grain, and adds texture to the print. The physical and sculptural energy used to carve a block somehow translates itself when the wood is pressed on to the paper. I use my gouges and chisels to draw lines out of the wood to create an image that is unique to the medium and could not be produced in any other way.
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| Galleries |
Emil Nelson Gallery
1307 Bannock St.
Denver, CO 80204
303-534-0996
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Giacobbe Fritz Fine Art
702 Canyon Rd.
Santa Fe, NM 87501
505-986-1156
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