Portal No. 1

January 20, 2014
2 plate block-print
3 3/4"

This print was inspired from a project I did not participate in and I am excited to create a series of small round landscape prints. The sun is overly idealized and I doubt I will use this effect again, but I have begun a series of drawings below and will begin to carve the first design tomorrow as the drawing has been transferred to the block.

The color in this one is a little nicer than the gray proof I pulled last week and there has been some minor editing to both blocks.  Pulled a small edition and plan to print a proof of the second image this weekend.

Portal Drawing I

January 19, 2014
Technical pen and white-out on paper
3 3/4"

This drawing and the two to follow are taken from old drawings or monotypes and have been simplified as I contemplate how to carve them onto a block of linoleum. There is something interesting happening to my nostalgic little landscape drawings when I put them in the small circle. Puts them in a spotlight in a way that is both unexpected and exciting.

Portal Drawing II

January 20, 2014
Technical pen, pencil, white-out on paper
4"

Technically this is the third design in this project and there are things I like about it and some others I do not as it may be over-simplified. But the space of the water is working really well and it might all come together in the carving process.

Portal Drawings III

January 21, 2014
Technical pen on paper
3 3/4"

This is the third in what will hopefully be at least twelve drawings I want to create over the next month or so as part of what I am currently calling the "Portal project". If all goes well I will start to carve the second block in the project and determine if I want to make a full series.

Printmakers Exhibit at the Chandler

I have four recent prints at a great show of Vermont and New Hampshire print-makers at the Chandler Gallery in Randolph, Vermont.

Check it out of you are in the area!

Print by Carol MacDonald

Landscape Proof

January 14, 2014
2 plate block-print
4" round

There are a few areas of the half-tone that need to be carved out to get the registration correct, but I am pretty pleased with this proof. I hope to carve both blocks a little and pull a small edition of the color block this weekend.

Mayapple Block-print Proof

January 2014
Linoleum Block Print
3.75"

This is a rough proof for the Mayapple Center for the Arts and Humanities project.  I had an interesting conversation with the director on the phone, where she described her vision of the logo.  She spoke of a full tree in a landscape with the sun coming through some clouds, like a Renaissance drawing or a Durer woodcut.  This image came to mind and I plan to clean up the block and create a second color block over the weekend.

Mayapple Design

January 2014
Copy, white-out and pen
5.5"

This is one of six designs for the Mayapple Center for the Arts and Humanities in Connecticut that I am working on. Right before the holidays I received an email from these wonderful folks as they are starting a new non-profit arts center. The director wanted a logo with a woodcut/Renaissance look and feel to it and found me through some local VT contacts.  I am approaching this project from my perspective as an artist and made it clear that I am not a Graphic Designer.  We shall see if they are interested in what I have come up with, but I have had fun creating a variety of interlocking boarder patterns like the one above.