Snow Watercolor

I love this little watercolor that my aunt painted. I think she really captured the feeling of a sunny day in the snow with the shadows and the people with their dogs, enjoying a walk. I can imagine being in this scene. And I love the trees!

3 1/2" x 4 1/2"

There can be much to like in a small work of art!

Fishy Penguin #1

I make little linoleum cut prints to put on the wall right outside my studio door. I cut them, ink them and then use my etching press to print them. Here I've cut out the whites and inked the linoleum with the first color. I love how you can really see the embossing in the white areas!

Fishy Penguin #2

I cut out all of the areas that I want to remain the first color and then inked the linoleum with the second color. Then I printed it over the first color. This is called a reduction print because you are removing more linoleum from the same piece as you add more colors.

Fishy Penguin #3

OOPS!

I printed this one upside down although sometimes they are more interesting than the original!

Fishy Penguin #4

Now it's right!

Fishy Penguin #5

THE END!

As always, I want to add more colors! But I'm stopping here!

2 1/2" x 3 3/4"

Da Vinci's Printing Press

This computer graphic drawing is the result of a translation of one of Leonardo Da Vinci's technical machine drawings. It's beautiful (I want one!) but it isn't known if any of the machines were actually constructed. Of course this printing press fascinates me since I use a press to make most of my prints. Here, the press was slowly lowered by the worm screw and printed the sheet of paper placed under the carriage. My press uses rollers to make a print.

You can see this and other drawings in the book "Leonardo's Machines" by Taddei, Zanon and Laurenza.

Butterfly Bench

When I went to our zoo last week, I walked past this bench and started to dream of summer when the butterfly garden is in bloom and the butterflies are fluttering about. Now all is so quiet. Of course you can always sit here and wait! ..or rest...or better yet, sketch the tree on the other side of the path!

Polka Dotted Begonia

I went to Norfolk Botanical Gardens today hoping to find some cacti in the greenhouse to draw but alas :-( there were none. I've always wanted to draw cacti. They are almost like sea creatures on land! But there were plenty of tropical plants there and they were growing, of course........unlike the rest of the garden! I especially love the variety of shapes and greens of plants' leaves. These begonia leaves have polka dots! I think they are actually silver but I like to think they are pink!