Etsy Spotlight: Sweet Breeze

We spend a lot of time by the water, more and more as Buffalo's waterfront is transformed from a post-industrial waste zone into a crowd-packed zone balanced between fun and nature. I saw this sailboat zipping along the mouth of the Buffalo River one day in July and knew it would make a great woodcut. It's one of my favorites. Done in various shades of blue and yellow, with a subtle rainbow roll background, it really captured the light at that moment.

I love painting water, and boats. The irony, of course, is that I get easily, terribly seasick!

Lost and Found

I was poking back deep in the archives and found this gem, a small print from January 2010 called "Point Hope Light." It was explained in the archived post that the print was inspired by a poem about hope, and some allusion to a tough times in December 2009. Most of that, of course, is bunk.

What isn't bunk is that this particular print was a bit of a turning point for me. Until this time, I had been relying on photographs to create my prints; this print got me drawing and learning to trust my imagination. It was also the first print in which I got serious about color. At this point I'd been in my day job as a color mixer for about 18 months, and was just starting to "get it."

I love the reddish haze against the churning green water, and the texture of the foam created using the business end of a Philips head screwdriver. My favorite part was the tiny prick of light from the lighthouse. Barely visible, but still visible.

To this day, it remains in my top five favorite prints. Maybe damn close to #1. And, as is the custom, it seems to be universally despised. My wife hates it, and it has the distinction of getting NO views on my etsy site. Ah, critics.

End of Summer Sail

I forget sometimes how long I've had this blog (despite large gaps of inactivity). It's nice that I can go back and see what I was doing five years ago. It's also painful, at times. It's also fun to remember some moments, like the time my wife accidently stabbed herself with a v-gouge. No, it wasn't funny, but we do laugh about it now.

As I was perusing, I uncovered a print I did back in 2009, I think. Seems like a long time ago now, so much has happened in that time. I'd forgotten about this print, which was done in the tiny 6x4 format I used to use. I had only just begun to understand color, and was still burnishing the prints with a wooden spoon. I remember printing it with spiders falling down around me from the ceiling in my little cave in the back of the basement in Buffalo. Not exactly joyful days, but the print, I think, is happy.

Five years later, I see that I've dropped the "graphic" esthetic from my prints. I've also lost the borders, which had mostly served as a "rail" for smooth inking. I've been studying all along, and I like to think I'm getting a better eye.

My Ship Came In

Here's a  terrible picture of a pretty nice print. I had been planning a different print altogether, but that one needs more drawing out. To keep my printing muscles limber, I decided to do a fairly simple print. Clocking it at a mere 5 colors, it was a fun weekend job.

Boats and water are a recurring subject in my work. This is an irony, since I get terribly, awfully, horribly seasick. Honestly, I have no idea how my family came to America back in the day. But I love the idea of water, and boats, and the whole nautical image.

The palette here is blues and grays, which works very well for this print. I am planning a companion piece featuring the windmills along the Lake Erie shore. That's going to be down the road a bit. Right now I want to jump on something with some bright colors. Any requests?

Breezin' Along

State 1, Rainbow Roll

State#2, bright white

Print on the line, backlit after white

State#4, with light gray, and light blue