AND ANOTHER ONE...

Took a while, but a new Alien of Planet Earth was born a week or so ago, named Treehopper2. Like I said before, things are slowing down in the studio, and my pace, but they're still moving.

ANOTHER ONE

I suppose I should look on the bright side and be happy that I finished another wood engraving. Decades ago I didn't have a second thought about completing an edition and moving on to the next one. Now it seems like a major milestone.

My latest is titled OWLKEYHOLE:

My comments on the image are on my website here: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/jimwest/owlkeyhole.html

Get it?

AN AWARD

Just got word from Porcupine's Quill, the publisher, that See What I'm Saying? was awarded the bronze medal by the eLit Awards, in the humor category. 

Yahoo!

KETCHUP

I like to substitute words that sound alike. If I wasn't doing that here I would have titled this post, CATCH-UP. As I mentioned a while back, things have really slowed down with me. They've slowed in many ways and in many areas. But I won't bore you with all of that. I'll bore you with what's been going on in the studio.

Anyway, moving on, I've forgotten to keep this Blogger thing going and I neglected to bring you up to date on my latest edition. I ran an edition of a new member of the Aliens Of Planet Earth. This one is an Octopus that I found interesting, partly because of the name it has been given. It's called the Dumbo Octopus. I suppose the fins on the sides of the bulbous body and the manner in which this octopus tucks in its tentacles makes it resemble the Disney cartoon character, Dumbo. So, it was named the Dumbo Octopus.

The edition was run in early June and then I moved on to try to keep the routine of working in the studio going. I fiddled around with the sketchbook and tried to focus on something that might be developed into an idea that would become visual. Remember catch-up - ketchup? Well, that sound similarity phenomenon became my next obsession and that's where I'm headed next (if I can pull it off visually). The secret is not letting my aging carcass take over. All it wants to do is veg. D'you know what "veg" means?  

BRAGGING

I try to avoid bragging. I'm not comfortable with bragging. But I couldn't help sharing this with whomever reads this blog. So I'm not bragging, I'm sharing.

I received an e-mail from Porcupine's Quill Press the other day, informing me that my recent book they published, See What I'm Saying?, just received an award. The eLit Book Awards has awarded the book a bronze award in the humour category.

I've never heard of eLit Book Awards, so when I went on the website the publisher sent me, all I learned was that they are a digital publishing award organization. I couldn't tell where they are located, but I suppose if they are concentrating on "e" publications, they don't need a location. This has me curious because See What I'm Saying? was published as a real book, with real paper pages and cover. Oh well, I'm just pleased and proud that the book was recognized and awarded.

FINALLY!

Work in the studio has slowed down in recent months. All the symptoms of aging: the arthritis pain, memory, mobility etc. are slowly increasing. So I'm celebrating that I finally finished a new wood engraving, ran the edition, and this morning was able to remember how to put it up on my website. If you want to see that page, it's here: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/jimwest/bergamasco.html

During the process of running the edition there is a segment of the process I recognized now as risky. I hadn't given it any thought before. I print on an old proofing press. As each piece of paper is cranked through the press and is taken off the roller, it must be placed where the ink doesn't  get touched. The ink takes a couple of days to completely dry. Back when the studio was built I installed two wires up near the ceiling (ten foot ceiling as I recall) that run from one wall to the other. They are up that high so that, if I'm printing an edition on large paper I can walk beneath them without disturbing them. During the process of printing the edition I take each print individually over to the wire, climb a ladder, and clip it to one of the many clips I've installed on the wires. When I went up the ladder the other day, and stretched (not safe to step on the top two steps of the ladder) to reach the first clip the arthritis pain in my back was excruciating. That caused me to wobble on the ladder.

I made it up and down the ladder for about half the edition, then decided I better spread the rest of them out on the work table. I have now decided to take the wires down (or, to have someone younger take them down for me). I think I have a drying system figured out that won't require height.

                         Introducing the latest Alien of Planet Earth: Bergamasco Shepherd

SOMETHING FOR THE YANKS

On the topic of the colouring book project, here's one for the yanks to savour: