The summer of 2018, I was asked to create a special thank you gift for Capital Campaign contributors in support of Josephine Sculpture Park’s (JSP) recent expansion. The commission involved creating a custom original print of a future vision of JSP and also a custom designed “Thank you” card. While I thought of the card design, I went out and took source photos for sketching a future vision of JSP. We wanted to make sure the original print could fit inside the card, so a 3 x 4 inch image size for the print was decided. With such a small size to work in, wood engraving was the perfect medium of choice to pack in as much detail for this lush and lovely landscape. Photos below will take you through that process.
After finishing the engraving, the block was printed on the very same printing press that Melanie VanHouten (JSP Artistic Director) helped me move into my studio on a frigid day in January 2017! The “Thank you” cards received the same royal treatment as the engraving – going through sketches, color and font selections – before a final design was selected. While the card was digitally designed, the printing process is the same as the engraving — printed on my 1925 Chandler & Price clamshell press. For a sculpture park, I wanted to get a really nice embossment of the design in the paper — creating a sculptural relief — from relief printmaking! The card’s paper, Flurry, is made using wind and hydro energy — responsible environmental choices are the default for Starpointe Studio and JSP.
Photograph of the old tobacco barn – ant’s eye view. (Photo credit to Joanne Price, June 7, 2018)
Panoramic photo with newly planted trees and soon to be planted native flowers and grasses for prairie restoration on the south side of the driveway to Josephine Sculpture Park. Photo credit to Joanne Price, June 7, 2018.
One of several sketches first submitted to Artistic Director, Melanie VanHouten, for approval.
After making some changes to the drawing/composition, a final sketch is ready to be transferred to the 3 x 4 inch endgrain Maple wood block for engraving.
The end grain block with drawing transferred and engraving process begun. The surface of the block is toned with black printer’s ink to help my brain remember that what I carve away will be white. Some elements of the drawing are further clarified and/or decided as I engrave.
Further progress on engraving. The white is a chalk I use to help me see the lines better. In wood engraving, the block is cut by hand with tools called burins – one tiny line/mark at a time.
The finished print displayed above the engraved block. Notice that the image is reversed.
And finally the green part of the “Thank you” card being printed on my 1925 antique printing press.
And then, 2019’s end of the year thank you note to donors (who gave over a certain amount) received a handsome bookmark with part of this image — printed directly from the woodblock with some hand-set metal type. Josephine Sculpture Park is a favorite place of mine — supporting art in Kentucky, serving a largely rural area, creating a space where science and art can come together (ie: NASA Museum Alliance Night Sky Tours, Frankfort Audubon Society programming), and JSP’s commitment to nature and art education, and sustainable land stewardship. JSP supports all the things that I love and believe in! If you’ve never visited JSP before — you should visit now — they are open everyday, 365 days a year. Find the sculptures I used in the print! Hint — they are not where I have drawn them.
Illustration with hand-set metal type.
Front and back of the 2019 “thank you” bookmark.
