Larger size coffee tetra-pak container  I have accumulated a good collection of newer tetra-pak coffee containers over the past couple of years. Although I am not a coffee drinker myself my better half consumes several cups of the brew daily and favours a particular brand that is packaged in these large containers.  I discovered a larger container on the market being used by some supermarket chains to replace plastic or metal coffee tins. These are an ideal source for tetra-pak plates that can give you a slightly larger area than those cut from the containers that are used ..read more

the work table where I engrave with tools & new magnification lamp  I recently treated myself to an early Christmas present after doing some online research for a new portable magnification lamp after the older unit I had been using stop working. Came across this model (attached to my engraving work table in the above photo) in online retailer Amazon https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0CCJ63B8M?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1  It met all the criteria I was seeking (those being a minimum 10X magnification, good price point, portability, LED lamp (this one offe ..read more

  Wild Blueberries resingrave relief print with hand colouring During the summer I had some opportunities to continue adapting some of my small sketches onto both real end-grain wood surface (maple) and some older blocks of synthetic resingrave.  Wild blueberries was based on my experiences in my region of the world where the mid to late summer these plants native to this region produce a lot of berries that the local fauna and many humans feast on. I also wanted to develop my skills with the engraving tools to create texture, lines and shapes in the composition that would ..read more

View single colour engraving (from resingrave block) image size: 4.5 x 6 cm (1 5/8 x 2 3/8 in)  I was recently organizing some of my artist materials to a more centralized storage system and happened upon a small sized block of resingrave (synthetic coating that is fused in a thin layer to a mdf substrate that makes it type set height). On the surface of the block was a sketch I had made of a sparrow balanced on top of several wildflower branch heads. The block itself measures 4.5 x 6 cm. At the time I had only progressed to the rough sketch and decided this might be too sma ..read more

  Coastline- Lake Superior wood engraving/hand-coloured open editon (varied) 2023 Recently a fellow printmaker (master engraver) who is a good friend I have known for at least 25 yrs sent me with a couple of pieces of end-grain wood he wasn't planning on using. To date I had only engraved into Resingrave (a synthetic hard polymer) and old hard dark brown linoleum.  I had been wanting to try end-grain but encountered difficulty in sourcing it here in Canada. I was forced to put that earlier idea into the "do that later" mental files.  My printmaking friend had s ..read more

  Continuing the addition to my small songbirds of the boreal forest series of engraved surfaces that began with a small study of a red-breasted nuthatch click here I have a new work to share. This time it's a black-capped chickadee. This particular study like the former print again echoes the bird placement among tree foliage and the inclusion of hand colouring after drying of oil relief ink on paper (printed from the block).   The chickadee print is slightly wider but the same height compared to the nuthatch in block size. It is 6.25 x 9 cm (2.5 x 3.5 inches). To da ..read more

  Last week I took a couple of small pieces of battleship gray linoleum that were left over from some past projects and used them to create a small colour landscape relief print.  Referencing a couple of source photographs I had taken during a river walk a couple years ago I made a sketch on paper (first photo below). This was then mapped in on tracing paper as a silhouette (second photo). I traced the silhouette image in reverse by placing the rough drawing over top of graphite paper positioned onto the piece of lino that would become the key block. Then using waterproof s ..read more

  tetra pak drypoint study with added hand colouring More studio experimentations. The study is of a bird of paradise blossom in a local conservatory that I had seen and that I used for the sketch. I took this and transferred it to the surface of a paper based plate cut from tetra pack (oat milk) container. The surface of the packaging inside is made from a thin layer of paper board onto which is fused a thin foil coated with a thin plastic coating. It will accept markings into the surface using a bit of hand pressure and sharp pointed tools like pencils or needles. The ..read more

small botanical print made from a Tetra-pak plate Several years back I came across a blog by a European printmaker who was making original intaglio prints using tetra-pak juice boxes. These containers are originally used to contain liquid foods. The boxes are constructed from paper board with a thin foil layer fused onto it and then are coated in a thin layer of plastic. This artist was cutting panels from used containers and using these as a surface from which small hand-printed intaglio prints could be achieved. I recently decided to try this material out for myself, being a bit o ..read more

Nuthatch  2021 linoleum block print & hand colouring While still "in the creative moment" from the previous post linocut endeavor I took another sketch of a nuthatch and decided to adapt it onto a small scrap piece of a golden piece of linoleum.  Due to the small size of the work and to help put less pressure on my neck I again used a illuminated swing-arm magnification lamp and a small portable table-top raised surface to cut the block on while I was sitting.  permanent black marker drawn over pencil & cutting of surface areas underway ca ..read more