Proofing The Next Vase...

This week has been all about the blue and white again

 I printed an edition of the large lino block of a vase which was awesome fun and resulted in half the house being blanketed in blue and white prints which was truly a sight to behold

They were printed onto A2 size paper so they were covering every spare surface

beds, floors, countertops... they were everywhere

 but it was a complete joy and Astrid was a fabulous printing assistant as it turns out she  has quite the talent for spotting uneven ink on the block and it is quite fun watching someone who happens to be a tad height challenged carry a wet print with the breeze wafting... it was like watching an adorable smallish person carrying a blue and white sail

 so she's not just a one trick pony with her ninja fence climbing abilities it turns out

Today was all about proofing the next block

and I am almost happy with it

it looks pretty close when I slipped it in the frame which is the first pic on the post

 and while it isn't quite there yet, it is very very close

Barry the cat was supervising and despite the whole walk across a wet print incident

 followed by his genius tip toeing across the perspex I roll out the ink on

 and finally rounded out with the constant flicking of his tail across ink 

he kept me company the whole time and watched with interest as every print was pulled

until he was bored at which point he meowed with increasing volume until I put his favourite box on the table so he could nap

I was kind of panicking about proofing this one as I believed bloody Sinus when he said he could carve the background for me to save me some time

so I was happily starting to carve the giant ginger jar I had drawn up

and we were chatting away and then he proudly showed me my poor block

needless to say a lot of repair work was required, including the need for superglue

but it has survived relatively intact after my initial misgivings and it is close to being sorted

Turns out he needs way more practice before being let loose on a block again

 Between drawing up blocks, carving, proofing, doing illustration work, ignoring jobs and chores, harassing Barry, buying even more fixtures and fittings and choosing endless stuff for the renovation I squeezed in some more painting

it was about the only time I felt sane all week

which is saying something I know

happy painting all...xx