New Work! Blue Jay Reduction Linocut

The first one to always notice when we have filled up our bird feeder is our local Blue Jay. He keeps watch so that he can be first in line during the winter months. Despite being far too large for the perch, he manages to do just fine in extracting his favourite seeds.

I've been exploring the complexities of reduction linocut, a printmaking process that uses only one block to print many layers. The artist starts with a barely carved block and prints a layer of colour, then carves away more of the block and prints the next colour. This process is repeated until all the layers of colour are printed, leaving very little of the original block behind.

Since the layers are permanently removed from the printing block, the edition of prints is limited to the original printing session. If an error occurs, there is a chance that part or all of the work could be ruined. This piece has many layers of colour, each layer taking several hours to print all the individual pieces within the edition.

I have printed this work using antique industrial printing presses, also known as “Letterpress Printing” which is a highly specialized artform that requires mechanical and artistic skill. This allowed me to be quite precise in lining up the many layers the application of ink was consistent. As a result, the colours are rich and highly pigmented, almost painterly in quality.
You can find it in my shop here: 
http://www.michellewiebe.com/store/p22/The-Sentinel.html