A Wild Night in Pickering

Описание: After a long struggle developing the design and 30+ hours of carving, I finally finished the block and pulled a test print today, which, apparently and strangely, is National Bird Day. It was a gigantic challenge to include the smattering of nocturnal animals while achieving balance and cohesion. I’m thrilled that the positive and negative space generates a nocturnal mood and that the animals seem camouflaged while still being visible. The owl featured is a great horned owl spotted in my City of Pickering backyard. It clutches a vole that is reminiscent of the owl pellets we often found in our garden around the interval when the owl was spotted. Other local nocturnal creatures include a little brown bat, a raccoon, a grey tree frog, a skunk, an opossum, fireflies, and a cecropia moth. The Big Dipper, inspired by a gift from dear friend twinkles, top right, just above the bat. The flora features the pine trees and mountain ash from our backyard at the time, and the oak symbolizes nature’s fortitude. The 10” x 10” block was carved with Pfeil and Speedball tools, and the edition of 100 will be printed in Cranfield oil-based ink on 12” x 12” Legion paper.