KIAC christmas fair

Christmas Fair in Dawson

Once in awhile I’ll leave my studio and actually engage in the ‘real’ world. This past Saturday I shared a sales table with my jeweler friend Sharon Edmunds at the KIAC Christmas fair. Lots of folks and good discussion on wood engravings and how I make them. Happy to say many left with an image or […]

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Studio Visit

The School of Visual Art in Dawson (SOVA) is a new accredited art school with a terrific foundation year curriculum. Instructor Veronica Verkley (photo on the left) – a great artist in her own right – brought some of her students over to my printmaking studio the other day for some show and tell. It’s […]

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Spitsticker

Here’s another profile in the family of wood engraving tools – or cutters. Note that the sides are not straight but rather bowed like the hull of a boat. When incising a line with this tool a skilled engraver can vary the width of the line according to the depth of the cut. Some engravers […]

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Eric Bergman wood engraving

Eric Bergman

One of my wood engraving heroes is Canadian artist Eric Bergman (1893-1958). He lived out his career in Winnipeg, Manitoba, a city dear to my heart. Although he pursued other forms of printmaking he settled on wood engraving exclusively in 1924. He said the following; “I find wood engraving a help in forming my own […]

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Relief Printing Using Etching Press

Relief printing using an etching press offers a very doable solution. I don’t own a massive old iron press that I covetously see in some studios, like the famous Albion Press for example, or better still – a sweet Vandercook proofing press. Although I would love one of these for my studio, My etching press […]

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Laid to Rest

I came across this wood engraving the other day, although it looks more like a woodcut. The artist is Felix Vallotton, a Swiss painter and printmaker from the last century. Given the wonderful results of the American election yesterday, this image is certainly an apt commentary on the outgoing administration. The title Le Mauvais Pas […]

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Paul Landacre

I’m so fortunate to own this Paul Landacre wood engraving titled “Siesta’ which he made in the 1930s. The image is quite large for this technique measuring 7.5 by 9 inches – the print quality is stunning. At a distance, you might be tricked into thinking it is a mezzotint.  I was so happy to […]

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