Hand-painted linocut

from the book Dog Days, Raven Nights

12 x 13.5 inches

Edition of 40

 

Alaskans know to secure anything edible when ravens are near by—garbage cans, groceries in the back of a truck, and a pail of bait in a boat—are all fair game to a curious raven. A friend once opened his truck door, and much to his surprise and a raven flew out right at him. A bag of groceries left in the truck had tempted the raven in through the window.

 

Sizes listed are of the linocut images themselves; I leave an additional white border of paper on all sides.

     

 

My linocuts are printed on cotton rag paper the old-fashioned way: I carve with knives and gouges to create my imagery in slabs of linoleum. Then I roll ink over the surface, lay cotton paper on top, and crank the block through my etching press. I repeat this process for each impression in the edition, which means: If an image is in an edition of 40, I do this 40 times! After the prints dry, I generally hand-paint them, often with many layers of color, making each print a unique work of art.