the bloodline

I closed out the semester with the creation of this print. The imagery was inspired by photographs that my father took of my grandmother's thimble collection. The bone and the tumbling composition refer to the metaphorical death of a part of my life, the moving on and things becoming mere memories, but memories precious and worthy of observation. I was thinking about the same ideas while making the previous print of the wooden spoons.

This print was a one plate intaglio project. I wanted to keep the etching simple so I could concentrate on color and a la poupée wiping. After the print dried, I inked up a piece of yarn and hand printed it over the imagery using a wooden spoon and a mask to protect my margins from red ink. The yarn is a reference to heritage and a bloodline, along with the passing down of crafts and skills. Family is something that's really important to me; it was my grandmother who taught me how to sew, so these references are very special to me. Usually I just post the prints that are my favorite out of the session, but I really love all of these and I couldn't decide, so here are the additional six.