This header is a pastel painting I did in 2009 is of a place in the Netherlands, my country of origin, after a photo shot by Dick Witte.

Some of the painters who have influenced me:
Mondriaan, Hopper
O"Keefe, Weyeth
Singer Sargent
van Gogh, Rembrandt
Picasso, Escher

Since this is my second blog page, it generally takes me longer (sometimes very long) to reply to your comments, but I do read and love them!

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

MAKING OF A CHRISTMAS CARD



What are YOU making? The most often 
asked question of the evening. 
In between gutting out the linoleum, "How do you make an angel, 
how do you do a cloud?..."
wondered why the kids kept asking me,
there were 20 other parents in the room...

munching on apple crisp
a bowl of chili
cookies and chocolates
potato chips

a wonder I didn't get sick



In one hand the gutting knife
in the other a glove in case my knife slips, 
chips falling left and right
there were a whole lot more chips laying here!
a few times pressing a "proof" 
to see how close I was to the end




And here they are, with my thanks to John 
for hand printing the wood cut. 
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU!

31 comments:

crochet lady said...

How wonderful to make your own printing image, those are simply beautiful!

S said...

How beautiful...!

Jeannette StG said...

Jen,
sometimes I wish I had a hand printing press -but they're not cheap (as far as I know). Thanks for visiting my art blog!

Jeannette StG said...

Sreddy,
ever hone something like that in art class at school? It's so much fun!
It's called wood cutting, or linoleum cutting.

They have tried to make the wood cutting easier on people (requires less strength) to put a layer of linoleum on top of the wood cut.
Hey, it's your first time here at this blogpage - hope you liked it!

Rudee said...

Beautiful!

Zuzana said...

Wow! They became absolutely fantastic!
Love the contemplative picture of you.;)
xo
Zuzana

Jeannette StG said...

Rudee,
You're kind! Have to get the hang of it - just like spinning, I suppose:)

Jeannette StG said...

Zuzanna,
I jump into the project, because I know it's going to take several hours, and get immersed in it -that's why I have that "zone" look!

Diane AZ said...

Every part of the woodblock printmaking process looks like so much fun, I keep meaning to try it. Your cards turned out great!

Jeannette StG said...

Diane,
thanks for the "follow"! Yes it's fun! But I can imagine to start on your own may seem a little daunting:)
I always have a gold and silver pen to do the lettering and...cover up my mistakes (giggle)

Dutchbaby said...

Fantastic! Is that white ink you used? Beautiful effect!

Jeannette StG said...

Dutchbaby,
Thank you! The printing ink is silver, and I used a silver and gold feltpen to do the letters and some squiggles.

DawnTreader said...

These are lovely. Thanks for sharing the process of making them.

Gaelyn said...

I really like the scenes on the ornaments and your finished print. How fun. Haven't made my own cards in years.

Phivos Nicolaides said...

You are a successful creative artist!

Jeannette StG said...

Monika,
Thank you, friend! We all have our own nitch, it seems:)

Jeannette StG said...

Gaelyn,
If it wasn't for our friend John, I wouldn't take the initiative either.

Hmm, you pay attention to details -I could have made the scenes a bit bigger, but then I couldn't have fit two ornaments in this small space.

Jeannette StG said...

Phivos,
Thank you for the encouragement, friend!

Jeannette StG said...

Phivos,
And thank you for "the follow" of this blog too!

Martha Z said...

Jeannette, you asked about the location of my Tenaya Creek post, "Dry Martini". This is taken in Yosemite Valley. Tenaya Creek flows out of Tenaya Lake down through a canyon into the intermitent Mirror Lake, then into the Merced.
Tenya Lake is beautiful, I can see why you like to paint there. We spend much of our summer in the Eastern Sierra and it provides me with many beautiful posts.

Jeannette StG said...

Ma,
Thanks for getting back to me -you're so kind! Gotto show hubby your description and figure out the approximate place it is. I'm always looking for new places to paint in Yosemite -we have a cabin at Bass Lake, so I'm at Yosemite almost every year.

Yes, isn't it great? All those years I've been taking pics, and now I can use them for my blog:)

Richard Jesse Watson said...

Hi Jeannette, I'm visiting through Zuzana's blog. I enjoyed seeing your processes. Lovely work.--Richard

A Free Spirit Butterfly said...

Love the cards! I love anything hand made. People have so gotten away with making personalized gifts!

Love, peace and blessings
China

Jeannette StG said...

Martha,
sorry I didn't finish writing your name -sorry, my reply is the one above!

Four Seasons in a Life said...

Dear Jeannette,

It seems I am late in commenting, only because i am still playing catchup. Even the email that you sent still remains unanswered and I am truly sorry for this.

But that is not why I am here, rather I wish to express my surprise and delight in seeing a craft not often undertaken these days and to top it off, you were using wood and not a man made material to cut your amazing woodcut.

Thank you for sharing your art with us.

Warmest regards to you and your family this holiday season,
Egmont

Jeannette StG said...

Richard,
Thank you for visiting my art blog -you are welcome here any time! I visited yours, and it is a delightful one:)

Jeannette StG said...

Butterfly,
I rather call you butterfly than China (I'll get confused, because my son lives in China.
Thank you, hope this holiday season is not too wacky (I'm talking about your job), and time left to celebrate!
Thanks, hand-made anything is always special, because someone's soul is in it:)

Jeannette StG said...

Egmont,
Don't worry about it, I know how much time it takes when one has traveled, to get back into the rhythm of blogging, LOL!

Hope you realize that on top of the wood is a layer of linoleum to make the cutting easier? My hands are not strong enough right now to cut into wood (long story).
Also, cutting into wood would take much longer than a few hours (it would be too long for the kids participating in this endeavor).

Wishing you and your family a wonderful Christmas and New Year!

Yvette said...

happy hollydays for you too!
fijne feestdagen!
yvette

Jeannette StG said...

Yvette,
Dan je wel! Een fijne kerst an een gelukkig Niew Jaar toegewenst!

Unknown said...

I am enjoying looking through this blog - interesting works.