Elephant and (inset landmark here)

 There's an upcoming event this weekend organised by the library. It's got a Diwali theme to it. This is a part of the Alex's contribution. Cards that kids (of all ages) could colour and decorate. I did five blocks (3 landmarks and 2 elephants) that could be mixed and matched to make six 2-block prints. Like this. 

It's that woman again

 In a bid to rediscover my mojo after a summer of physical labour on the Alex, I took a couple of blocks from an earlier piece (see here and here) and tweaked them and combined them with printing from some old texture wallpaper I'd removed from a wall. Like the previous one, it's not brilliant, but it allowed me to proceed with the sense of experimentation with pretty low stakes. The wallpaper came out a lot better than I expected.

Close work

 I've done a couple of things this month that I've not felt good about. But not so bad that I consigned them instantly to the bin. This is the first. It's based on a drawing I did earlier in the year. I think it needs something, not sure what. I'm thinking about adding colour, but in the meantime, it just sits there looking at me until I decide.

Steve's Solo Show 26th-28th July

 This has been a very interesting show to put together,, I have filled the Alex with around 100 individual pieces (from postcard soze up) dating from the Toiti von Tranz picture I did back in July 2019. Because some of the older works have been in storage, it has been fun to dig them out and find that they are indeed okay. Nothing to be ashamed of.

It has been good to dispay the two series of "illustrattions" - Anna Bloom and Dance of Death - all together with the words. I definitely thing it'd be worthwhile putting them in book form if I can ge it done cheaply enough.

Boy Meets Girl 2

 Pleased I managed to do this second one before we close the Alex for the summer. This couple were much more subdue than the forst. They seemed more deep in thought. I gave the young woman glasses, because it seemed to give that thoughtful air, and it also distinguished her from the girl in the other picture.

People are lovely, especially when they're alone or in couples. It's when they're in larger groups they become scary...

Boy Meets Girl I

 I call this Boy Meetts Girl I because another couple stat on the wall outside the next day and I drew them as well. So with luck I'll make a print of that, too.

There is something so beautiful about the everyday, the banal. This is the well-spring of hope for the future. The little things that always have been. That we hope always wil be. Amen.

Blackthorn, Cemex card

 Over the past week, a couple of people asked me if I had a card of my Blackthorn, Cemex print. I don't think that commercially-printed versions of my prints is my schtick, really. So aftter the second person asked, I thought, "Well, heck, make a card-size version. You've already done the preparatory work." So I made this version yesterday afternoon and this morning.

I printed 12 today. Because the card and the original print used the grey sludge made from scraped-up leftover ink to make the base colour, I can delight in no two "editions" being the same