Green Mountain Studio | 360-225-8909 | dneely@wa-net.com
Artists Process Statement
I do woodcuts because I love the strong graphic design and opportunity to make the play of positive and negative spaces a very important design element. I like to do line work and combine it with large graphic shapes. A common design element I depend on is a circle, usually representing the moon. I love the smell and feel of the wood as I work it.
My subject matter are birds and animals with a strong emphasis on the NW salmon species. I try to include some educational information in the design, i.e. the moon with a salmon species is to show that the full moon rises the tide levels higher so the fish can get into their birth waters and return to spawn.
A woodcut is done by carving a flat piece of wood, cut with the grain. Any areas that you want to remain the color of the paper are cut away. I use only a small knife and a few gouges for this step. Waterbase ink is then rolled on the surface of the wood. Handmade Oriental papers are put on top of the inked plate and rubbed with a baren to get the ink to transfer to the paper. Any ink that gets into the carved parts of the plate will not print because the plate prints only from the high (uncarved) parts of the plate. Each print is individually hand inked and printed, then numbered and signed.
I sign my prints the traditional Chinese way with red chops. The top chop is my name in Chinese. The bottom chop says I draw birds and animals. If you look closely you can see a bird character. Because woodcuts are done in editions, they are numbered so that the total number in the edition and each print in the edition is shown along with the edition date and signature of the artist in pencil at the lower edge of the print.
