We got a taste of spring this week with temperatures reaching the lower 80’s briefly. My daffodils have continued to bloom (and I to pick them) and the red dogwood has finally come out. I bought a blood red dogwood last year from the big box store and I am pleased to say that it has a multitude of dark red flowers. I also saw a coyote scoping out three deer in the shallow end of the pond, but by the time I had the telephoto lens switched over on my camera, he was gone. I am sure the does were more than a match for a lone coyote and he only stopped to make sure no one was weak enough to merit more than a glance.
In a week of sporadic studio time because of out of town family travel, I managed to make up another set of linocuts. I recently sold both of my dragon prints out of my etsy store, so I was able to combine replacing those prints with doing something new. I am happy my dragons found another home. Those were two of my favorites art pieces. I had in mind cutting some kind of potted plant this time around. I was inspired by the jade plant I have in my garden window in the kitchen so I hope this is somewhat suggestive of it. I didn’t bring it down while cutting the linoleum block, but just tried to create a pleasing positive/negative space with the leaves and the pot.
I knew I wanted to color the second one with a light mottled mossy green. The trick is, how much to do. I like to start small with the thought that, for these, less is more. I think leaving some white helps highlight the colored leaves and doesn’t make the whole thing too dark. I am relatively pleased with the result. what do you think?