The front door is hung…held open so I dared not close it. A side panel of lite next to the door itself.
A walk at the dam.
And bear with me while I show the almost exhaustive yellows of this morning’s riverwalk. Then we will get to good follow up things.
And such a lovely place for a critter to live.
And this wonderful view of the river slowly filling with the dam releases.
I couldn’t help all those yellows…so Spring-like! The only thing perhaps prettier in yellow are the cheeks of a goldfinch.
Now for other news in last few days. The Riverwalk (name of the subdivision) print is finished and at the framers. I found just the tiniest scraps of tar-like roofing in the scraps of the house two days ago. They seemed perfect! So between them and my carved crows, I made the narrative piece to remind me I now have neighbors.
My house is the one in the middle. The crow flying away represents Lee while my crow is just getting settled and like my neighbor, it will eventually simply move in. This print was on the top of the stack I took to the framers yesterday and I was prepared for her to give me the side eye of disapproval…but she blurted out right away how much she liked it! Here are the details.
And the blocks arranged into their own house.
I like the sense of visual urgency about this project. In a crazy way the house is finished even though the doors just got hung…and it makes me smile. I now have neighbors.
And because I have always loved these next two prints but never framed them for myself, they too are at the framers.
The Tasman Tree wood block print colored with the watercolors made from Australian soils. And The Daily Grind, a collograph of all the ways I have been served coffee….done in a coffee brown ink.
For those wondering how it was done. I first textured a plate with the five cut out spaces for the small collographs that were inked before placing them face down into the center of each embossed rectangle and running it through the press a second time. It will hang over the counter in the kitchen near my coffee maker. The framer had a perfect match of oak wood for it to hang between the cabinets stained similarly.
And finally the large grey owl chine colle”d print that has laid on the dining room counter waiting for me to make up my mind. It won out.
This new house will have many wood block prints on the walls. It is the mark of the hand that appeals so much to me. You look at them and you can see gnarly hands making decisions that can’t be taken back…purely gut instinct….and the sound of wood being scraped away. You can smell the paper and ink behind the glass. They will be such good companions and encourage me to stay at it in my work space in the garage.
And finally a little story about yesterday.
While dining alone at the pizza place in the town I am moving to, a lady, not too much older than me, stopped to kiss me on the forehead, smile and tell me to enjoy my meal. I thanked her and she went to stand by the door. Her companion came up and explained in a hushed tone that the woman suffered from Alzheimer’s and hoped I did not mind. I did not mind one bit because I simply could not remember when someone kissed my forehead…probably my mother sending me off to bed.
So with the lady in the restaurant, the doors being hung in the new house, the enthusiasm for my work by the framer and so much yellow that I had to keep myself from simply flopping down into it, it has been a nice few days.
The realtor and my new desk arrive tomorrow!
Til later….