Handmade woodblock prints

 

One of the things I love about  printing is that you get your hands dirty! Plus if you are not careful it can be a little dangerous. I like to begin my printing process with an idea in mind. For these two prints I came up with the outline of a leaf from the New Zealand Kawa Kawa shrub. I then made up my own designs on the inside to loosely represent the leaf patterns.  The Kawa Kawa has heart shaped leaves and several of them can be mixed with hot water ( and a little honey) to make a deliciously refreshing tea. The second print is a representation of one of my favourite summer flowers, the sunflower. I took a photo of one that I grew in my garden and then made a pencil sketch of this onto bare wood. I then carved out the flower using a sharp wood cutting tool. The sunflower is only limited to 10 ( I have 4 left) and uses black and red acrylic ink onto white paper.