Think Art - Walter Anderson Type Art!!!!!

So, the dear sweet shopowner of http://www.knotaway.etsy.com/ is quite pleased with her purchases, her thank you pair of earrings, including her custom orders. In return, she sent me a set of her blockprint cards in one of my favorite colors and in one of my favorite themes - animals - specifically safari animals. I can't go to the zoo without shooting shots of the same animals as I have all the other times we have taken our son to the zoo. You just never know when you might get one of those extra special shots. Of course, with zooming and cropping, and antiquing and converting color photos to black and white, the likelihood of shooting an extra good photo has increased tremendously.

So, imagine my surprise when I had a surprise package in the mailbox with these fabulous cards inside and matching envelopes!!! It made my day! :) So, of course I had to ask how the cards are made.........

Ok - in layman's terms...This print is based on a photo I took last Spring. I "posterized" it in photoshop and then sketched out the outlines from the photo and transferred them to the linoleum block. I worked with a really soft block for this print, rather than a harder linoleum. Once the design was transferred to the block I began carving out the negative areas, leaving the design you see raised to pick up the ink in printing. The cards are printed with water based blockprinting ink, which is applied with a brayer, then I position the paper on top of the block and use a barren to transfer the ink from the block to the paper. The prints are then hung to dry. Each card is individually scored to prevent cracking when folded. I follow the same process for the print for the envelopes. (Except they don't need to be scored. :D )
6 February 2009 10:09am EDT

So, my layman's terms - she does what Walter Anderson did, but only she is sane and doesn't live on a barren island off of the MS coast like Anderson did, nor does she feel the need to strap herself to a tree and experience a hurricane firsthand, while on the island - which is what Walter Anderson felt the need to do. I am so tickled and impressed to have found someone who is keeping the type of artwork Anderson is famous for alive, especially since many of his pieces were damaged with Katrina. Many collectors actually gave some of their pieces back to the Walter Anderson museum and/or loaned pieces to the museum in Ocean Springs so that the museum would have a decent amount of Anderson's original work that is not ruined. The last time I went down, it was a mixture of water-damaged work and pieces that had been donated back to the museum. I find it astounding that collectors of the artwork realize it is more important for Anderson's work to be appreciated and admired by many versus them keeping it in their private collection. This is but one of many reasons why I love calling Mississippi home - we are kind people as a whole.

Check out the shop http://www.knotaway.etsy.com and no you won't have the web address on the cards you buy. I did this to prevent stealing of the print out of respect for the artist. We artisans and crafters take a risk putting our art pieces online, but either we put them online and realize that some dishonest people will steal or we don't and then we don't get to share our work with people nor do they get to buy it properly.

I am truly touched by the generosity of the shopowner by mailing me a set of her zebra cards. How very thoughtful. Do check her work out, you won't be disappointed.

Migon :)