Moleskine Covers

Over the summer I got out my stash of Japanese papers I used to use for papier mache and started printing covers for Moleskine 5" x 8" notebooks. Lots of fun.

Blue Horse Running

Another 'cobbled' together print.

The sky is from another reject block. What was I thinking at the time? It is a great block. Good thing I didn't throw it out. I learned that lesson a few years ago when I came across a proof of a print that I thought, at the time, was a lousy image, but years later saw that it was actually quite good. Did I still have the blocks? Nope. Too bad - so sad. I still have the proof though. The colours are a bit wishy washy, but the image definitely had potential. Sigh.

The landform is from a print that never made it through the proofing stage, but by this time I knew better and I saved the blocks and lo and behold this block is actually quite useful. I think I may have to make a few more blocks like this for more variety.

And the horse. Ah, that little horse block has been around for a long time now. When I first cut the block, I didn't have any real use for him. It was only a couple of years later in 1999 that I editioned him up in a print called Running Horse. And now he is continuing to run through all sorts of one-of-a-kind prints.

Multiple Squares Quilt Finished

The finished print. It took a long time from initial sketch to final print, but I am happy with the result.

I made the sketch last November/December and finished printing the edition during the first week of March. That is quite a lot of time for a low tech block print, though I was working on the Rayon Dress Quilt as well as a number of other prints at the same time ( and there is the day job which does eat into the time available). But I found that every step of the quilt prints took a lot longer than I thought. More planning.... more blocks... more proofing.... more revisions to the blocks.... proofing again.... hitting my head against the wall.... etc. etc. etc.

So my thoughts now are turning to simpler images and prints where I can get some immediate gratification. More spontaneity and less focus on process (even though printmakers love process).


Multiple Squares Quilt is available for sale here.