School's Out

Tonight was the last meeting of this current series of woodcut classes.  Teaching the class is easy; getting all the supplies in and out is the hard part.  Each time we do this, I have to get all the stuff seen above from my apartment to my car, then into the Boatworks.  At the end of the night the process is reversed, but we'll get to that in a minute.

One of our members had informed me that she couldn't make it tonight, but the other five turned up within a few minutes of the official start time.  We opened with a quick group meeting to go over some issues that had come up since last week, and then it was time for everyone to work.  Two of the artists continued work on their blocks from last week.  The other three had managed to cut brand new blocks since last week and were ready to print.

Below are some of the proofs pulled in class tonight.

Michele (above) and Kate (below) continued their efforts from last week.  This was Michele's first night of printing, while Kate's proof came after she made significant changes to her block.

Mary came in with a new block and four state proofs she had done at home, all since last week.  We discussed what worked and what could be improved, and she spent most of the class period making adjustments.  She pulled the above proof just as we were finishing class, and was pleased with the changes.

The Meyer sisters went with bird themed designs again, and each pulled first proofs on white Rives Lightweight, but they also decided to experiment with color.  Not color ink, but printing on colored decorative papers from my supply.  The whole group was very excited by the results, which were more impressive in person than in these photos.

We ended up going a little over on time so that everyone could get their final proofs printed, so everyone pitched in and helped with the clean-up.  (some suggested to me last week that future classes should be longer, and everyone tonight was in agreement)  As a reward for cleaning, I shared some freshly picked figs from the family garden.   Three of the students had never tried a fresh fig before and were a bit hesitant.  Now there are three more people in the world looking forward to their next fresh fig.

After everyone had left it took me almost a half hour more to pack up all the class supplies, put away the tables and chairs, and load my car.  With this last meeting over, I'm now finally done with my summer job and on vacation.  College classes begin next week, so it's going to be a very short vacation.    Once again this group of beginning woodcutters tells me they would like to continue the class.  Once my fall teaching schedule is finalized I'll talk to the BAC and try to get something on the schedule.