The Circus part 7

Had a little time available this afternoon and decided to put it to use.  If nothing else, going up to the Studio was an opportunity to return the wooden chair I had used as a drawing prop in yesterday's classes. and getting that out of my car was alone worth the trip.  Hard to say what the future will hold.  For example, there have been a whole lot of forecasts calling for big winter storms to pass through the area over the next week.  Haven't seen any significant snow yet this winter, but meteorologically, the Jersey Shore has for too long been rolling an uninterrupted run of sevens.  Since it hasn't happened yet, I'm going to try to get in as much cutting as I can.

Had an event to get to late in the day, so by the time I got to the Studio and brought in the chair, I only had about an hour left to work on art.  At least I was better prepared this time, with a large non- skid mat to help hold the block in place, and without having to devote so much effort to keeping my block firmly in place, cutting went much faster.

Unfortunately, I uncovered another knot, though I don't think it will affect the print.  And it seemed like there were a few tough bits in the top ply, as if a small amount of knot wood got mixed in.  I also suspect that my tools may need a new sharpening.  My 1.0 mm round gouge was still cutting cleanly, but it is small, and would take a long time to empty a large area.  The 2.0 can do that better, but by the end of the session, it seemed like it was tearing the wood more than cutting it.  I didn't want to go up to my car to get my class tools, so I worked with what I had until it was time to leave, which allowed me to finish cutting out the sky above the building, as can be seen above.  I think I have all my sharpening tools at home right now, so maybe it will get done before I will go back to work on this.