Supermarket Fireworks part 3

Nothing major on the schedule for today, so it seemed like a good day to get some art done.  Had some minor building business to take care of.  Besides, one of my woodcut students had asked in week 1 if I would be working on any blocks during the class run.  I think students like to see their teachers actively involved in the process.  I remember once having a college student remark that she had no respect for art professors who weren't actively making and showing art.  I never showed her or talked about what I was up to, but anyone who looked me up on the internet would easily find it.

One of my bits of business goes back to Wednesday- I had noticed that night that the light outside my  main door was not functioning.  Maybe just the bulb, or maybe the circuit, since they had been doing things with them on Tuesday.  The lights inside my Studio worked fine, so I think it's likely just a bulb needs replacing, but that's the building's job. On the day of my class, I made sure to take care of anything I needed to do there during the daylight hours, when enough daylight leaked in from a few windows that I could find my door lock.  Otherwise I'd have to feel my way around the rabbit warren hallways of the basement- not desirable.  When I arrived today I found Nichole in the hallway upstairs.  I don't think she has anything to do with physical property, but if I let her know she could pass it on. She decided to walk with me downstairs to see for herself, safe enough during the day.  She also wanted to talk about the Green Room.  The dehumidifier had been moved from the cafeteria to the kitchen off of it, where it was propped up so a hose could let it drain and it could run continuously.  The Green Room space actually was fairly comfortable, but I don't know if that is because the dehumidifier has been running continuously for several days or because the week has seen a break in the record heat and humidity we have had around here this summer.  Predictions are that the heat and humidity may be back for early next week.  But if basement conditions remain tolerable, she may ask me to move the classes back down there, as was always intended. I wouldn't object- plenty of room, lots of table space, lots of chairs, so if the temperature and dampness can be controlled, we could work there. We'll see how things turn out.  We also talked about some possible future changes- more light, fixing the floor, repainting the white walls (but leaving the exposed brick alone; too beautiful to cover up)

She went on to something else, I went to my space to get some work done.  Thanks to the demands of classes (Ocean Grove and college preparation) I haven't had much time for art lately, and hadn't touched my latest supermarket print since July.  Have ideas for other prints, but this one is the most developed so far, and I'd like to see it.  The block was there, but when I looked in my knapsack, my pencil case was not there, so I didn't have a good dark pencil.  Had some yellow #2's in my pack (from Nichole for the drawing class, and maybe more drawing stuff will come next week), but unsharpened.  I keep a pencil sharpener in my pencil case, so that was not an option.  I keep one in one of my tool rolls, but I didn't have those today either.  Luckily I also keep one in my print cabinet.

These pencils are HB's, tend to make light, fine lines, hard to see against the darkness of the wood in these photos. I suppose I could have made the lines heavier and darker, but I'm still in an early stage of the block sketch, working things out.  What I drew today can be easily seen in person.  There is the firework display box, a rotating rack that holds sparklers, a few figures who will be the sneaky smokers who had set off the fireworks, shelves that will eventually hold coolers, folding chairs, pails and shovels, (and other seasonal items), a bakery counter, and an early version of the sparkler cake, which will be copied from photos of the real one we had years ago.  As I wrote earlier, in person these sketches are all visible, and I'll be sure to bring a softer and darker pencil for next time, so as these shapes become more defined, photos of the wood block will be clearer.