Supermarket Fireworks part 21

As of last night I still hadn't heard anything regarding t he possible woodcut class in Belmar tonight, so I set out to take care of other business. Eventually my errands got me up to Belmar, a bit before noon. I was told the class was not happening. The woman who had left a voice mail and mentioned an interest in joining the class (several hours after we had cancelled it) had not called again or responded to calls that came from our office.   On my way out I took a peek at the side gallery and it was already full of youth art.  I guess I had gotten my art out in time and done fine with my repairs to the walls.  The day I took it all down I sent a reply e-mail to my contact, telling her it was all done, and I heard back from her yesterday, thanking me for getting everything done and being one of the more efficient people in the organization. No surprise- as far back as grad school I had developed a reputation as a guy who gets things done.  One of my first tasks as grad assistant in printmaking was to reorganize the printmaking supply closet.  A few days later I was talking to someone and mentioned I was the new printmaking grad student, and she exclaimed, "you're that guy who gets things done!"

With no class to run tonight, suddenly my schedule was more wide open.  After lunch I took a ride up to the Studio.   The predicted rain had not yet arrived, so it seemed a good opportunity to return the stuff I had picked up yesterday in preparation for the class.  Plus, I had some curiosity about my latest print.   The building was fairly empty.  Since I had the Studio to myself, I could listen to music.  Seemed like a Wipers kind of day.  Continued with the same old ink can I had used on the last day of the last woodcut class.  A lot of dried ink in there, but after some digging I found some usable ink.  My printmaking bag in the car had everything I needed, except my apron, so I was careful not to be too messy.  Used the black ink to roll up my new block and finally see what I had.

The composition seemed good, and the level of detail seems consistent with the series.  There were some flaws that can be fixed on the print itself, such as the broken up large F in FIREWORKS.  But there are also things that need to be cut- some minor, some major, like that shopping cart in the lower right corner. Way too dark and heavy.  I had left my cutting tools at home, and the ink was too wet for that anyway.  So I pulled a couple of proofs on newspaper (no need to waste good print paper on a proof I would never use) to speed up the drying time, left the block in my drying rack, packed up and went home.  And the heavy rain had still not arrived yet, so I got home safe.