Terraplane Blues part 12-finished

 At first I wasn't sure if I was going to go in to the Studio today, but then I decided I would.  Then I wasn't sure what I was going to do there.  I planned to take a better proof of my most recent block, but wasn't sure if I would include the lyric or not.  In the end I decided not to- I won't need them for the Nashville show, and in theory, that is still the next possible plan for this piece.  I had a piece of print paper that was a little smaller than the one I used yesterday, but I knew it would just cover the image area (and text if I had done that), so not really suitable for an edition print, but good enough to record any changes.  At first I looked for my rock/pop book of discs to bring with me, but couldn't find it.  Had I left it at the Studio yesterday?  So for today I brought two loose discs (in cases) I had in my home pile, and a block I may work on next, and used the sunny day to go up to my building.  (possible rain is predicted the rest of the week)  The inked Terraplane block was still there, sitting in my drying rack.

As soon as I got to my space, I saw the disc book I had left there.  Years ago I just kept it there, but brought it home to have things to listen to as my main collection is still in storage.  But I had brought new discs to listen to, and put on one of those.  I went with one made by my college friend Doug, including two albums- Mountain Jack by Hans Rotenberry and Brad Jones, and Street Songs Of Love by Alejandro Escovedo, a disc I wrote about on this blog back in June of 2022.  Although it is two full albums, it is not that long.  First step was to remove a few bits of blue tape, then I proceeded to do a little more cutting.  I used to proof from yesterday to decide what more needed to be cut- maybe some changes, but mostly spots that picked up ink unintentionally.  Now they wouldn't.  The process made my hands good and dirty, but the ink wasn't thick, so washed off with soap and water.  Then I used much thicker ink to roll up the block for printing.  I carefully placed my printing paper, which indeed just covered the image area without much margin to spare.  I rubbed it, and re-inked as necessary, as you can see below:

I was careful enough not to let the paper slip, so I got a useful image, if not one I can include in the edition.  The resulting new and improved print doesn't look much different from the first proof (other than the small paper margins), but I can see the differences and am happy with the results.  Check it out for yourself:

I still want to pull one more proper print on larger paper, and may to one with the lyric text, but that can wait until the block is properly dry.  Meanwhile, I will declare this one done, and work on something else next time.  

My first disc ran out, so I put on another one to do my cleaning of tools and palette.  What I had brought with me was Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, which you can read about back on August of 2019 if you want to know more.  Everything (including my hands) got clean, so I left the new proof and the blotted block in the rack, yesterday's first proof hanging on my tack wall to keep drying, and after a stop at the store, I went home.