Leaf Prints

Leaf print on monoprint by Phillip Hoyle 2017

Between writing paragraphs and stories I am still finding my way to my basement studio to experiment with printing. I use leaves I pressed last autumn and finally have made quite a few prints. But for me the approach is still experimental and I'm contented with the artistic play. Comparing my prints with those showing up in books in the subject, I am learning, getting the feel of it. I realize I may ruin quite a few leaves before I am satisfied with the basic technique! But that medium is very costly to the leaves. 

Oak leaves last longer for experimenting. So do cottonwood leaves. But the elm leaves are less hardy. The oak leaf on the print shown above is ten inches in length and, to my way of thinking, a beautiful specimen. The largest of the elm leaves below is eight inches long! I found it in our neighbor's yard, the product of a huge American elm tree. I'm enjoying the leaves and the process.

Elm leaf prints on paper by Phillip Hoyle, 2017

Art Wars

Leaf prints on Thai paper. Phillip Hoyle 2017

I haven't felt so artistically challenged for years, and it's my own fault. But I don't play a blame game in my retired life. I had the opportunity to sign up for a writing class, one on the short memoir, one that promised to get at what was hanging me up in my writing. I signed up and am now on the final sprint to get the rough draft done. It's due on Saturday morning. 

The feeling of war comes from trying to balance my need to do visual arts as well as written, to keep up my blog postings as well as write paragraphs, to solve placement on paper as well as craft  well-proportioned paragraphs. I'm not bragging, just explaining why the art prints shown here are in process. My paragraphs are as well. I have to grin and bear it and ask you to do the same. Perhaps in a couple of weeks one of these prints will show up in final form. I hope so. 

Oak leaf print. Phillip Hoyle 2017