Dragonfly block prints for Napa Valley Open Studios

Dragonfly block print  •  ©2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

Last year I experimented with printing soft blocks on special papers, mixing different colors of inks as I went along. Most of these actually have three layers of color, with two printings, and the third layer of color between the printings an iridescent or metallic color.

Dragonfly block print  •  ©2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

I thought I'd bring them out for Napa Valley Open Studios. There's quite a variety in the papers, in color and pattern, and each one is completely different from the others, even though I was using the same block.

Dragonfly block print  •  ©2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

I printed these in one of the printmaking sessions a group of us plan every few months or so, depending on our schedules. The others originally took the Soft Block Printing workshop a few years ago; then we did a two-day workshop last year, with multiple color printing. Since then, we gather for wonderful all-day printing sessions, setting up inking stations, comparing prints, and chatting around another table as we carve our blocks.

Dragonfly block print  •  ©2011 Karen Lynn Ingalls

I'll have twenty-two different dragonfly prints at Open Studios – these are four of them.