On With the Old Fencing

Once I had a good number of the fence prints (and given them time to dry) I cropped them down to 3.5x3.5-inches and began to mount them on 5x5-inch notecards. I like working in a square format and cut (and sometimes fold) my own cardstock.

Finding a good composition and highlighting the knots and wonky grain is the most fun. And I really enjoyed using random colours to build up the layers of ink. I never quite knew what I would get and that surprise appeals to me.

I add a mini-print to the back of each card and then give them a good “squish” in a book press (or I weigh them down with stacks of old magazines) and leave them overnight.

For the Heritage Series I’m using Strathmore Printmaking Cards (approximately 5x7-inches) that I buy in bulk. The soft, absorbent paper in Natural White (a warm white) is slightly textured, pre-scored for the fold and looks good with brown paper bag envelopes. The envelopes that come with the Strathmore stock I pass onto friends who work in that size. And in the next post I’ll show you what I do with the off-cuts of card. Nothing goes to waste!