I am a retired high school principal who has been an avid sport fisherman for over thirty years with a keen interest in all things nautical. During my tenure as a high school administrator I supported the Arts seeing the difference they made in the development of students both academically and culturally. My daughter is a practicing artist in Miami and my wife is an art major. With artist surrounding me I decided to explore my artistic talent.
I am a self-taught artist. Drawing on college art classes and on going instruction from my wife and daughter I have developed unique techniques in creating traditional woodcut prints.
Depicting different species of fish and other sea life comes from my love of the sea and fishing. Through my process, I accurately draw the images to scale and then depart with design using the unique qualities of the wood paying particular attention to the grain. I use wood carving tools gouges, etc. and primarily a razor blade to cut the soft wood blocks. Paper choice is a important step in achieving the image you are seeking. Heavier weight paper yields a richer embossed print while lighter weight paper produces a sharper more detailed image. After cutting, the block is inked and pressed using a barren, a hand held press followed by a rounded rubbing tool to add detail.
Recently, I have begun to use multiple blocks to add more than one color to the images. I build my own frames which I feel enhances the artwork.
I hope viewing the prints will produce as much enjoyment a creating them.