New Year, New Beginnings
Hello 2022! This year is already off to a roaring start, and I’m so excited to see what it has in store. From collaborations & commissions to hosting Print Swap 2022, January sure has been a busy month for us!
To kick things off, I was incredibly honored to design & carve my dear friend Olivia’s wedding invitation. She had commissioned me to create a linoprint with her fiancé Nick’s birth flower, the cosmos, and Italian ruscus greenery to match her wedding florals. She and I share a love for bees, so naturally I included two of them! I absolutely love how it turned out, and I’m over the moon happy for this lovely couple. Olivia stood by me on my big day, and I can’t wait to do the same for her! May 8th can’t come soon enough!
Speaking of prints, this month of January consisted of a lot of printmaking - from lots of different people! Once again, I (along with some amazing friends of mine) created the second annual Print Swap!
Print Swap 2022 is an international exchange that allows fellow printmakers discover new talent. Open to all linocut, woodblock, and screenprinting artists, I brought together over 400 printmakers from 25 different countries across the globe. I hosted this event with four wonderful people: Samantha Lin (SJane Art LLC), Marlee Bossert (Patch Your Life Together), Julia Delgado (Kore’s Hollow), and Amanda Fyfe (Boreal Moon Prints).
Together, we matched each artist with another based off of their preferences, skill level, and unique style. They would each send off a handmade print and receive one from someone else in return. It was a huge success, and so much fun! We all had an amazing time getting to know other printmakers from around the world, and grew our little printmaking community. We already can't wait for Print Swap 2023! Be sure to also check out the hashtag #PrintSwap2022 to see what everyone made for the swap.
Another collaboration I had the absolute pleasure of working on was done with the one and only Dylan Gregor (DLNXGRGR). We decided to do a combined print: Dylan made the anatomical heart in red and splattered the fake blood, while I carved the ribcage and printed it in black on top! Only ten were made, and I think they turned out utterly spectacular. Each one is completely unique, which was part of the excitement since we had to send each other our parts of the print and had no idea how they would come out as a result. What a joy it was to see it all come together. We ended up hosting a giveaway to send these off into the world to a few lucky winners! It was such a blast working with Dylan, and I highly recommend checking out their page to see more unique prints.
Even though it’s been a busy first month of 2022, I’ve cherished every moment of it. I can’t wait to see what February will bring! I’m hoping to reopen my online store with a Valloween shop update that has some spooky cute items for the season. I also have been reaching a few of my personal milestones on social media, so be sure to keep an eye peeled for some exciting things to come soon!
P.S. - our sweet kitty Ganon wishes you a happy new year!
