Whoops - nearly forgot to photo the drawing on the block before cutting - am getting very excited about straw bears again having been binge watching Andrew Kotting films, and thanks to Gareth, By Ourselves about the walk to Northampton by John Clare, lovely film which has me searching for my John Clare by Himself again, lovely book...
the film also features the Whittlesea Straw Bear. I have made lots of drawings around Europe of straw figures and bears , and at Binche Museum and ethnographic museums in Poland and Russia; see also my tree in a coat drypoint back in April.....
I suddenly decided I really wanted a straw bear in my Dante-esque forest along with the tree guardians; I know being made of straw makes them seem autmnal but they are also associated with spring festivals and I imagine mine made of green drygrass, bound together like the bowls and objects I saw in Guatemala which were bright green when I bought them but have faded to straw colour over the years sadly,,,
this was quite a difficult image to make as there is little structure beyond bunches of straw/grass so the proof will be in the printing to try and enhance the strength of the totemic figure - have kept the cutting simple ( often just as difficult tho as cutting complicated images which need less thought...) - he needs a good sky behind him and colour will be really crucial....
likewise with these two other little blocks I cut today........for Ship of Fools/flooding cycle....
I have cut the man in the wicker cage smaller but may revert to a portion of the large original version if it doesn't work - am running out of scalpel blades with any points left....
if you are joining this from the FPBA, scroll back to end of March to follow what it is all about - and stick with me - it will all get much more colourful once I knuckle down to printing
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