Starting Block Print Print Club - Marine Creature edition
It has come to my attention that print clubs of the snail mail variety are quite desirable this year. I started to notice when I followed Maura Spain, who has become a great inspiration to me, and witnessed her mail club grow to over 5000 members in the short span of a few months. After spending countless hours on TikTok, I began to see a theme of artists and small creators yearning for a tangible and affordable product that would make them feel inspired. I, too, subscribed to Maura, and was reminded of how fun it can be to receive mail in the post. The junk journaling community is alive and well, I hear.
A flatlay of a printmaking setup, including ink, a rubber block, a sketch of a beluga, and a carving tool.
So, since graduating college with a degree in illustration and fumbling about looking for a way to structure my days working from home, I decided now would be a good time for me to join the fray.
The Block Print Print Club came at a time when I felt overwhelmed with options and opportunity, and although I am grateful for my privilege and the time I have to create, I had a struggle with knowing what that meant for me.
Taking a visit to the Georgia Aquarium reinvigorated a love of marine life. Not only did I cry at the sight of dolphins interacting with trainers (a long lost dream of mine), but I also was awe struck by the size and beauty of the array of marine life that we (humanity) are able to encounter thanks to the scientists and unimaginable work it takes to house them and keep them all happy and safe.
Beluga whales at the Georgia Aquarium
Another new experiment during this post-graduation haze was to try block printing. Before moving to SC, I worked with the artist Ravi Zupa in Colorado. I learned a lot from him, and a lot of his work over the years has been block prints, screen prints, and woodcut prints. I got my hands on some tools thanks to my coworker (thanks Erin!) and have finally taken a day to break into them. Exploring the tools of block printing was a lot of work, and a very rewarding effort.
First test prints of the first block print experiment. The first is the bottom, then the top right and then top left, each getting progressively worse (too much ink)
So long story short, I took these experiences to heart, and will be creating marine creature inspired block prints for a while and sending them to people who are interested in sharing my love of marine creatures and tangible mail while the opportunity is here. Thank you all for stopping by, and I hope to see you soon.