be the fool and slave of my heart



I am a printer’s daughter after all. When I opened this new tin of ink (check out the label) and scooped out a chunk with the scrapper, i could smell the lovely oil and my heart did a little backflip. This week’s orders will enjoy a more “pro” print!

When I learnt pottery it taught me a lot about patience, the importance of an anchor, the balance between push and pull. With clay, people, ourselves. I remember the “life lessons” from my printmaking classes more than 10 years ago (blogpost July'06, blogpost Aug'06, blogpost May'07). And even now, this spate of printing on the weekends have reminded me of them.
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1) There are no shortcuts in life, really. For a lazy person like me whose mind is always seeking a easier way to do something, this is a constant lesson when making art. So much is practice, repetition, improvement, asking why and trying to find those answers. Take the time to make sure each step is as best as it can be. And take the time to listen for when you let go, when you have no control and it is ok to let the other things of the material or mood or medium and any combination of that take its own form eventually.
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2) What you put in is what you get - rubbish in, rubbish out. When the material or ingredient is not perfect or ideal, you work really hard just to balance it out and sometimes the outcome will never overcome the weakness of the input. At least not for amateurs like me. Take this new ink. It is smooth and eats well into the paper.
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3) Clean up your own shit. It is tempting to leave the studio messy. At the end of the day, wash and respect your tools. If you don’t clean up the shit, it haunts you, your wallet or your sink.
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4)Don’t do too much and know when to stop. We are not factories. You got to know your own limits. And at some stage, ah the economic law of diminishing returns, my friends. And you end up frustrated by your results anyway. My new rule is 15 prints max each time.

This print, "Be the Fool and Slave of My Heart" is available in a limited edition of 100. 
  • #1-41 are taken or sold. 
  • 20x30cm, woodblock print using oil-based ink on Stonehenge White 250gsm paper. 
  • $50, inc. local postage. 100% of proceeds from the sale until end October will go to a Singapore charity - I will update by end-October which charity it is and how much was raised. 
  • Leave a comment or email info@ampulets.com to order.
Carving the woodblock
Carving the woodblock
Prepping for print
Picking up the ink with a Lino roller (I find the metal roller much easier to clean and rolls more smoothly)

Inking the woodblock

Transferring the ink/print

The dining table is where I work....the most important tool here is the vacuum cleaner!

Drying the prints

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