Phase 4 redux - block printing project, week 3

Block #13 - 18

I particularly like this one

The 6 blocks-a-week-for-a-month project continues with week 3 and blocks #13 - 18.

There were moments of "Well, 5 is also beautiful number... doesn't '5 blocks a week'  have a nice ring to it..." (haha). It sounded particularly good while I was carving a full 9 x 12" block of tracery (oy); but, it's week 3(!), and I'm not conceding defeat. (Though I did carve a cute bird as the sixth and final block of the week to cheery myself).

The airplane might seem random, but I graduated
from high school in the 21st century and have
lived my entire adult life in a post-9/11 world,
so, to me, airplanes signify inescapable,
looming disaster and despair.
I think this coordinates well with Gothic iconography
 because the 14th century in Europe was also a time of
 famine, plague, and war when many political, social,
and religious institutions were in upheaval.
(waving the "nerd" flag!)

Oy.
And because I'll need the mirror image to make this the top of an aedicule for Philosophia,
I'll get to carve the whole thing all over again in reverse. (Eep!)

 

One way of getting a symmetrical mirror image of a block is to print the first block directly onto a second one. and
use that as the guideline for carving the second block, which is what I did with these roof ornaments

put a bird in it.

In other very exciting news, my aunt and uncle came to visit this weekend and help me with house projects. In one weekend, they made the giant hole that has been in the ceiling for over a year disappear. Incredible! And they supported my idea of a door in the ceiling with a doorknob that says "exit." I think this is hysterical - an inaccessible exit that leads nowhere - lol. I look up at it while doing dishes, and every time I see it, I laugh.

scary hole before

after

 but I did paint the
back porch earlier this week (thumbs up!)

I couldn't help with the exit door

In addition to disappearing the hole, (and all in 2 days!) Uncle Mark converted an unused basement spigot into a utility sink. I am so happy! Now I don't need to wash out my ink plates, brayers, and blocks in the bathtub anymore! It even has a shelf below with holes so that my blocks can dry out and hooks on the legs for drying rags. It is already being put to good use - Thank you Uncle Mark!