More phase 5 - trying again/again/again

The caption for this week:

An irony of an irony - the text is written by hand and each bird is unique [cue mad scientist laughter in background ;) ].

   

All the birds that haven't yet made it into a collage

cut out and individualized all the parrots (my favorite are the obnoxious neon ones ;) )

New blocks this week - flowers, branch, new fly

It wasn't all birds -  I also finished the flower block and put it to immediate (o so cheerful) use:

Over weekend I went to Zea Mays for a wonderful workshop in polyester plate lithography and monotype printmaking. This was very much in the spirit of phase 5 and trying again - I first learned about polyester plate lithography through a Zea Mays workshop last May. I liked it, but at the time, I didn't have access to a press, and hadn't yet done the block carving mini-project to consolidate relief carving skills. 

Now, I'm starting to feel ready to start trying to incorporate it, but I thought I didn't quite have enough experience to try it alone. I know doing a second workshop was pretty self-indulgent, but I did learn a lot. Even though I have notes, some of the information didn't stick the first time before I'd tried it, and seeing some of the ways the plate can be manipulated was a revelation (...though it will probably take a while for me to think it through while practicing (and practicing, and practicing)  the basic skills first...)

11 x 15" Part of the reason I'm interested in
polyester plate lithography is that it lends itself
to larger (but still economical) plates

More birds with text

close up - the results of looking at the Dover edition of Gerard's Herbal (cough, cough, obsessively ;) )
for a few weeks

one of the nice things about polyester plates is that they can be cut out and collaged on the press bed

The flowers were based on the illustration of roses, but they morphed into a sort of
marigold/zinnia hybrid...which is what's blooming in my yard - coincidence?

The sun is setting and the forest is going dormant.