Today was a great day at Stonetrigger Press, Poet Michelle Holland and Painter Tom Holland came to make prints. I met Michelle and Tom in March and we became fast friends.  I had been wanting them to make a print with me and finally in between our athletic events, Michelle a runner and Tom a cyclist, we made the date.

Just two days ago I bought a gorgeous landscape painting from Tom and I was eager to see how he would treat the linoleum. Michelle, a poet studied art in college and had made prints in the past, so I was excited to see what she would do. Both, amazingly freehanded the drawings onto the blocks, Tom with a brush and ink, Michelle with marker. They carved and in no time,  faster than anyone I have worked with, they were ready to print.

They each made an edition of 10 with 2 artist’s proofs. Here are photos of each of them signing their work.

I am thrilled with the final prints, the two editions are meticulous. Printed onto Magnani Pescia Italian made paper with Gamblin Black Ink plus my secret ingredient. (no, I will not tell you, then it would not be secret), the prints are velvety smooth with rich black ink and a slight embossing.

You can see more of Tom’s work by clicking this link. And if you are near Chimayo, NM you can make an appointment to see paintings  in person.

Michelle’s books include the New Mexico Book Award winning collection, The Sound a Raven Makes, Tres Chicas Press 2007; and Chaos Theory, Sin Fronteras Press, 2009. Last week on Father’s Day I got to hear her read “Not a Sonnet”  in Santa Fe, NM as part of the ReelFathers Project. It was incredibly moving. This video is not from last week,  it was filmed as part of the Poetry Matters on New Mexico Culture Net.

We finished our day with a nice swim at Abiquiu Lake along with Conrad and Homer, my Labradors.

For more information on Tom and Michelle, or if you are interested in their prints you can contact them directly through Tom’s site.