Friday, March 28, 2008

Deep, Deep Snow

With such an early Easter, it was not surprising to find chilly weather. I watched the deteriorating weather through the window while I made the finishing touches to a commissioned block of a tortoise:


The snow, when it came, was the heaviest that we have had here for quite a while. We live in one of the driest parts for Britain. The garden was slowly veiled:



Out for a walk through the fields with J and Bella:



The cathedral was partly hidden:


On Tuesday, J and I attended a performance of Bach's St Matthew's Passion in the magnificent Kings College Chapel in Cambridge. the music was sublime and the setting unsurpassed. We sat in the carved oak choir stalls. In front of me, a prayer book printed by John Baskerville in the 18th Century. His name is very familiar to typographers and most of you will have read books printed in Baskerville font.

Back home, I was working on a commissioned bookplate. A trio of hares and a Celtic knotwork border:

Between them, a wreath of wild strawberries emerges from the wood:


Add young fern fronds and a field of stars in the centre, as well as some uncial script and the block is nearly complete:



This morning I printed the tortoise block in an edition of 50 copies and proofed the hare bookplate. The snow has given way to rain. All is well with the world.

4 comments:

AC said...

How lovely. Will this be available to buy dispite it being a commission?
Take care,
Alison

Claudia G Coonen said...

d of rabbits as I'm born in the year of the rabbit. The tortise is nice as well, as my other fondness is turtles and celtic designs.
I hope to see more in the future.
The garden looks lovely.
Claudia

Diane Cutter said...

Andy... as usual your work is stunning. I wanted to add how very much I enjoy your blog and a glimpse into your art life on the other side of the pond. Those are beautiful wintry photos. I can see you translating them into engravings.

Annie B said...

Beautiful, Andy.

I'm at a printmaking conference this weekend and have thought of you whenever I've visited the vendor's fair. There are several booths that sell engraving supplies and I've seen some nice pieces of boxwood as well as some fascinating cutting tools. Since all I know about engraving comes to me through you, I find myself looking at the items and thinking "Andy would like this" or "I wish I could ask Andy what this is." Funny.