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I got several good hours of cutting done on my latest project earlier this week (well, okay–by now it’s last week). I also have three others in progress. Two depict houses across the alley (and slightly uphill) from mine; the other is of the rooming-house next door, to the right. This one is 18 x 24″ (45 x 60cm), and my plan is to print the linocut over monotype. The others will likely be straight-up linocuts, at roughly the same size.

I have plans to do a series of works–paintings and drawings, as well as prints–of the houses in my neighborhood. I live in a neighborhood populated mostly by students, so most of these huge old houses are student rentals. Some are rooming houses, others converted into apartments, and yet others remain undivided. Over the decades, they have been modified to suit their purpose as rentals, which means they have lots of additions and make-do adaptations that were built with cheapness and low maintenance–rather than beauty–in mind.

And to me, this is all fascinating stuff to look at, especially on the back sides, where attractiveness has apparently never been even a token consideration.