more specifically, these are the first test prints I've made on 2 new blocks I carved, using old greeting cards for reference images and then adding my own words.
This part of the process used to annoy me a lot, because I'd carve something and I'd think, "I'm finally done carving, hurray, time to enjoy it!" and then I'd make a test print and I'd see 19 things I hated and I'd feel like I was going back to the beginning when I went back to the block to revise those things, and as that kept happening, I would feel more and more frustrated at the fruitlessness of this endeavour.
But I really like printmaking, so when I realized that was the pattern, I worked on reframing how I think about it. Instead of "hurray, I'm finally done carving!", now I think about it as "okay, I feel really good about this and I think I'm done, so let's find out what I've missed". It's like if I know the objective is to identify the areas that still need some work, then when I find areas that still need work, I feel like I've succeeded!
Reframing shit is maybe like the easiest way to instantly pull myself out of a gloomy feeling. I have yet to find a thing that's not reframeable. It doesn't fix everything, but it makes me feel better, and that helps me do whatever I need to do to fix the thing, if a thing needs fixing.
these test prints are exciting though, because i can see the shape of what I'm trying to do. I'm real jazzed to share them when they're done done.
originally posted July 6 2026
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