The Cow That Looked Like A Mountain

Hello Dear Readers,

It’s been about three weeks since my last chemo infusion and I was told I would start feeling better. Connor says that I’m doing a lot better than I was, but I’m still exhausted. Although I have noticed that have longer stints of being active before having to take a break. This week I was able to get to a project that I wasn’t able to finish back in October due to my planned wrist surgery and later my unplanned cancer.

I had been working on making a stamp with a logo for a friend’s farm. Before all this medical nonsense started I had managed to draw a bunch of thumbnails and had gotten feedback on which one to go with. Last week I picked up the final tool I needed: a stamp pad.

It’s been a while since I’ve carved a stamp, but everything started straightforward. I drew a final copy of the logo in pencil, pressed the speedy carve onto it to transfer the pencil onto the speedy carve. Then I carved the pattern out with a tool I’ve had since college and usually use to carve pumpkins for Halloween and realized I hadn’t cleaned very well since the last pumpkin.

I tested the print out a few times and refined the edges a little before going to my trusty spare wood pile in the basement (because the one in the garage has been thoroughly spoiled by raccoons) and found the perfect piece. I chopped a bit off without chopping myself this time. Then I sanded both the edges of the wood block and my thumb knuckle. Perfect.

The next step was stamping the design onto the woodblock before using some super glue to attach the block to the wood and laying some weight on it. An hour later the project was done. I spent the rest of the day showing it off to anyone who crossed my path… and that’s when it all went wrong.

Both my father-in-law and my brother did not see the cow in the logo at first. This is a problem because a logo should be easily read and instantly recognizable. I could have ignored their feedback, but I figured my father-in-law might have some good insight on this since he raises cows.

What to do? I didn’t want to start over and the only way to fix an existing stamp is to carve more. I ended up taking a pencil and coloring over some of the stamp to neaten up the lines to give the cow a better silhouette. A few test stamps later and some positive feedback later and I was ready to call it done. However, I wanted to make sure the picture on the wood reflected the stamp being stamped and annoyingly I had done a fantastic job gluing the stamp to the wood.

They say laziness is the mother of invention and I was feeling lazy. I didn’t want to start over so instead I sanded the ink off the wood to match the stamp, this time without sanding any fingers.

1. I came across an interesting printmaking magazine called Pressing Matters. I was most interested in a physical copy Issue 28, which is out of print. Luckily I found a copy on eBay. I’m just waiting for it to arrive in my mailbox now. Issue 28 is still available as a digital download.

2. Rachel Hays of Taxonomy Press has a really beautiful riso print newsletter called the Floral Observer. I discovered it a few days after their yearly subscription closed, but it looks like it’s possible to get single issues!

Ready to read more comics? Check out audrywithoutane.com

Interested in what other projects Audry is involved with? Go to audrynicklin.com

Enjoy knitting? Visit Audry’s knitting pattern site at bear-ears.com