KenSwinson.com

Author: Ken

  • Kiln Opening – Owl Cups

    After taking a few months off from making pottery, I just had my first kiln opening! Click any of the photos for a closer look.

    cup 1
    cup 2
    cup 3

    I decided to work in a series: OWLS

    cup 4
    cup 5
    cup 6

    These will be available at my studio (#400) this FRIDAY (13 December 2024) at the Pendleton Art Center

    cup 7
    cup 8
    cup 9

    These are all porcelain cups: food and microwave safe. Carved by me, Ken Swinson. They are $50 each, and only available in person. I want you to pick it up and hold it before deciding whether this is the right cup for you.

    I have had a lot of requests for cups, and don’t expect these to stay in the studio for very long–if you make a special trip to Final Friday to get one of these cups, I recommend coming asap.

  • Frontier Christmas Card

    Tomorrow (Saturday 7 December) is Frontier Christmas in Old Washington, KY. My tradition is to open my studio to the public and give a free printmaking activity-where guests can use my press to make their own Christmas card.

    carved and ready to print!!!

    I’ve been thinking about Owls a lot recently-teachers are some of my favorite people–and the owl represents wisdom, my appreciation for teachers and love of owls inspired this year’s card design.

    hot off the press!

    This year’s cards will be unique, because we have a NEW metallic ink. It’s hard to see the reflective quality of the ink in a photo, so I hope you’ll come to the studio and make one for yourself!

    The studio is at 2111 Old Main Street-Upstairs above Lil’ Jumbo’s Coffee Shop-Across the Hall from Rewind Design bookstore. We’ll be printing cards from 10-4pm! Hope to see you there!

  • HOO likes owls?

    I’m working on an owl pottery project–just finished carving these owl themed designs. Will be ready for the kiln after they dry. Stay tuned!

  • Fox + Hens – Woodcut

    Hot off the press! I’m excited to share with you my latest reduction woodcut: Fox + Hens

    This is a reduction woodcut. An interesting technique where all 6 colors come from the same block. The block is carved in stages, and the paper goes through the press a separate time for each color. Scroll down to see all the steps

    LAYER 1–Whites of the paper and light grey
    LAYER 1 light grey (above)-LAYER 2 Light blue (below) the block is visible on the right
    LAYER 3- dark blue (below) LAYER 4-Orange (above) block visible on the right
    LAYER 5-red (left) the block is visible on the right
    THE FINAL LAYER 6-black!!!

    This is a limited edition (only 21) woodcut print. Printed on acid free, 100% cotton paper with archival oil based inks. You can order one online or in person at any of my events for $60 (while available)

    The image is 8×10″
    The paper 11×14″

  • Robin With Nest – woodcut print

    I’m continuing to practice carving small blocks in woodcut. Here’s the start of layer 1

    Layer 1 on the left, Layer 2 on the right and the woodblock in the center

    Layer 2 of our tiny, tiny (4×5″) woodcut

    Layer 3

    Here’s LAYER 4 of our itty bitty (4×5″) woodcut.

    -just one more layer to go!!!

    The finished print!!!

    4×5″ image on 8×9″ cotton paper
    Limited edition of 22

  • Robins-woodcut print

    For this woodcut, I wanted to challenge myself and work on my craftsmanship as a wood carver, so this piece is extremely small compared to my other woodcuts-7″x3.5″ —and it has a fair amount of details for such a small print.

    After printing layer 1 (above) I carved the block to reveal what will be layer 2, and I hope to print it tomorrow after today’s ink dries. Stay tuned—

    Here’s LAYER 2 of our little itty bitty (3×7″) robin woodcut. I’m so glad those tiny stars didn’t pop off while going through the press! I held my breath each time it went through.

    It’s in a bit of the ‘ugly duckling stage’ this orange is just for the beak and breast–the colors should make sense when we print layer 4 the next day.

    LAYER 4 of our Robin woodcut! At this stage, we have a good idea of how the print will turn out. Just one more layer to go: BLACK!!!

    Happy artist with the finished print!!

  • Goldfinches – Reduction Woodcut

    Hi all! I just finished the latest addition to my series of woodcuts of the different birds of Kentucky: Goldfinches!!!

    Layer 1: light grey is on the right

    Layer 2: yellow on the left

    with this technique all colors come from the same block-pictured in the center

    we were able to print TWO colors in one trip through the press–there was enough space between the orange and purple to ink the block with both orange AND purple.

    Layer 2 on the RIGHT Layer 3 on the LEFT.

    LAYER 5 (left) of my latest woodcut.

    At this point, you can clearly see the plants and bird outlines–in contrast to layer 4 (on the right) -we’ll be building up color relationships and texture for the remaining layers.

    6 (right)-a light brown for the female’s feathers and 7(left) green of the thistle plants-of our woodcut.

    –and LAYER 8 of our Goldfinch woodcut–Dark green. I’m in LOVE with the texture of the thistle plaint in this print.

    -just one final layer to go: BLACK

    Click image above for more details on how to add this limited edition reduction woodcut to your collection!

  • Cardinals – Woodcut

    I want to learn more about the different species of birds that live and travel through Kentucky, and decided to learn through woodcuts.

    It’s appropriate to start with our state’s official bird: the cardinal!!!

    The first layer (left) is a very pale green, with the stars and whites of the bird eyes—feathers, etc carved away.

    The second layer (right) is the light brown of the female cardinal.

    layer 3 (left) is a light red followed by a deep red in layer 4 (right)

    the design really comes together in layer 5(left) when we add a green
    and is finished (!!!!) with the 6th layer: BLACK

    These are all hand inked with archival oil based inks, then printed with a hand cranked etching press.

    THIS EDITION HAS SOLD OUT! – Thank you everyone for your support!
    The image is approx 6″x12 on an 8×15″ 100% PCW recycled paper and was printed in a limited edition of 18.

  • Bearing Fruit – New Woodcut

    I’m super excited to share my latest woodcut: ‘BEARing Fruit’

    Layer 1 on the left
    Layers 1 and 2 on the top right
    The woodblock on the bottom right

    I have been working on better and more precise cuts in the wood. This size 5×7″ has been a good exercise in my craftsmanship.

    Inking and printing layer 3

    Drumroll please…………

    The final woodcut!!!

    Hand inked and printed with an old fashioned press, this 4 color reduction woodcut uses oil-based archival inks and acid free 100% PCW recycled paper.

  • Fox and Hound – Woodcut

    I just finished my LARGEST multi-color reduction woodcut to date: using the reduction technique–where each color is printed from the same wood block–effectively destroying the block with each layer. These are particularly unique because it’s impossible to ever print more.

    It all starts with a sketch

    Then carve the parts of the design that will reveal the white of the paper–Ink the rest with the lightest color

    Carve the parts of the design that will reveal the light color, and ink again with the second lightest color–light, light green

    keep carving and inking to build up all the colors of your design

    layers 5 (left) and 6 (right)

    green is one of those tricky colors for me to mix. It took 3 tries before I got color harmony that I liked

    The different greens build a nice depth and texture to the woodcut.

    The finished woodcut!!!