A Little Whimsy

         Here are a few relief block prints that are a little quirkier than your average piece of  Serious Art.  First up are two by Ed Haddaway, who is primarily a sculptor but does have a page of block prints on his web site.  His block prints are populated by these strange therianthropic people endowed with odd noses or rabbit ears.  What I particularly like about them is their appearance of going about their possibly magical lives with a general air of friendliness.  “Till the Wee Hours” shows two of these people floating in the night sky far above the dark trees.  One has wings, the other… a necktie?  Are they parent and child?  Guardian angel and protectee?  Two spirits in love?  A fairy granting a wish to a less magical being?  I love the mystery of this image, as well as its magic.

         It’s the title that raises the questions for this second piece: “Life is a Story Read to a Duck.”    My father always says “Life is a ___” in which the blank is filled by random words that strike his fancy at the time.  And I always reply, “Why?”  

What’s the metaphor here?  What’s the point we’re trying to make about the nature of existence?  In my father’s case, he generally doesn’t have a deep point to make; he just likes the sound of his phrases.  So, is that the case for Haddaway?  But setting aside all philosophy, what I actually like about this piece is just taking the scene at face value: here’s a duck enjoying a book read by some companionable rabbity figure who’s sharing quality time, love, and story.

        Today’s second artist is Nick Morley, aka Linocut Boy.  I think Morley must be doing something a little similar to me; he says “I seem to be making a lot of little cute prints at the moment.  I’m not sure why.”  What’s fun about them - and why I say they’re a little similar in spirit to what I’m doing with my tiny prints - is that they don’t have to have a reason or “make sense” or justify themselves or the effort to make them.  Some little idea pops into your head and it may not be worth a whole huge production, but is it worth a tiny block?  Why not!  Some little idea like, “I know, how about a potato cowboy!”  These definitely tickle my whimsy-bone.

        I hope these quirky prints give you a little smile today, too.

[Pictures: Till the Wee Hours, block print by Ed Haddaway, 1992;

Life is a Story Read to a Duck, block print by Haddaway, 2021 (Images from EdHaddaway.com);

Potato Cowboy, linocut by Nick Morley, 2023 (Image from linocutboy.com);

Juggler, linocut by Morley, 2023 (Image from linocutboy.com).]