Tiny Block Challenge Part I

         Because for me summers tend to be a slow season for art shows, etc., I decided to set myself a little challenge: to carve a tiny block a day for some number of days.  I actually never really specified the parameters for myself, seeing as it’s all arbitrary anyway.  Of course 30 is a standard number for such challenges, but I also believe in wiggle room, so I was thinking perhaps 25 tiny block prints over the course of a month.  On the other hand, so far I haven’t needed too much wiggle room, so perhaps I’ll get to 30 after all.  This post is the halfway progress report, as I have now done 15 tiny blocks in 16 days.

        Because these blocks are so small, it’s pretty quick and easy to carve them, but that is, in some sense, putting cause and effect in reverse.  These blocks are small because they’re actually the little scraps of rubber that get left behind for various reasons: the edges of the larger blocks if they don’t come out even when I cut them down into smaller pieces, the corners that get cut off if I’m trimming away background, the salvageable parts of blocks that get abandoned by students during classes…  Some of these scraps get used when I offer little free activities during which people get to carve their own mini block, but I still have lots of leftover bits.  So I decided to do the challenge because I had small bits of rubber, rather than using small bits of rubber because I decided to do a challenge.

        I had no intention of giving myself an assignment that would be more stressful than fun, so I brainstormed a list of possible subjects before I started, so that if I ever have a day when I don't feel any particular inspiration, I can easily pick something off my list.  Most of the items are specifically the sorts of things that make me happy, but which don’t seem to warrant a whole big full block print treatment.  See this prior post about Mini Prints, in which I mention how I think slightly differently about subjects that are going to be this small and this inexpensive.  (Although I have decided to raise my prices since 2016.)  This month’s “tiny prints” range from that same mini size which is up to about 3.5 inches, all the way down to a mere .75 inches.

         I’ve printed most of these with archival stamp pad ink rather than regular printing ink, as they’re too small to roll well with a brayer.  With a couple I’ve added a touch of additional color with colored pencil or marker, and with a few I’ve printed multiples per page.  One hasn’t had its official edition printed yet, because I’m planning to combine it with something still to come.  Here’s what I’ve done so far:

1.  Reading Glasses

2.  El Tenedor

3.  Giant Anteater

4.  Wasp

5.  adirondack chair (Summer Seats)

6.  border doodle (not yet printed)

7.  Peapods

8.  Dublin door

9.  Rubber Ducky (actually two blocks)

10. hummingbird and lily (Nectar)

11.  Little Cyclops

12.  Ladybugs

13.  Horseshoe Crab

14.  Race Point Light

15.  Kunchorn Waree

        Rather than post each of these separately on my web site, I’m putting together one page with all of them.  (The page isn’t finished yet, since I continue to make more and more, but here it is so far.)  I plan to bring a bunch of these tiny prints to my in-person shows, and I’ve ordered lots of new mini frames in various dimensions.  I look forward to seeing what sort of reception they get.  I hope they tickle others as much as they tickle me!

        Have you ever done a daily creative challenge of some sort?  And do you have any ideas for me?  I still have 10-15 to go!

[Pictures: All block prints and photos by AEGN, 2023.]