Holiday Cards by Logan and More

         Many artists through the years have taken advantage of their skills to make their own holiday cards, and among them is one of my favorites: Herschel C. Logan.  Logan (USA, 1901-1987) had his own post on this blog here, plus you can see a few more of his pieces (including some other holiday cards) in other posts, if you Search his name in the tool in the sidebar.  For today I have three of his cards, each a variation on the theme of snow-covered buildings.  They all show off his ability to do a lot with a little: relatively simple carving that transforms into detailed and evocative scenes.  The third really takes that the farthest, with nothing carved except the simple geometry of snowy roofs, which somehow manage to delineate an entire town.  I think that’s really cool!  In the top two, the black trees against black sky are particularly masterful, and both pieces offer a welcome to a cozy house out of the wintry night.

        I myself don’t make a holiday card every year, because most years I don’t feel that I have any particularly new idea to keep those variations on a theme interesting.  Over the decades, though, I have done a number of 

designs that worked for holiday cards, and you can see most of them here: Holiday Cards.  (I never got around to adding the one I carved last year and offered as cards for the first time this year, but you can read the post on the making of that original block.)  Plus, I did just complete a little block that may be suitable for a card design for next year.  It’s a Penguin of Peace.  I added the touch of green on the olive leaves with watercolor after printing.

        The reason I made that little block this year was that I needed a sample with which to demonstrate at a block printing workshop I taught at a local senior living center.  Unfortunately, during the workshop I was too busy to take many pictures, so I can’t share many of the wonderful designs that were made.  However, here are pictures of one of the blocks getting a test print before further tweaking, and another gentleman carving what eventually turned out to be a very charming snowman.  I last did a holiday card workshop there back in 2016, and you can revisit some of the designs made in that round, which I shared at the time.

        All of these card designs demonstrate one of my favorite things about relief block printmaking: that even small, simple designs come out looking very pleasing.  They’re also a good opportunity for me to wish you the very best for your midwinter celebrations of choice.  I hope you’ve had the opportunity to spend time with loved ones, enjoy just the right mixture of relaxation and festivity, and take hope from the fact that (here in the northern hemisphere, at least) the light is faithfully returning once again.  I always think of block prints as a reminder to carve out more light wherever you are!

[Pictures: A Very Merry Christmas, woodcut by Herschel C. Logan, mid 20th century (Image from Kansas Sate University Beach Museum);

Season’s Greetings, woodcut by Logan, mid 20th century  (Image from Beach Museum);

Merry Christmas, woodcut by Logan, 1924 (Image from Beach Museum);

Penguin of Peace, rubber block print with watercolor by AEGN, 2023;

Rubber block prints by residents of North Hill, photos by AEGN, 2023.]