'Baby Elephant' mounted woodcut print on Japanese Hosho paper.
This is an edition of 40 hand pulled prints made with a woodcut block that I hand carved. This print is inspired by my baby elephant sketchbook drawing not long ago.
Elephants have always fascinated me with their intelligence and incredible memory which is believed to be a big part of how they survive and live a long life. The way they look after their herd and interesting facts and observations about their life was brought closer to me by two books that I read during lockdowns - 'The Elephant Whisperer' and 'An Elephant in My Kitchen'. I initially wanted to read something about conservation works in Africa as the environmental subject has always been close to my heart and with the pandemic this interest was heightened. To my pleasantly shocking surprise, after the delivery of these books, I realised that the author herself was nicknamed Frankie and one of the elephants, who takes a centre stage in the book, was also called Frankie.
It was that special connection that I chose this subject to be the print released in memory of my son Frank who sadly passed away in May 2019 with 50% of the sale is going to Frank's Funds that supports research into a rare and difficult to treat pediatric leukemia that he had.
The handcarving process can be seen from a short timelapse video that I did. The process requires careful planning and using sharp tools to carve the wood block. I used japanese side grain wood block which is lightweight and Pfeil Swiss Made tools which are extremely sharp but a joy to use as they cut the wood like butter.
The choice of paper for me for any artwork is incredibly important. This print is pulled on a traditional Japanese Hosho paper which has become a popular choice amongst printmakers and is made of the bark of highly refined kozo (mulberry). It is known for its thickness, strength and fluffiness and has a really nice feel to it and is archival quality.
The size of the print itself is 10cm x 15cm (on a paper size 19,25cm x 25,25cm)
Each print is made to order and hand signed with the edition number of up to 40, title, name and year and comes with an acid free archival mount, backing board and in an acid free crystal bag for archival storing if necessary. The mounted print is ready to be framed in a standard 8" x 10" picture frame (no frame included).
Postage in UK is free. EU postage is £10 and rest of the world £15. Local taxes for international orders are not included and may become payable depending on the destination.
This artwork is securely packaged and posted in a rigid cardboard envelope.