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Shadows
Published: 2008-12-16 06:15:32 +0000 UTC; Views: 36625; Favourites: 2855; Downloads: 1225
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This is the most insane, ambitious and professional looking print I think I have ever done. It is 24inchesx36inches and 3 color reduction. I am still trying to explore zen in my work and I think this print does this as well but maybe in a different direction than my 5-points one. I am feeling inarticulate about it right now.This print is now available on etsy!
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Reference photo by Peter Bowers on flickr.
Used with permission
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Comments: 250
I love love love how the shadows are what tell you theres grooves on the hill 
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Beautiful. You ambition, passon, and hard work have paid off.
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Trying to explore Zen hmm? About being inarticulate, to the unenlightened many words and scriptures will avail none, and to the enlightened even one word is too much.
I like it a lot. Zen connection non-withstanding. It's an amazing design, and the shadows of the trees and the trees and the light and dark... it's just amazing. : D I could look at this kinda stuff all day. Namaste. ^_^
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It's true but somehow the Buddhists keep publishing zen books. We can smile at the subtle irony. Thank you for your comment
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Well, yeah. Lol. Self-discovery is an important facet of it, but that also permits a multitude of views, and insights, oh and some profiteers. xD
But that's life lol. Indeed, there's quite a bit of irony in a great deal of things.
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This is very beautiful and delicate.
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Wow! Such a great piece. I love how the shadows look like stripes. *HUG*
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How is it that this piece is only now a daily deviation!? It remains one of the best relief prints I have ever seen and it has been on this site for three years!
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It only just got suggested? 
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This must have taken a lot of time and patience to get all this detail in this piece!
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This is beautiful and it makes me REALLY look forward to skiing this winter
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this is amazing, i honestly thought i was looking at a photo when i saw the thumbnail
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Hello! 
Thank you 
___
Stasya.
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Wow, it's so beautiful. 
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This is perhaps the most beautifully done lino print I have seen. I love the balance it has. You've done a superb job on it!
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haha very very slowly. I like to listen to audiobooks while I carve.
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god i should of thought of that. i did a splash with lots of drops. for my first one. i have no idea what i was thinking. i ended up carving the desk in frustration.
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This is one of the most amazing peices of printmaking I have ever laid eyes upon. Ever.
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success - this is a great reduction print
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These white to gray transitions in the snow are simply wonderful. You've made your way into ukiyo hanga using lino plates in the place of woodblock and oil-based ink instead water-based ink. Looks like vetorization of a traditional moku hanga piece.
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I really love this comment. No one has told me this print reminded them of hanga before. Even though it is one of my main influences. And one of the reasons I try and stick in so many blend rolls in my prints. I was feeling like somehow lino and oil weren't hanga enough or something lame. This comment really made my day. Thank you
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Well truthfully I am a student of Zen so I guess the most accurate answer for you is that I am using art to try and help me understand zen more. So far in my experience Zen has been a lot of quiet meditation and trying to make yourself more aware of the here and now rather than lost in your own personal daydreams.
For example missing a turn when you are driving because you are distracted by something else is the opposite of Zen. In that moment you are not experiencing life. And now you have to turn around.
And if I have any belief at all, it is that you have to make the most of the present. Learning how to be content with what is without always being hungry for more. At an artist I try and work that theory into how I approach the block (sincere effort) and academically fit myself into the tradition of Buddhist art.
I hope that answers your question. Any Zen question is a bit difficult.
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i like the analogy of having to turn around not living. but maybe it is possible you missed your turn precisely because you were living.. i don't necessarily believe this to be the case, but it might be just as likely. it may be that your destination is unimportant- for instance: it is not practical, but say you do miss a turn- you have the option to turn back- but you always have the option to keep going.. to let your experience be like the wind- whimsical and unpredictable. we hold on tightly to plans and structure like a ship is guided by the stars or anchored in the bay- but flotsam may have the right idea after all. it goes where its taken. in the end, perhaps there are no turns to miss- the way i shape zen to grasp it in my head is something like a passive allowance or submission to be carried by the energies that are.. and not to concentrate so much on will and want.
i appreciate the time and effort you put into answering me, i know it is a tough question which is why i like to ask.. I think zen is a compelling idea- an incredibly ambitious concept.
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Heh. I was trying to be more literal with my "missing your turn" analogy. Driving is one of the places where paying attention to what is going on is pretty significant. If you notice your turn and choose to keep driving or take a different turn that is one thing. That fits with what you said metaphor and all.
If you are thinking about paying the bills and you don't even notice you have missed your turn then you have a problem. You were distracted by your thoughts so you failed to notice what was going on around you.
Sometimes Zen can get too abstract for me and I try and understand is in the most concrete ways that I can. Your thoughts remind me of Taoism which talks a lot more about going with the flow and not being opposed to change. Water over stone and all that. Zen is related to Taoism and share a lot of ideas but the emphasis in Zen is all about the present moment.
Of course awareness is only one part. There is compassion and meditation etc.
I am enjoying this conversation 
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likewise, you're welcome-
thanks for your take on the difference between zen and taoism- i probably confuse the two generally.
I have a lot of inner conflict when it comes to being in the moment- particularly as relating to photography. On the one hand, you're in a state of heightened awareness of each moment but on the other, you're aware in relation to your expectations. I don't know if I can be in the moment while attempting to capture or observe it.
This kind of brings me to the distraction bit. I consider being in the moment being unaware of it as a moment. Time is irrelevent when you're "in the moment"
I guess i'm interested to know why it is unacceptable to be distracted with your thoughts.. to me, they can be important and fulfilling moments.
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I think you can be aware of the moment while you are capturing it in photography. I wouldn't call it "heightened awareness" but rather simply being awake. I personally feel like Zen photography has it's own niche in the spectrum or Zen art. Because photography is so much about capturing the moment.
Usually my teachers talk about thoughts in the context of meditation. You are sitting there breathing in and out. And then you have a thought. That is fine, thoughts happen all the time. But after that you are supposed to put that thought aside and get back to paying attention to your breathing. Otherwise one thought leads to the next and you no longer are truly meditating you are caught up in your own little world with all the attachments. And missing the point of meditation. Sometimes it is hard for me to put thoughts aside when I am meditating. Especially if it is a good idea about art. So I meditate with a notebook next to me so if I have to I can jot it down quick and not worry about forgetting it. And go back to meditating. But for the most part it is stupid thoughts that I just need to let go of and go back to counting the breath.
I think the concept is this. (and I could be wrong) Say you want to do something. Photography, cook dinner, have tea whatever. The Zen idea is that when you are doing something, you want to do it as completely as possible. When you are cooking, think about cooking, pay attention to cooking, experience the cooking. You are less likely to burn things and will enjoy the experience more. When you are cooking and fully experiencing it that is a type of Bhuddist practice.
If you need time to think and dream and stuff that is fine, just don't try and do that while you are doing something else at the same time.
Does that help? I think you might try some meditation if you are interested.
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Stunning work. Although not familiar with the reduction process or the zen aesthetic, this is a beautiful piece. Made even more so because there are folks like you who still endeavor to utilize older techniques vs. using a DSLR. Nothing wrong with that, but things get lost in the march of progress unless folks keep them current.
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Thank you so much! I often use photography as a reference but my process is all drawing and carving.
I am not too worried about relief printmaking becoming a lost art. Letterpress and Japanese style woodblock are more at risk simply because it is harder to get the equipment/supplies.
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