Cricketts Inky Art Blot

Day 3, I became fixated by angels. Here is a rather bad photo that I took of one in the cemetery the day before. I decided to work a drypoint etching of one. To start with, I loosened up by making a few monotypes and getting the press warm. I then spent the rest of the day scratching in a stone angel... Don't Blink! Of course, it was St. Paddy's Day, so it would have been rude not to go into town and have a Guiness. The town was also proudly serving "Mountain Oysters", but I decided to pass and take a grilled cheese sandwich instead. I found the old bars had very interesting, eclectic lighting. This one was in Virginia City's famous "Bucket Of Blood Saloon". You have to love the Wild West don't ya?

The weather was fantastic on Day 2, so i packed up some watercolours and headed to the nearby cemetery. There were some really interesting stones and iron railings. I had never seen wooden railings around graves before, so I sketched these spindles for a while and admired the worn grain. Walking to this stone angel, I heard a rattlesnake give a warning sound. After that I stuck to the wide paths! The views were amazing, I can see why the early miners chose this as their resting place. The silence was a peaceful one, not a creepy dark one, like so many graveyards back in England. There were swooping magpies following me looking for crumbs from my tuna sandwich. I decided to make a sketch of one as a plan for an etching, but once I got to the press, I switched the magpie out for a crow. I also made some monotypes of this old barn that is within view of the retreat center. Photos of me printing (in the morgue) by Frances Melhop   This was the firs...