For Shawna it all started when she was a little girl. Her mother brought home wall paper sample books from work and she would sit for hours with scissors in hand cutting out designs. This was the beginning of her present day art. Still today, her favorite part of the process is holding those scissors as she cuts and designs a layout for a new piece of art.
The skills she uses are imagination, love of color, and spontaneity. Being a kayak guide in the great outdoors yields her many inspirational scenes. Her drawings, such as her pen and ink sketches, are sometimes used to design the block print carvings.
Her tools: pencil, pen, ink, pliable surface (linoleum or wood), carving tools, water based ink, a brayer, burnishing tools or press, art paper, scissors, paste, and a good working surface.
Beginning with an idea, Shawna begins by drawing on the linoleum tile and then she cuts into that design with a carving tool. Inking the block is next, then comes pressing the design into the paper with a
burnisher. She prefers burnishing by hand rather than using a press. Prints are made one at a time but a number of prints can be done in a session.
Shawna makes single signed prints, collages of multiple prints, cards, calendars, custom wedding invitations, and logos.
