I am doing a Japanese woodcut Christmas card for our village church. I wanted the wood grain effect, so I burnt a softwood plank - knotty pine using a crème brûlée gas burner (the sort you use on your desserts) and burnt the wood. Then I brushed it out with a wire brush and proceeded to carve the first block. More on this one another day when I get a bit further!  The rest will be done as  a lino cut. So this inspired me - when I visited South Africa, my niece Jenny served pizza slices, … [Read more...]