Johanna Kingsley

  Johanna Kingsley, DeKalb Jct, creates relief prints reflecting the natural and agricultural beauty of Northern New York.  She began making prints for family and friends in 2016, following a gift of a linoleum cutting kit. The meditative quality of cutting, and the resulting bold, graphic quality of the images quickly turned block printing into her favorite medium.

A design is sketched onto a rubber or linoleum block.  The design is a mirror image of what the print will be.  Carving knives of all sizes and shapes are used.  Block printing ink is then rolled on the carved block in a thin uniform layer using a tool called a brayer.  Paper is then laid on the inked block and pressed down.  The paper is then peeled off and hung to dry.  The block has to be inked each time a print is made.