For today’s edition of Make Something Mondays, I am sincerely delighted to feature a printmaker hailing from the salt-of-the-earth East Coast of Canada. Based in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Graham Blair specializes in woodcut prints made using methods in keeping with the oldest form of printmaking.

This beautiful video offers a glimpse at the delicate and tender process of creating Graham’s art prints.

I am rather swoony for the authentically Canadian content of Blair’s chosen subjects – truly a collectible body of work. All of Graham’s limited edition prints are hand-carved and hand-printed without the use of a press, and once the limited edition prints are sold, the image is no longer available. Blair begins with a sketch transferred onto a raw piece of wood. As you can see in the mesmerizing video above, he then meticulously uses a variety of knives and gouges to carefully carve the relief image. Finally, in the style of Japanese printmakers, Graham uses the warmth of a bamboo spoon to burnish the print onto heavy paper.
I hope Graham Blair’s beautiful process and has inspired in you a deep appreciation for the value of the handmade process that makes his work so lovely. The beauty of his subject matter, his process and his art all make me truly proud to be a Canadian. 
xo
s.