My "Tasteful" Holiday Greeting Cards

Monday, December 29, 2008

This year, for the very first time, we sent out some holiday cards. I have to admit that the impulse was primarily driven by a desire to make potato block prints (though I also like the idea of keeping in touch with people, of course.)

It had been at least 10 years since I had picked up a potato to practice this incredibly simple yet surprisingly challenging art form. I bought several large, inexpensive russett baking potatoes (no need to go organic for this project...) and we spent hours creating our designs and printing them in different configurations on card stock.

Although you can use a knife or razor blade to create your design, I found that my old set of linoleum block cutting tools (from my high school art class!) worked wonders for cutting out the design, along with a paring knife that I used to clear out bigger sections of potato. We printed with watercolor paints though you can also use tempra paint or acrylics. The end result was cheerful and fun - each one unique.

Potato Print Holiday Cards


Although we made a bunch of different prints (including a peace dove, lady bug and bee), I'm including photos only of these two since they seemed the most Garden of Eating appropriate. I'd started with the tomato since the colors were so Christmasy but then could not resist the lure of the carrot...

Potato Block Print of a Tomato


Carrot Potato Print

Happy New Year to you all!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

These are LOVELY--thanks for sharing a fabulous idea.

I understand the inclination to skip organic potatoes for this art project because you are not eating them. But to my way of thinking, one of the key reasons to buy organic is to prevent the environments where foods are grown from becoming contaminated. As you probably know, organic also reduces risks to farm workers.

I know--we can't always take responsibility or EVERYTHING--too much weight in the world--but whether you use them for art or for mashing or roasting, the hidden costs of potatoes are probably worth considering.

vera said...

Ummm.....Yum?! Ha ha, but seriously, the process and the outcome are equally fun in this case.

Monday, December 29, 2008

My "Tasteful" Holiday Greeting Cards

This year, for the very first time, we sent out some holiday cards. I have to admit that the impulse was primarily driven by a desire to make potato block prints (though I also like the idea of keeping in touch with people, of course.)

It had been at least 10 years since I had picked up a potato to practice this incredibly simple yet surprisingly challenging art form. I bought several large, inexpensive russett baking potatoes (no need to go organic for this project...) and we spent hours creating our designs and printing them in different configurations on card stock.

Although you can use a knife or razor blade to create your design, I found that my old set of linoleum block cutting tools (from my high school art class!) worked wonders for cutting out the design, along with a paring knife that I used to clear out bigger sections of potato. We printed with watercolor paints though you can also use tempra paint or acrylics. The end result was cheerful and fun - each one unique.

Potato Print Holiday Cards


Although we made a bunch of different prints (including a peace dove, lady bug and bee), I'm including photos only of these two since they seemed the most Garden of Eating appropriate. I'd started with the tomato since the colors were so Christmasy but then could not resist the lure of the carrot...

Potato Block Print of a Tomato


Carrot Potato Print

Happy New Year to you all!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

These are LOVELY--thanks for sharing a fabulous idea.

I understand the inclination to skip organic potatoes for this art project because you are not eating them. But to my way of thinking, one of the key reasons to buy organic is to prevent the environments where foods are grown from becoming contaminated. As you probably know, organic also reduces risks to farm workers.

I know--we can't always take responsibility or EVERYTHING--too much weight in the world--but whether you use them for art or for mashing or roasting, the hidden costs of potatoes are probably worth considering.

vera said...

Ummm.....Yum?! Ha ha, but seriously, the process and the outcome are equally fun in this case.