This is my latest woodcut adventure....about an 8x8 reduction print done from a photo in one of my old horse books (which I could not throw away). I'm getting better as I gain experience and I'm pretty happy with this one. I even managed to do two copies of it that both came out well, though slightly different.

Since reduction prints are a one-shot deal I tried to make the block re-usable by cutting off what remained of the image and sanding it smooth again. As with many of these ideas I have, it turned out to be pretty much a failure. First, I wasn't able to find my palm sander. Eventually it surfaced behind the boxed Christmas tree in the closet. Then I couldn't remember how to put the sandpaper on it. I tried everything I could think of, and finally used string to tie the sandpaper in place. As one might imagine, this did not work very well and I had to give up. I tried sanding it by hand, but the cuts are too deep for me to flatten out without the aid of a power tool.

The experience I had is typical of the frustrating efforts I have made to accomplish various things in the last several days. I am ready to go back to my jig-saw puzzle. It is waiting quietly on the table in the living room, about a third done, to help me back off, zone out, and take a little time off from myself.