aimee wood works

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show and tell - june 2024

Dear Penpals, šŸ’Œ

April and May have passed in the breezeā€” how heartening to know my words are out in the world now, thank you for all of your shockingly supportive comments and love, I am so glad to know those poems written alone have found hearth and home outside of me.

šŸŽ„ here is the video version of this show and tell (beware, night-time vibes unedited)

In the video and below, I do spoil the covers of Merry Meet & Merry Part!

Book of Poems Update and Cover Reveal!

1) I have now shipped all backer rewards! ā€¦that I have information for, Iā€™m still missing a few surveys! If you have not yet received yours, please reach out!

2) Next, the Digital Editions are ready for backers! ā€¦check your kickstarter message inbox soon for the link! The audiobook is recorded and will be coming shortly!

3) Thank you to all those who came out for the Merry Meet Book Launch ā™„ļøŽ ā€¦even in a blizzard! So good to meet new friend-shaped local folks, I really appreciate yaā€™ll making the time to come out and ā€˜merry meetā€™.

and finallyā€¦ the cover reveal:

More photos are in the Etsy listing! It feels so good to hold, such a nice little size with heft.

I am so pleased to be surprising you with this green linen hardcover with gold trim, burgundy ribbon bookmark, a die-cut front with a watercolor underneathā€¦ I tried!

The Kickstarter did not unlock such bells and whistles, as there are minimum order requirements for fancy add ons such as theseā€¦ but I managed it this time by spending the money I meant to pay myself. However! It means that I have a little over 100 de luxe hardcovers extra, and if I slowly sell those, I will have income from this project. yay!

New Old Watercolor Prints!

Last month, I was so glad to share my first hand-carved oil imprints.
This month, I am happy to reveal my remaining watercolor poetry illustrations as giclée prints!

You may recognize three of these as part of your Collectorā€™s Bundle; I painted the five others in my ā€˜intentional relaxation timeā€™ and am happy to share them with you now!

Apologies this photo makes them difficult to readā€” you can see each individually on the listing page here. Perhaps one of these poems strikes you? $20 each includes shipping and a note from me; or a full bundle for $10 per print! They make strange postcards, and even weirder birthday cards!

Health!

I know a couple of you were concerned given the last update; I am feeling much better, I have not yet recovered the lost weight, but I am recovering muscle and cardiovascular health! Also I am cooking from home moreā€¦ (hint hint) ā™„ļøŽ

New Oil Imprint Comingā€¦ ā€œTower of Witchesā€

who likes witches? who likes castles? who likes witch castles? ā€¦itā€™s me I do.

Making woodcuts is a process that begins with an idea, then a drawing, a pen or ink formality, then transferring to a carving matrix (in this case, cherry wood!), then carvingā€¦ (then inking, rolling, pressing, burnishing, peeling, dryingā€¦ wow, what, itā€™s almost like printing something by hand instead of machine is weirdly complicated. and thatā€™s if everything goes right and you donā€™t have to figure out why the inky parts arenā€™t inky enough! I love this)

Hereā€™s where Iā€™m at for my next oil imprint; pencil firstā€¦ then penā€¦

Next, Iā€™ve just acquired transfer paper from a little paperie, so I can reverse this onto my bit of cherry wood, then I want to edit a few things (notice that the cat tail tower is leaning a bit to the rightā€¦), and at last Iā€™ll begin carving!

If youā€™re feeling like this looks a little familiarā€¦ itā€™s inspired by the paper cut castles of Jan Pienkowski! Iā€™ve given it a bit of a fantasy/flying castle/witch academy spin. If you ever read the Meg and Mog childrenā€™s booksā€” same artist! I love art that spins my imagination into gear, and his castles do thatā€¦ I hope these little floating towers of witchery will inspire you too!

Hopefully Iā€™ll have imprints to show you next month! (ā€¦first, need to buy my own brayer [a type of ink roller!] and oil ink. ā€¦wanna help? wanna buy one of the remaining ā€œclear through the treesā€ imprints?).

Iā€™m planning a bit more than I am revealing above with theseā€¦ but if you look at Janā€™s work, and my own love of watercolor, Iā€™m sure you can guess where I am planning to go with thisā€¦ ā™„ļøŽ

birthday!
May contained my birthday! thank you for the well wishes! this year, I splurged and bought myself a cakeā€” what other cake than the splendid princesstärta, a swedish dream made from layers of heavenly whip cream, vanilla custard, sponge cake, and raspberry jamā€¦ all topped with a layer of marzipan for icing!

ā€¦sounds familiar?? If you own the master edition of the unofficial legend of zelda cookbook, you may recognize it from the boss fight chapter at the end. This was my first time having one from a professional bakery. It was worth every penny. ā€¦It might now be traditional, hereā€™s a pic from the floor of my apartment:

thank you to the friends who came to celebrate with me; I appreciate your saving spoons for me. ā™„ļøŽ

Miscellaneous:

  • Happy Pride!

  • apologies for missing last monthā€™s show and tell. I put it off because I wanted to have the digital edition and audiobook ready for you, announce it all at once, perfectionism kept biting me like a little mosquito, and I couldnā€™t bear it. Iā€™m feeling better now, and am posting this even though the audiobook is not ready for youā€¦ I must not let the perfect be the enemy of the good, nor let the finishing of this project finish me!

  • Summer is a great time to launch a new kickstarter. squints. scope creep is real, and must be rallied against. I am dividing my big project, you know the one, into many smaller projects, as it has outgrown itself far past chewable and I do fear I may choke on it. So, please anticipate something much smaller than originally intended from me, a volume 2 of sorts, not a drinkbook, but an extension, and Iā€™ll dry my tears (of the kingdom.). More to come later. ā™„ļøŽ apologies for vagueness.

ā€”ā€”ā€”

wishing you wind in your sails,
Aimee ā™„ļøŽ

Links:

New Old Watercolor illustrationsā€” https://aimeewoodworks.etsy.com/listing/1733657791

Clear Through the Trees Imprints-- https://aimeewoodworks.etsy.com/listing/1698602754

ā€”ā€”ā€”

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