Today, the "Water" Pieces!

Here are more pictures of work that is on display now through December 30th in the Pantano Gallery at Southern New Hampshire University. The ocean is one of my favorite subjects to paint, and I have found it just as challenging and fun to make prints of the rocky coast of New Hampshire and Maine.

Again, all of these prints are for sale, so please contact me (603 203-8131 or hannah@hannahphelps.com) if you are interested in bringing one home.

AND please come visit me at the "Meet the Artist" reception at the Gallery this Saturday from 1-3:30pm. I will be in the Shapiro Library on the Southern New Hampshire University campus, 2500 North River Road, Manchester.

4. Calm Day at Fort Stark
8" x 10"
white-line woodcut print
ink on Stonehenge paper
$200 framed

5. Path of the Water
8" x 9"
white-line woodcut print
watercolor on Rives lightweight paper
$200 framed

6. Leviathan
10" x 14"
white-line woodcut print
watercolor on Stonehenge paper
$275 framed

7. Low Tide
4.5" x 6.25"
white-line woodcut print
watercolor on Stonehenge paper
$125 framed

8. Calm Day at Fort Stark
8" x 10"
white-line woodcut print
watercolor on Stonehenge paper
$200 framed

More from the Southern New Hampshire University Show

Today, I am offering images of three of the prints in the "New Impressions" show on display now in the Pantano Gallery on the campus of Southern New Hampshire University. The numbers correspond to their labels in the show, and the dimensions are the size of the image (not the frame) in inches.

While nothing can be removed from the show until December 30, 2009, all of the prints are framed under UV glass and are available for purchase. If you are interested in adding any of these prints to your art collection, please contact me (603 203-8131 or hannah@hannahphelps.com). More photos tomorrow!

1. Birch-Autumn
2.25" x 12"
white-line woodcut print
watercolor on Stonehenge paper
$125 framed

2. Woods
5" x 10.25"
white-line woodcut print
watercolor on Stonehenge paper
$150 framed

3. Birch-Spring
2.25" x 12"
white-line woodcut print
watercolor on Stonehenge paper
$125 framed

Meet the Artist: Saturday, November 14 from 1-3:30pm in the Shapiro Library!!

The print show, "New Impressions," has been hanging for a week now and I am receiving nice compliments-thanks to everyone who has already visited the Pantano Gallery!

Of course, there is still the "Meet the Artist" reception next Saturday, the 14th! From 1-3:30pm there will be some munchies in the Gallery and I will be there to answer questions about white-line woodcuts and the inspiration for specific pieces in the show.

The Pantano Gallery is located inside the Shapiro Library on the Southern New Hampshire University campus. The first photo below is the view of the library from the parking lot. The entrance to the library is on the opposite side of the building from the parking lot. The path leading there is under the trees on the left side of the photo.


When the path opens up to a small courtyard, the entrance to the library is down a pathway to the right. In the photo below, you will be walking in from the under the orange trees on the right and the entrance is on the left side, beyond the blue trash can and red fire hydrant. The flags in the courtyard can be seen from the parking lot.

For a map of the SNHU campus, click here.


Once you are in the library, turn left to find the Pantano Gallery behind the circulation desk. I look forward to seeing you next weekend!

White-Line Woodcut Prints

copyright 2009 Hannah Phelps
Path of the Water
white-line woodcut print; watercolor on paper


So What is a White-line Woodcut Print Anyway?

Like any piece of art, a white-line woodcut print begins with an idea. In my case, I use the natural world as inspiration for a drawing on paper. This drawing is then transferred onto a piece of wood. With my lines visible on the surface, I carve an outline of the drawing with a knife. The carved lines will become the "white lines" in the final print.

The wood left untouched now stands in relief from the lines. I attach a piece of paper to the edge of the woodblock to ensure that the it lays on the wood the same way each time I place it against the block (this is called "registration"). I then "ink" each relief shape with watercolor and press and rub the back of the paper printing the image. Once all of the shapes are colored and I am satisfied with the image, I remove the paper from the block.

White-line woodcuts were first created in the early 1900's by artists in the Provincetown, MA colony and are therefore sometimes called "Provincetown Prints." While artist BJO Nordfeldt is credited with its invention, many of his contemporaries employed the technique, the most famous of whom was the American artist, Blanche Lazell.

To see some of my white-line woodcut prints in person, visit the eleven prints and one woodblock (including "Path of the Water," shown above) that are currently on display at Southern New Hampshire University in the Shapiro Library!

"New Impressions", a Solo Show at Southern New Hampshire University!

copyright 2009 Hannah Phelps
Calm Day at Fort Stark
white-line woodcut print, 8" x 10"

From November 1 to December 30 2009, over ten of my white-line woodcut prints, including the one shown above, will be on display at the Southern New Hampshire University's Pantano Gallery in the Shapiro Library. These unique prints depict scenes ranging from New Hampshire's rocky coast to Mount Monadnock and even a view of South Uncanoonuc Mountain from downtown Manchester.

For library hours, click here.

I will also be hosting a "Meet the Artist" event on campus on November 14th, from 1:00 to 3:30 pm, so please stop by to ask questions, learn more about white-line woodcuts or just have some coffee and cookies and chat. The afternoon reception will be held at the Hospitality Center, across the parking lot from the library.

For a map of the SNHU campus that includes the Shapiro Library and the Hospitality Center, click here.

In my next post, I will offer a brief history of white-line woodcuts and describe how the prints in the show are made.

McGowan Fine Art's Paint Out in Portsmouth

copyright 2009 Hannah Phelps
Another View of the Mansion
oil on canvas, 9" x 12"

Displayed above is one of the three paintings I completed at the paint out over the weekend. I left the image of the actual mansion in the background of the photograph on purpose. I stayed close to the Coolidge Center for the Arts and the Wentworth Coolidge Mansion both days. Protected from the sun in the shade of a giant tree, I stayed comfortable for hours.

It was wonderful to get out and paint on two consecutive non-rainy days! It seems that we haven't had much of that this summer. I also had fun talking with other painters, many of whom I hadn't met before. All in all it was a great event!

All of the paintings from the weekend are available for purchase at The Coolidge Center for the Arts this week. For more information about McGowan Fine Art and The Coolidge Center for the Arts at the Wentworth Coolidge Mansion Historic Site, click here.

Plein Air Painting at the Wentworth Coolidge Mansion this weekend!

Plein Aire Painting Weekend and Wet Paint Sale
sponsered by McGowan Fine Art

Coolidge Center for the Arts at the Wentworth Coolidge Mansion Historic Site
Little Harbor Rd, Portsmouth, NH

I am participating in this "paint out" and wet painting sale this weekend in Portsmouth, NH . Artists will be painting at the Wentworth Coolidge Mansion, next door Little Harbor Creek Farm Reservation, downtown Portsmouth and the nearby cemetery. I will be staying close by the Mansion, pictured above.

We start painting Saturday, August 8th at 10 am and work away until 4 pm. Then we return on Sunday at 11 am for another round of painting until 3 pm, when the wet paint sale starts at the Coolidge Center for the Arts.

I hear that the Tall Ships are also coming to town, so it is the perfect weekend to spend some time at the coast!

For more information and directions click here