Magnolia Woodcut: Final Print

“Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.”
—Heart Sutra

INSPIRATION

Aside from literally finding magnolia seed pods underfoot while on a walk (and loving their shapes), there are several reasons this subject appealed to me.  The themes of emptiness, the feminine, creativity and motherhood were interwoven throughout in deep, surprising, and sometimes hilarious ways. 

When I submitted my application for the BIG INK in January 2022, I wrote the following summary of my inspiration for this print:

"The form of the seed pod is exquisite, and the body is composed of numerous individual spoked pods with cavernous spaces from which the red seeds emerged.  The seed heads on the ground were in various states of decay.  Some still had seeds protruding from the pods, but some only had empty voids.  When I examined the individual pods, I could see each also contained paper-thin tissue that I assume had covered the seeds.  The shape of these wrinkled coverings fascinated me, and I could see each spoke contained a leaf of tissue that when put together with its neighbor completed each other, forming a protective covering for the seed while also creating the space from which the seed emerged.  

When I first saw these pods, I thought I wanted to make a print that included the red seeds.  But after studying the seed heads close-up I realized the decaying pods told a story all their own.  The empty spaces were created by the growing seeds and the growing seeds came from the empty space.  These pods reminded me of the heart sutra, 'Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.'  And when I think about this, plus the incredible shape of the pods, it seems to me the magnolia pod is like a gorgeous celebration of creativity itself."

Also when I began this print, I showed my friend Tiffany the sketch and she exclaimed, "You are a Vagartist!"  I had never heard that term before and it made me laugh so hard.  It got me thinking about plants and reproduction and I realized you can't be a lover of seed pods without appreciating this form.  If you think about it, the feminine form is spacious...and it has to be!  Life emerges from this spacious emptiness.  In this sense "Mother" equals "Space" equals "Creativity".  

The fundamental reality of “emptiness” is nothing at all.
But that nothing is infinitely fecund,
and marvelously healing to the human heart.”
—Henry Shukman

FINAL CARVING

At the BIG INK we printed three magnolia prints, which I signed as "Artist Proofs."  When I returned home I studied the prints and decided to thin a couple lines down.  And when I say thin, I mean I was shaving about half the width of a pencil line off some of the tendrils!

Otus kept me company while I made my changes.

"Creativity — like human life itself — begins in darkness."

—Julia Cameron

HAND-BURNISHING PRINTS

My goal was to print six hand-burnished prints on Stonehenge paper the weekend after the BIG INK.  Saturday morning, George and I began printing.

Below you can see the plate with a shiny coat of ink on it.

“Emptiness is the pregnant void out of which all creation springs.” —Wayne Muller

That first Saturday, I was disappointed we ran out of ink after pulling three prints.  But my arms and hands were done by that point anyway.  So I ordered more ink and we printed three more the following weekend.  Below you can see me holding my favorite spoon, which George cracked while burnishing.

This video shows George and me inking, burnishing and pulling a print.  It condenses an hour of work into 48 seconds. When I added this epic music to the video, the drama of it made me laugh out loud.  But it really was an epic moment for us to finish printing these. (Music: Epic Cinematic by Scott Holmes)

DRYING

The day of printing I could hardly take in the whole print.  Once it was off the plate, we whisked it right over to the drying rack.  A couple of days later I went down to check on them and was relieved to see six gorgeous prints.  I pulled three of the prints out to try and get a photo of them all together.  I had to put a ruler under one of them for support because they barely fit on my table!

"Small things done with great love will change the world."

—Mother Teresa

SIGNING, NUMBERING, TITLING  AND CHOPPING 

Don't let my smile fool you... I completely dread all aspects of this stage.  You would think this would be the easy part, but I worry I will write crooked or I won't like my handwriting or I will mess up the numbering.  Which have all happened...but at least you can erase the pencil (although I hate to do it).

The REALLY stressful part is adding the chop signature.  If you smear the stamp you have ruined the whole print.  It is an awful pressure to get it right and you really have to push all stray thoughts out of your head.  Luckily I had no smearing... just a tiny red stray dot that I was able to get off with my sandpaper eraser after it dried.

FINAL PRINT

The journey to get to this point has been long.  As I sit here writing this blog and looking at the print, I feel so thankful.  I have poured myself into this work and there is nothing I would rather be doing.  I hope I have created a piece that brings joy and one that honors this amazing plant.
  

One of my favorite things to do is photograph the print from all angles.
It is so fun to see the individual personalities of each tendril up close.

My original sketch didn't have the "shadow" tendrils.
I am so happy I added them later because I think they add so much to the piece skulking around back there.

"Love is the Divine Mother's arms; when those arms are spread, every Soul falls Into them."

—Hazrat Inayat Khan

This tendril looked like the Virgin Mary to me.

"All forms are the Mother.  The Divine Mother has the whole universe in her."
—Adilakshmi quoted in Hidden Journey by Andrew Harvey

CONCLUSION

The whole time I was working on this print I assumed I would title the print "Magnolia."  But one day the thought occurred to me that I should call it "MA".  We grew up with a magnolia tree in our front yard and the tree always reminds me of my Mom.  One year I even photographed the tree and made a book of photos for her for Mother's Day.  The tree recently died and she had to have it taken down.  Giving the print the title "MA" seemed the perfect way to honor my Mom and the tree.     

The name also worked on other levels.  By the looks of it, this beautiful pod was quite the creatrix and probably produced quite a number of red seeds.  Plus the letters were perfect.  My Mom's name is Mary, I call her "Ma" and it is the first two letters of "Magnolia".  And you can't ignore the appearance of the Virgin Mary!  One musn't ignore the Divine Feminine when she goes out of her way to send you a message.  So for all of these reasons, I named the print, "MA."

"I bow before this empty husk

To marvel at her drying form

I worship in her empty temples

Filled with dark creativity

Her entire body...

Hands in prayer

Devoted to the sun"
—Vanessa Sorensen

If you would like to purchase a print, please visit

NessyPress.com

"Emptiness is bound to bloom, like hundreds of grasses blossoming." 

—Dogen

  A big thank you to my husband George.  This print was made possible with your love and support and burnishing and cooking and proof-reading and more burnishing.  Thank you.

Previous Magnolia blog posts:

Magnolia Woodcut: Carving

Magnolia Woodcut: BIG INK