Passiflora
Dreamy Ruby-throated Hummingbirds with floral notes of Purple Passionflower and Coral Honeysuckle..
A frenzy of hummingbirds swirling around endless passionflowers and coral honeysuckle
Ive learned that grief and happiness can exist together, and when together, they can create something beautiful
How did I manage to come up with such a print? Well — time, loss, grief, and imagination is how. This print was supposed to make its debut spring of 2025; sometimes life does not work out the way we intended it to—because of that, I had no choice but to delay this print. In the midsts of that…it all worked out. The delicate dance of ethereal ruby-throated hummingbirds and the effervescence of spring florals is a pairing I will never deny.
My favorite view on this delicate print; she’s flying up towards the honeysuckle
This is how each and every one of my blocks appear before an actual print is pulled—an idea and a simple sketch.
A messy sketch with endless scribbles
That photo above? It looks awful, doesn’t it? Thats how all of my prints begin..I have no set reference photos; all of my work is original with a form of an image I see in my mind. Somehow, I manage to bring that imagination of mine to life. I just let the pencil flow and start putting the ideas down. There are no rules during the creative process. These elements came to mind first: hummingbirds, passionflower, passionfruit, honeysuckle, and a lot of vines. But where does it all go? and what about the rule of thirds? Patience…and lots of it.
Refining my subjects—this takes time but it always comes together
Usually after a few days or weeks, the details start to come alive. I knew I wanted a different perspective with each of the 5 ruby-throated hummingbirds—why not show a back pose? I thought this was different and I was all in after I pictured this in my mind. I had to remember to pay close attention to the size of the flowers, petals, leaves, etc. It was tricky erasing and re-drawing each of the hummingbirds…but it was worth it. Sometimes things look good, but the spacing needs to change, or a wing needs to be moved ever-so-slightly to the left. All of those details make a real difference in the final product. Remember: quality vs quantity.
Coral honeysuckle mixed in with purple passionflower
I also wanted to incorporate passionfruit into this—which was the perfect filler the print needed, along with quirky vines and the frills of the passionflowers. I love a crisp background, but sometimes you need those details to bring it all together. Swirls of vines and leaves flowing in every direction really does help with the composition. The crosshatching on the fruit gives the print a fun texture—you can never go wrong with texture. There were still a few open spaces, so I decided to add in coral honeysuckle. I think this gave the print a nice touch and a break from the contrast of the passionflower leaves.
Inking the block for the very first time!
This is probably the best part that many printmakers can relate to—inking the block and pulling a print for the very first time. During this process, you see the image come to life—the details glow and the contrast dances right before your eyes. This is also a great time to take a test print to see if anything needs to be removed or re-worked. Chatter lines, not enough contrast, the details not being crisp enough—this can be worked out while test printing. For this print, a few touchups needed and then she was good to go!
She’s here and I’m so very thrilled about it :)
Passiflora
Heres the final print—enjoy! I always write a few words with each piece I carve; these words mean a lot to me and describe exactly what I was going through while I was carving and creating this block.
Thank you for reading
