Woodblock Wednesday - end of term

In the last class of term I returned to what I started working on at the start of term -

 Enhancements of the grey layer ... rather messy in my haste (not a good idea)....

The plan is to use these to make a small version of the Japanese multi-section book that we made in the Monday evening printing+bookbinding course -

 ... and I have plenty of other possibilities for covers of larger versions -

 Lots activity elsewhere -

 including experimentation with the traditional method of transferring the key block via nori and printed paper, then rubbing off the layers of the paper -

At the end of the day, laying out the work - and passing round the strawberries that Val brought in -

 Closeups of prints by first-timers -

 ... and by the repeat offenders -

 This one is the start of a reduction woodblock - you can see the face starting to emerge -

 Cleanup....

Postscript - I hopped on the bus and went to John Purcell Papers, a warehouse near Brixton -

 and got samples of a few papers from their Japanese range -

When I feel brave, or have a suitable block, I'll try printing them -

Unfortunately the papers have to be bought in bulk (?25 sheets at a time?) and their sketchy website doesn't have a price list and definitely needs updating.