Happy Summer!

Or should I say Hoppy Summer?!  This month's print release is a frog themed block print that many of y'all have requested! Read on for details on how to pre-order!

I'm taking it slow this July, with only one show, and I'm really looking forward to spending some time playing with my kids, exploring in the woods, and carving some large pieces for my new printmaking press, Shirley.  Below, I'll give you a look into the wildlife I'm finding inspiring these days. 

Finally, we're saying goodbye to my amazing studio assistant, Vit, who will be headed for a PhD program and a bright future in academia, but who will surely be missed around here. 

Happy reading,

Katie 

Above: Southern Leopard Frog Miniprint with Custom 8x10 Matboard

Above: Katie puzzle pieces each hand-inked piece separately together to achieve a multi-color effect. See this instagram video for a more detailed view of this process. 

An Eastern Box Turtle hunting underwater peeks one red eye at us :) 

I've had great wildlife experiences here at the studio this month. Some highlights include seeing summer tanagers, red headed woodpeckers, and an especially beautiful pipevine swallowtail butterfly that lives in my pollinator garden. But, I think my favorite encounter happened this weekend. 

While on my morning walk down by the creek, I noticed a small box turtle shell floating in the water near one of the banks.  My first response was sadness-- box turtles sometimes drown in our creek-- especially after big floods. But, as I watched the shell began to move.  This little turtle was swimming! I knew box turtles sometimes swam, but I'd never witnessed what happened next.  This turtle was hunting! I called my husband over and we watched for probably ten minutes as it dug in the creek bank finding food (I'm assuming worms and other small wriggly things.) It stayed mostly underwater but occasionally peeked it's nose up for air, and it was so well camouflaged that I had to wonder--- in the hundreds of times a year I walk this trail, how often I had walked right past box turtles doing the exact same thing? 

I am so in love with the blue coloration on this Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly. Of course I'll have to make a block print of this one day! 

As a business owner, one of the things I feel proudest of is that I can create jobs in my local community.  For the past year, New South Pattern House has been lucky to have Vit in the role of studio assistant. In this role, she's been packaging prints for sale, cutting cards, gluing bookmarks, taking photos, and of course working shows. I've been so thankful for the genuine love of art that Vit brings with her every day, and the care she's taken with both NSPH products, and with our customers. 

This is Vit's last week, as she leaves for DC to start a PhD program. I will miss her so much, but I also know that she's going to make an amazing college professor!