collaged monoprints

i have still been playing with the printmaking process i learned at shy rabbit in pagosa springs. i have been cutting up the prints and reassembling them onto wooden blocks. i am trying to make several at a time with the same color scheme and feel so the could be hung together. here are two examples of the new work. they are on 3x4.5" birch plywood that has been stained on the edges and back. i am thinking of also making some simple strip frames or putting them into a shadow box type frame. lots of possibilities. i am putting some on the website for sale. the ones that are just glued onto blocks as-is (a single print) are $35, and the collaged images are $45. can you guess which parts are collaged, and which parts are not? it's pretty hard to tell, and that's why i like it so much!!

i also ordered some new printing ink. it's made by gamblin, and is really intensely colored and i have found it is best knocked down with some transparent medium, also made by gamblin. it's oil-based, and about the same price as the speedball inks i have been using, but i think the quality is better. i just have to play with it for a while to understand the way it works. i also like that it comes in glass jars. it just seems cooler for some reason. don't know why...maybe because it seems old-fashioned or something.