Welcome to the McClain's newsletter! It will periodically update you on printmaking news, events, carving and printing tips, and everyone's favorite, special deals!

To our long established and new customers alike, we'd like to take this opportunity to introduce ourselves.

The newest member of the team, Brandon Stahlman, recently graduated with a printmaking/drawing degree from Portland State University. He's been experimenting with large-scale woodcuts, printing with salt and sugar, and combining print with other mediums.  In October, he was awarded a juror's award in a local juried exhibition.

Catherine Kumlin, on board since Fall 2001, has spent the last year putting time into a cooperative gallery where she recently exhibited a solo show of monoprints and drawings. Her work was also accepted in a local juried exhibition. She continues to enjoy working in her monoprinting class at the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland.

The owner of McClain's, Alex Prentiss, studied drawing, calligraphy, book arts and printing at the Oregon College of Art & Craft and did letterpress and western-style relief printmaking for many years. Six years after taking a Moku Hanga (Japanese-style woodblock printmaking) workshop with McClain's previous owner, Elaine Chandler, she continues to enjoy that style of printmaking over any other she has tried.

Catherine, Alex and Brandon (on a cold day!)

                   Cockeye

                   9" x 9" woodcut

                   Brandon Stahlman

Want to keep your tools sharp? 
A few quick strokes on our inexpensive Leather Honing Block will keep your tools in top form without any danger of changing the bevel. Many people find they very rarely need to use a whetstone if they use the leather consistently. Honing Compound (green in the picture) rubbed into the leather block speeds up the process considerably.
To order, go to Leather Honing Block.

Another option is to send us your tools in need of sharpening (McClain's tools only please) and we'll send them to Japan to be resharpened by the very craftsmen who made them!

NEW! Professional Magari Bake (bent handled brush)

The handles of these elegant brushes are handcrafted in China from one piece of cedar. The angled handle fits very comfortably in your hand like a pencil and gives you optimum control while dampening paper or applying sumi or watercolor washes. 
The dense, Chinese sheep hair bristles are designed to hold a great deal of water or pigment. 
Available in five sizes.
To order, go to Magari Bake. 

LIBRARY

The Art and Craft of Woodblock Printmaking
Woodblock Printmaking with Oil-based Inks
and the Japanese Watercolor Woodcut

by Karl Laitinen, Tuula Moilanen, and Antti Tanttu

No printer's library is complete without this comprehensive, hard-bound book on woodblock printmaking. 
The section on western style printmaking is 136 pages long, while 117 pages is devoted to the Japanese style of printmaking. 
Also included is a revealing history of woodblock printmaking with focus on Japan and Finland, home of the authors. 
Easy-to-understand illustrations, step-by-step color photos, a glossary of Japanese terms, and even an international list of helpful references and suppliers make this book a true keeper.
To order, go to The Art and Craft of Woodblock Printmaking.