Hi there crafters,
It’s been a minute since I last posted about my printmaking process, right?
Well… We hit a rough patch — talked it out, cried our feelings — and I didn’t want to drag you into the drama. We made up, but like any complicated relationship, we’re still figuring out our next chapter together…
All jokes aside, I really did have a hard time during the past few studio visits. I’ve been dealing with some personal things, and it was frustrating that one of my creative outlets became yet another challenge when I was looking for comfort.
Making art and learning new skills require a lot of introspection: facing challenges, sitting with difficult emotions, and figuring out ways to process and overcome them. And when life gets messy, of course it spills into your craft too. In the end, it’s not just about mastering a skill — it’s also about practicing bigger life lessons.
I’ve been struggling to finish this piece. You can probably see my frustrated decline into paralysis in the past posts — or in the lack of new updates altogether. I’ve been trying to figure out how to align the layers of the print, which has proven very difficult because of mistakes (or let’s be honest, my deviation from the recommended process) early on. I should’ve been more careful when cutting my boards so they were all the same size from the start…
Part of the struggle is technical, but it also touches on bigger things: my communication style, my resistance to rules, and the tug-of-war between perfectionism and artistic freedom. It’s frustrating to explain my problem and not feel understood. I’ve asked for help, followed tips, and still ended up stuck. I wish I had someone who could sit with me, look at it from my perspective, and help me problem-solve instead of brushing it off with, “just fix it next time.”
And yet — this project is my best piece so far. It took real research and reflection before I even began, and I’m proud of the gradient technique paired with the patterned layers I developed. It’s effective, original, and to have come up with it on my own in just my second year with this medium feels huge. That’s why it hurts when others don’t see what it means to me, or when I can’t quite get the help I need. At this point, it’s bigger than just aligning layers. It’s tied to my personal struggles and my growth as an artist.
After a few frustrated attempts, broken up by weeks away, I finally decided to take a proper break from this piece. I’ll return with a calmer mindset and fresh eyes. That was a hard call — I’m stubborn, I’m deeply invested in this work, and honestly, I felt pressure from this blog too. This is the first project I’ve shared with you step by step, and it feels strange to pause without finishing it. But that’s part of the process. And since I committed to sharing my creative process with you, here we are!
What projects and challenges have you been working on lately? Can you relate to my experience? Let me know 🙂
Check out last week’s studio log:
Context note: “Xilo is a nickname in Portuguese for woodblock printing. It’s a prefix related to wood, and it has Greek roots.“
‘Till next week, crafters!
