This piece was inspired by the beautiful blooms of spring in Sonoma Valley, more specifically the plethora of wildflowers that fill the landscape. I included representations of Matilija Poppies, Indian Paintbrush, Mustard, Baby Blue Eyes, and various imagined shrubs and trees. Driving up to Sonoma from my home in Santa Cruz this time of year always gifts me with views of vibrance and new life bursting from every corner of the land. It’s something I can’t celebrate enough!
For this piece, I started with a series of brainstorms and drawings which I then transferred to a rubber block. I then carved the image over the course of two months, during my children’s naps and in the evenings after bedtime. It was such a treat to spend time carving this piece because of its intricacy and feeling of newness; I almost never create landscape pieces! After my carving was complete I inked up the block with oil based ink and made a few hand-burnished block prints which after a few days of dry time I would then add color by painting with watercolors. I wanted to harness a feeling of softness with the subtle color while balancing the immense detail of botanical life from the carving.
Lili Arnold is a Santa Cruz-based printmaker and illustrator specializing in botanical block prints. Arnold grew up in a family of artists, her father being a narrative oil painter and her mother being a creative-of-all-trades. After studying printmaking in her last two years at UCSC she fell in love with the process of creating multiples and tapping into the tactile satisfaction of working with her hands. Arnold spent the following years working as a graphic designer but soon rekindled her love for printmaking as a weekend hobby. As her creative priorities continued to shift she transitioned into making prints full-time and has since been on a journey of inspiration and appreciation of the natural world.
