Last year, our Zyaada Collection launched with a lot of firsts. And possibly the pride and joy of all the firsts: our fine art. It’s been the dream since day one and this is the collection that made it happen. You can read all about the inspiration for the design here but today I’m excited to share with you the HOW. You can read all about how the minis and the felt fine art were created but today I get to share about the large block-printed pieces! If you’ve been around long enough, you know we love our behind the scenes.
So, let’s get to it. How were these prints made? Great question, I would love to tell you!
As with all our collection prints, Analise is the muse behind the design. She spent months working through the idea of Zyaada, what it meant to her, and how she saw it in art. Once the design was a full send, off it went to the block makers.
These pieces are our very first print on paper, so the whole process of creation was new for us. We'd like you to meet our talented friend and artist, Mohan ji, who we collaborated with to makes these limited-edition prints. He’s been painting for years and is a professor of art in a local college. He specializes in wood cut art so using wooden blocks to print was not a stretch!
The ink is created by taking a fine powder of the dye material (indigo for Emerge, harad, the fruit of the myrobalan plant, and iron for Rush), mixing it in hot water, straining out the liquid and adding in guar gum to thicken it into a paste.
Here you can see Analise and Mohan working on creating the ink. The harad had to be ground into a fine powder with a mortar and pestle. They used sandpaper to grind off the very finest of powder from the indigo block. For the black, powdered iron was added into the harad mixture.
Once the ink was made, Mohan ji began his work. Starting with an acid free, heavy weight print making paper, he applied the ink directly to the block with a brush, avoiding waste and ensuring better application. Due to the nature of the ink, he had to go over each print in a time consuming and painstaking process, brushing out each line with his fine, squirrel tail brush. The hours he spent on these prints took their toll on his back!
Elizabeth and I took a day to capture the process and gained great appreciation for the hours he spent on each piece. The indigo Emerge print, though a work of art in its own right, did prove significantly easier than the Rush print, which took hours of printing, reprinting and printing again. I’d say it proved worth the effort.
The final step in the process is my personal favorite. Editioning each piece before it gets sent out of our studio. These are pieces are limited edition and each are singed and have their respective number in the series. Which number do you want to end up with?
What a treat to bring the world our very first fine art prints: from the mind of Analise and the hands of Mohan ji. Each print brings to life the concept of Zyaada. We’re often told that more is not always better but here in India, it’s always more! Better or not. And after living here for a few years, it’s easy to see how so much extra can really make some beautiful patterns out of life. It’s clarity in the chaos for us.
Bye for now!
Sarah
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