Moon over Larch Mountain, handprinted linocut print, © 2020 Patrick Norton

Larch Mountain, Oregon, is an extinct shield volcano near the Columbia River Gorge. I often see it from my home in Portland, it is the not very impressive mountain on the Cascades skyline a little north of Mount Hood, a towering snow-capped stratovolcano. It is the one that looks like a Roman nose. Larch Mountain did have its own glaciers during the Pleistocene (12,000+ years ago) but now all that remains is a sloping bowl-shaped cirque and a terminal moraine below the summit. It is somewhat unusual in that it owes its existence to a period of volcanism that is not closely related to the (older, but still ongoing) Cascades Range volcanism, but rather part of the Boring Volcanic Field (named after the town of Boring, OR). From the summit, it is far from unimpressive, and not at all boring.

This is an interpretation of the moon as it appeared on the winter solstice in December 2020, an otherwise crummy year.

Handprinted linocut, 5" X 7" print area on 8"x10" acid-free paper. Cranfield Caligo Safe Wash oil-based ink. With cellophane sleeve.

This image began with a drawing which I transfer to a piece of artist's linoleum (a version of the flooring material). I cut away the white areas with gouges (like small wood chisels but concave) leaving only the areas and lines intended to be black. I then ink the block with a roller and place in a forme, which is a sort of frame that holds the block in proper alignment with the paper to be printed on. I insert the paper or cardstock against the registration tabs, felt blankets are laid on top, and I roll the whole set through my press. The result is a reversed (R-L image of the carved block.