This is one-half of my one-day entry into the world of creative visual art.
My interest in art arose in the 1970s. I was redecorating a house and thought I ought to have something interesting on the walls which were mostly bare.
Soon I found myself thoroughly involved: visiting museums and galleries, investigating various art periods, art movements and reading the weekly newspaper art critic, making sure to follow up on his praised artists.
Before long I became especially attracted to German Expressionists, their associations and contributors: Die Bruecke (The Bridge), Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider) and the post-World-War-I movement called Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity).
(Incidentally, my exploration led also to Expressionist drama, poetry, literature and film.)
Expressionist artists had revived and repopularized the art of the woodcut, a medium I came to love. In a fit of “why not?” I bought a few art supplies.
One night I stood in front of a bathroom mirror and drew myself with charcoal on tracing paper. Later, on my garage work-table, I placed the drawing face-down on a plank of wood and massaged it with the bowl of a large spoon, transferring the image to the wood; then removed, saved and framed the still-preserved charcoal drawing (the other half of my one-day spurt).
With a few basic newly-bought chisels and blades I cut into the image on the wood – the parts removed, of course, would be white on the paper. Then filled a roller with black ink previously laid out on glass; inked the wood block, placed on it – in turn – papers of various qualities, massaged the papers with the spoon and made about nine impressions.
I had been an artist for a day.