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Welcome to my website collection of original block prints & etchings.

3 owl tree online store to open soon! watch this space!

New work!
​Spring Migration

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Spring Migration: 9" x 16" $190

Spring Migration - preliminary sketches...

Pen & ink drawings from photos taken over several days as Audubon and Townsend's warblers visited the vine maple outside my studio window this spring. These are preliminary drawings to become familiar with a bird before composing a block. I use a dip pen and only work in ink. If I use a pencil I know I will fuss and erase and get totally hung up. Lots of smudges, but it's a great exercise in observation. A few made it into the final block of 'Spring Migration'.
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Raised on the River 7" x 18" $190

Summer on the River

While we camped along the Chewuch River a family of rough-winged swallows were nesting in a riverbank tunnel beneath our campsite. We watched for two weeks as the parents vanished through the tangle of roots into the nest hole, bugs clenched in their beaks, swiftly exiting to capture more. Then suddenly all was quiet. The family had left the nest with the fledglings now in feeding positions along a bare limb. Each patiently waiting their turn.
Habitat a critical part of composition, this block was a challenge!
Click on all images to enlarge.
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Nest Watch 4" x 8.5" $105
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Riverbank nest tunnel
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Rough-winged swallows - the parents.
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The fledglings on a limb.

The word 'print' can cause confusion!
All my work is original. Each print is individually printed in black ink and hand watercolored. I do not sell reproductions.

Each print is an original, hand made and painted with watercolor. Most of my images are from experiences with birds recorded with photos and sketches on site in my garden, local Seattle parks, the Methow River Valley in Eastern Washington and the ocean beaches of the Northwest Coast.
My intaglio pieces include a collection of small drypoints featuring individual birds (Etchings I) . (Etchings II) features people from my Commuter Journals. Click on images to enlarge.
Framing is available. 

​Red-breasted Nuthatches

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Fleeting Moment 7" x 18" $180
Habitat is context!
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Nuthatch in ponderosa pine
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Forest Sprite 6" diameter $125
A fleeting moment!
​These capture a magical encounter we had while hiking in pondersosa pine forest near the Chewuch River. A flock gathered close in the trees around where we'd paused to rest in the heat of a summer day. 

Shorebird Migration

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As I carved this block I was transported back into sunlight, sounds of surf and the wonderment as multitudes of birds whizzed past.
​So many blurred photos, but I came home with a cache from which to work.
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Surfing: 21" x 10" $275
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Interested in a print?

If you want to order a print or
set of cards
You can get in touch with me using the form on my website
​Contact Page.

HAVE FUN!
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Go birdwatching!

Let me know what you see.


Cedar Waxwings

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The Harvest: 7" x 18" $180

​"The Harvest"
features ​cedar waxwings
feeding on the fruit of the 
Pacific crabapple .

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Photos of a flock by Willapa Bay in October inspired this piece.

Western Grebe - Stiletto Billed Diver

Famous for their exquisite mating dance, it is sometimes referred to as the 'Swan Grebe' with its elegant long neck. Its feet are located so far back on their body that walking on land is a rare sight, though not impossible. 
The beauty of the white breast feathers, considered fashionable to adorn women's hats, nearly led to the extinction of these lovely birds in the early 1900's. 
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Eye of the Storm: 19" x 10" $250
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Such a waterbird!
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This photo inspired the block print 'Free Form' - find it on Block Print III page
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The position of the grebe's feet make it such powerful diver.
Photos of a Western Grebe diving in the surf along the shore of LaPush. Click on the photos to see details of this great diver.

Common Loon

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Moon Song: 6" x 12" $150

 Owl Moon Series

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Small portraits: 4" diam
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Owl Moon: Northern Spotted Owl: 4" diam $65

Great Gray Owl*

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Three Owl Tree: 9.5" x 12" $180
*Made from a photo in Paul Bannick's book: Owl: A Year in the Lives of North American Owls.
​Permission from author

Night Heron - A Wetland Hunter

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Black-crowned Night Heron: 7" x 18" $185
The black-crowned night heron feeds in the dim light of dusk and dawn. This one is hunting by the light of a full moon rising over Spring Pond in Michigan. Its call is bit like a chihuahua, the sound a short sharp bark. Seems like all the heron family have an unexpected voice.
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Wetland Palette, a sampling of some of the watercolors used in this piece.
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Often I embarrass myself with the quantity of photos I take, but they become an invaluable resource as I struggle to compose a block and later to paint the black and white print!
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Solace in Nature

August, time to camp by the river and soak up the sweet pine scents of the ponderosa ... perhaps there will be inspiration for new work.
​I never know.
Last time it was the voice of the elusive pileated woodpecker, offering only a rare glimpse as it passed through the forest across the river.

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Wave Runners: 18" x 7" $170
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Forest Haunt: 21" x 9.5" $250

Being part of a flock

Sanderlings dart between waves, digging into the wet sand, one still running along with a marine worm dangling. This flock was racing along the shore of Leadbetter Point on the Long Beach Peninsula of Washington.

Sandhill cranes

These fascinating birds have an ancient history with fossils clearly identifiable from 2.5 million years ago.
​More distant crane ancestors reach back 9 million years. It is one of the oldest bird species still in existence.
I was lucky to have an encounter with a resident group in the Reifel Bird Sanctuary in BC.
I am posting a few photos along with the watercolored block prints inspired by the experience.
​Click on image to enlarge.
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Promenade: 7" x 18" $170
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They are tall, can be aggressive  and have a huge voice. Several walked past me close enough to touch (I didn't). A fabulous bird.
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Their claws are strong and hard. When needed their legs and beaks are powerful weapons as they strike out at a rival in courtship or defend their young.
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The beak has small serrations along the edge. It is heavy enough to penetrate the cranium of a smaller mammal (s.a. fox) that might prey on young.
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Sandhill Sunset: 6" x 18" $170

Block Prints 

Each blockprint is an original, printed by hand on Rives BFK paper and watercolored once the ink has dried. I print pieces as needed for fairs and shows varying the color of the background and details. A few of my pieces are black and white. 

Click on an image below to go to one of the three page collection of Block Prints.

Block Prints I

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Anna's Hummingbird: 6" x 10" $150

Block Prints II

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Pileated Woodpeckers: 8" x 12" $155

Block Prints III

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Snowy Owl: 6" x 10" $145

Intaglio: Drypoints

These small drypoints are drawn directly on a small (2" x 3") copper plate. The marks create depressions in the plate which is then inked and run through a press which transfers the ink to BFK Rives paper. After the print dries I apply watercolor.
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Chickadee $65
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Anna's Hummingbird $65
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Red-breasted Nuthatch $65
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Great Blue Heron 4" x 3" $75
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Ruby-crowned Kinglet $65

Intaglio: Commuter Journals 

These etchings are done on copper plates (3" x 9") and feature individuals sketched over a period of years during my commute across town. A variety of techniques are employed including aquatint and soft ground. These create a resist on the plate through which I draw with tools that expose the metal plate. The plate is dipped in a ferric chloride bath. This corrodes the metal, leaving marks that hold ink transferring it to BFK Rives paper when the plate is run through a press. Once a print has dried, I apply watercolor creating varied clothing and background colors. 

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January 26, 1996
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January 31, 1995
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March 10, 1997
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April 9, 2010
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May 26, 2011
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December 20, 1997
Individual prints: $90       Framed: $130
All originals are available for purchase through the online store.
Call or use the contact form with any questions.
​206-419-2222
Photos and web design consulting by Strazzanti Photography
​© 2023, 3 owl tree - e.c. neuman. All rights reserved.
  • HOME
  • BLOCK PRINTS
  • ETCHINGS
    • ETCHINGS - BIRD DRYPOINTS
    • ETCHINGS - PEOPLE
  • CARD SETS
  • MAKING PRINTS
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT