Artist Statement
My name is Stephen King of Sap Woodworks based in Cashiers, NC. I’ve been a woodworker for 25 years and have been practicing the art of printmaking since 2010. Over the last decade, I’ve honed my process of relief printing trees. Now I’m sharing it with the world, giving the wood a second chance at life.
Like woodblock printing where an image is carved into a block of wood, my method uses the same idea, but I’ve tweaked the process. First, I hunt the forest floor for previously felled trees. I never cut a tree down. Then they are taken to the shop to cure. Once cured, the cross- cut of the tree is milled perfectly flat. Using fire, I burn the top of the cross- cut. This burns away the early wood rings, but the late wood remains. I then ink the relief and create prints using a handmade paper. Each of my prints is an original- signed and numbered. No two are alike.
