First results from printmaking

This semester is my first semester back as a mommy. I decided not to take any classes last fall because I felt like I still needed some time to adjust to the extra family member. I am very glad I did. I love spending time with Fletch. I found some great day care for Fletch for this semester, so I was not too emotional going back to school last month. I almost shed a tear the first day without him, but the morning was so hectic I think I just forgot to. Fletch is doing great and I get two days to myself. Well, two days to go to school and interact with semi-adults. This semester I am taking two classes (I thought I'd ease back in gently), printmaking and reading in the content area(an education class). I am enjoying both classes very much, even though printmaking is turning out to be an expensive class. We are starting with linocuts. We use our carving tools to carve designs into linoleum blocks. It is a little labor intensive and can be slightly dangerous. I've already stabbed a few fingers with my carving tool, but I still have all ten fingers. Our first assignment was to take original photographs and turn them into a print. I chose a picture of a patio umbrella that I took at a winery a few summers ago. Here is the original picture: And this is my linocut print: I asked a friend if I could use a picture of me that he took and altered to do another linocut. He was happy to let me and here are some prints that I did using that picture:
The second one is a collage at the request of my teacher. I just used a page from a magazine and altered the image some by cutting out pieces of the picture. It's kind of trippy, but I like it. Next up is two-color prints.