Baily Lighthouse, Dublin (Mokuhanga)

A mokuhanga study of the Baily Lighthouse on the southeastern tip of Howth Head, the granite tower that has marked the northern entry to Dublin Bay since 1814. The water-based woodblock medium suits the subject: registered impressions of carved cherry or shina blocks, pressed by hand with a baren onto dampened washi, lend the white tower a matte solidity against tonal washes of sea and sky. The technique invites bokashi — graded inkings applied directly to the block — for the transition from horizon to clouded weather, and flat keyblock outlines for the lantern housing and gallery rail. The print sits at the intersection of Early's two formations: the architectural reading of a working navigation structure, drawn with a registered architect's attention to massing and base-to-shaft proportion, and her adoption of mokuhanga at Graphic Studio Dublin, where she has worked since 2012. It belongs to her continuing lighthouse series, which extends from Irish headlands such as Hook Head and Fanad Head to Bass Harbor and Portland Headlight on the New England coast.