{"id":3227,"date":"2026-01-31T02:05:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T02:05:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/?p=3227"},"modified":"2026-01-31T02:05:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T02:05:18","slug":"lesson-11-can-i-ask-your-advice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/?p=3227","title":{"rendered":"Lesson 11 Can I ask your advice?"},"content":{"rendered":"Nora had her back to the doorway. She wasn\u2019t expecting any visitors. When she was in the studio, everyone knew not to interrupt. Everyone except Hannah. Hannah didn\u2019t think rules applied to her after all. The first time Nora was aware of her presence was when the volume on the music suddenly decreased. Nora turned her head quickly in the direction of the old CD player.

\u2018Hannah,\u2019 she said. \u2018What are you doing here?\u2019
It wasn\u2019t warm. A mix of surprise and irritation. Nora was just about to ink up her plate for printing. The part of the process that needed her complete attention. And on a warm day, the ink would need to be applied quickly.

\u2018Hey, babe. Sorry for not calling first. I hope you won\u2019t mind, but I really need your advice.\u2019

Nora held the brayer in her hand, hovering over the inking station, the lino waiting to receive its first coat and reveal the intricately carved image she had spent hours carving. She couldn\u2019t wait. Nora rolled the brayer over the well of ink and backward and forward across the glass until she could hear the tacky texture she needed. The brayer fully loaded, she finally responded.

\u2018I have to get this down,\u2019 she said waving the ink-laden roller toward Hannah. \u2018Just stand over there, will you, while I do this.\u2019

\u2018Of course, of course, don\u2019t let me interrupt.\u2019

But you already have.

Nora could barely disguise her annoyance.

This had better be important.

Nora was pushing to get her prints done for her upcoming exhibition. It was the last thing she needed today. She rolled the brayer over the lino, starting in the centre and moving out to the edges. She squatted down to look at the coverage and rolled again trying to even out the ink.

\u2018I have just been asked to do a show at the Gallery on the Wharf, for January,\u2019 Hannah said, leaving the statement begging for a response. Nora was waiting for a question. The silence was broken only by a further loading of the ink from the ink station and a few more covers of the lino until she was happy it was ready to print.

\u2018Yes, well\u2026 I know you had an exhibition there last year.\u2019

Another statement. Get to the point, why don\u2019t you? Nora was reluctant to lay the Japanese Maple paper onto the lino, until she knew why Hannah was here at this time. She held the paper by the corner and then placed it back down. Maybe I should do a test print, she thought, not use the good stuff just yet.

Had she not been interrupted, Nora was confident about the image, but now her concentration was thrown. She placed the Japanese paper down on the bench and reached for the practice sheets.

\u2018I wanted to know if you think that would be a good venue for me, for my works. I mean, what kind of exposure did you get there \u00ac\u2013 isn\u2019t it mostly tourist trade?\u2019

This is what Hannah urgently needed to ask? Nora felt her pulse in her neck pound. She took a deep breath and smoothed the test paper over the lino, running her hands across with care. She stood back.

\u2018Any exposure is good exposure, wouldn\u2019t you say?\u2019 Nora said, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice.

\u2018Well, yes\u2026 but\u2026\u2019

Nora placed the felt on top of the paper and pulled the lever of her Woodzilla block printer, down and leaned on it for extra measure.

\u2018But, what?\u2019

\u2018You don\u2019t think there\u2019s a reputational risk, going so low brow?\u2019

\u2018What? You know I showed there\u2026. What are you saying exactly?\u2019

Nora pulled the lever back to the open position and carefully removed the felt buffer. She scanned the page to check that it had been evenly pressed, before lifting one corner of the paper to see the result. It took well. She lifted the paper from the lino and held it at arm\u2019s length the check the details. A small bit of chatter in the image. She was glad she did the test run. She could clean that up a little with some further carving. She placed the test print down and turned to look directly at Hannah.

\u2018Oh, no. I didn\u2019t mean. It\u2019s just I was hoping for a showing at the Manning this year. I was worried they might think I\u2019m not their league if I show downtown.\u2019

\u2018Hannah, show\u2026 don\u2019t show. You really didn\u2019t come here for advice, now did you?\u2019

Nora walked over to the CD and turned the volume back up. Hannah had been a good friend up until the time that Nora\u2019s work started receiving more attention that her own. The fa\u00e7ade of friendship was being eroded by professional jealousy.

\u2018No, you\u2019re right,\u2019 said Hannah. \u2018I\u2019m sorry. Of course, any exposure is good exposure. I mean look at you. You\u2019re really killing it these days.\u2019

Nora just gave a half-hearted smile and returned her attention to the fast-drying ink left on the station. She covered it with plastic and walked to the sink to wash off the plate.

\u2018Is there anything else, Hannah?\u2019 she said, with her back to her old friend.

\u2018No, no. I can see you\u2019re busy, babe. I\u2019ll just let myself out.\u2019

\u2018Hann,\u2019 Nora called after her, softening at the memory of how they once were. \u2018Your time will come, you know. We\u2019re not competitors, \u2013 we\u2019re supposed to be friends remember?\u2019

Hannah\u2019s face flushed crimson at the truth in that moment.

\u2018Will you come to my opening at the Wharf, babe?\u2019

\u2018You know I will.\u2019
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Nora had her back to the doorway. She wasn\u2019t expecting any visitors. When she was in the studio, everyone knew not to interrupt. Everyone except Hannah. Hannah didn\u2019t think rules applied to her after all. The first time Nora was … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":656,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/656"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3227"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3227\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3244,"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3227\/revisions\/3244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}