Wood grain and linocut prints
Using wood rounds for printing
The end of summer holidays
After several successful markets this summer, Saturday 30th January might be my last in a little while. Back to work means less time in the studio, although I will have a three day weekend!
I will be working towards the Printmakers exhibition at the F Project, Warrnambool, with the theme ‘Trees’. My work will still be available at Julia St Creative Space and Gallery in Portland, the Mud Gallery in Hamilton, Koopman’s in Dunkeld and the WADAS exhibit at Flagstaff Hill, Warrnambool.
Welcome Back!
A flock of cockatoos!
These are the newest in a series of prints featuring our fabulous native cockatoos. Same linocut block in different colour ways, some with hand painted details. Which do you like best?
New Linocut design – “Cocky in flight”
This linocut was a long time in the planning, sketching and carving stages, but I’m quite pleased with the result. Hand printed on 45% organic cotton and 55% hemp, made in Australia tea towels and 50 x 50cm cushion covers. I thought I might try different ink colours on paper for Major Mitchell’s, Yellow and Red-tailed Black cockatoos and Galahs.
New Prints
I have enjoyed producing some monoprints with leaves from native plants and a circular piece of lino over the past few months. Those that weren’t quite as successful benefited from overprinting with a linocut of Eastern Barred Bandicoots. There are ten of these in the edition, with varied backgrounds. $95 unframed or $180 framed.
Upwelling at Night
After several requests I have printed a second edition of the blue whale linocut, titled “Upwelling at Night” in a darker, midnight blue ink. There are twenty, hand-pulled prints on 100% cotton, archival paper. Click on the link to purchase the unframed print for $95. I can deliver to Warrnambool, Hamilton or Port Fairy.
The tortoise and the penguin
These two linocuts are my first prints of 2020 and framed up, off to a new home in Port Fairy. The lovely lady who wanted a pair of images for her newly renovated home, had visited the Galápagos Islands and we had wonderful chat about her trip. The nice thing about doing markets is meeting people who stop and appreciate my work. Sometimes a parent explains to their child how to do linocut as they remember doing it at school, sometimes it might be a nature lover who recognizes one of the species in my prints.
I learn something from every print. The Little Penguins incorporated caustic soda etching (in the sky) which I needed to be more patient with. The moon and moonbeams are dodgy, so I might just cut off everything above the sea. The tortoise needs more shadows underneath, to differentiate animal from the rocky ground. I might cut another plate from this one to do some multi-plate printing with colour.
After an early start, setting up the stall and chatting with people most of the day, I need a big rest in the afternoon!
Little Penguins
I tried a new technique today – actually two new techniques, one to correct an error! I heard about using caustic soda to etch lino at Union Street Studio with Simone Tippett. Not having caustic soda to hand, I used oven cleaner, first masking off the areas that had been carved. Painting into the oven cleaner with a cotton bud, I was trying to create clouds. I haven’t printed the plate yet, but the oven cleaner eats into the lino and softens it, creating a more painterly effect than the graphic effect of carving.
The second technique was cutting a piece out of the plate and replacing it with a new piece, like a jigsaw. I used contact on the back of the plate to help keep the new patch in place, but it was a firm fit. Fingers crossed for printing!
Britt Gow 