I draw, I sketch and produce mixed-media collages but my absolute passion is for linocutting, and it has been since the mid 1990's. I enjoy the physical process of cutting and carving the lino with freshly honed tools and I find the variety of styles and marks I can achieve with such simple materials always challenging but endlessly surprising and satisfying. You can read more about me and my work here.
NEWS SNIPPETS - November 2024
Where did this year go. Admittedly, it's been a busy year but it's hard to believe Christmas is almost here.
Sales of the new edition "Ty John Piper, Nant Ffrancon" (completed in May), featuring John Piper's farmhouse in the Ogwen Valley, now possibly better recognised as the cottage in the TV series 'Mr Bates and the Post Office', have taken me by surprise and out of the edition of 10, I only have one left online in the Mountains section. People have bought for various reasons, people who love the Ogwen Valley, John Piper 'fans' and one to someone who used to live in the farmhouse when he was a student in Bangor University in the 1970's. It's always a bonus to be told what triggers a sale.
A new linocut of the view from the Menai Suspension Bridge looking towards Beaumaris was also completed this summer and is selling equally well. It seems that aiming for four editions this year was a sensible decision. Less is more.
On Saturday 23rd November, I'll be upstairs at the wonderful Kyffin Cafe in Bangor for their second Art & Music Day. I'll have lots of new handprinted linocut cards, Christmas decorations and small prints for sale, all with Williams Morris inspired imagery.
Reduction linocutting is one of the most complex and intriguing forms of relief printmaking - it requires having to work with a reversed sketch or drawing, being able to envisage multiple layers of tone and colour, all whilst working toward a final image which exists only in my head.
The reduction process involves using a single block of lino which is progressively cut away for each layer of colour. As the block is essentially destroyed during the process, a reduction print can never be reprinted or re-editioned, guaranteeing a genuinely limited edition.
