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 - December 2024
It's been a busy year but it's hard to believe Christmas is almost here.
I've updated my Greetings Cards page with new handprinted 'trios' of William Morris inspired cards, printed on Mulberry paper and some 'tiny celtic knot Christmas tree' cards. On the One-off Print Based Works page, there are some new mixed packs of gift tags and miniprints which use the same Williams Morris design overprinted on various multicoloured backgrounds.
A new 'Seasons' page has just been added to the Linocuts area of my shop and six wintery editions, some, which you may not have seen before, can be found there. My newer/current work may be tucked away in the individual category pages, so if you're looking for a coastal image or a mountain, or a waterfall, that's probably the best place to start.
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 available in the Mountains section.
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. This is now available in the Coast section and both will be available early in 2025 in standard greetings card form.
Over the next week, I'll be cutting a new lino for Dydd Santes Dwynwen 2025 (January 25th). This will be an editioned linocut inside a gatefold card and available early in January.
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.
