Cutting out lino blocks

This week is a lino cutting week - a couple of commissions need doing ahead of birthdays and Christmas so These will be cut and hopefully printed by the end of the week. Obviously these are super top secret at the moment, but I am alos cutting out a companion piece for 'Woodland Glade' (above) which is for fun and will include at least as many leaves as this one... I draw the images in pencil first and it is very easy to get carried away with all of the lovely leaf shapes and woodland bits and pieces and then once the cutting starts it becomes very intricate and slow to carve! But the end result is definitely worth it - hopefully the new piece will work well...

Printing 'Dungbeetle' in gold ink

This lino block of a Dungbeetle with its lovely ball of dung is one that I carved long ago and it has lived in a drawer for years - and then I had the idea to try it again with a bit of gold ink as I was printing some other gold prints...luckily it has survived well and printed perfectly still. Inked up it looks like an ancient relic to me with the gold. Plans now are to make an edition in gold, printed onto black Stonehenge paper and enjoy printing a lovely golden ball of poo!

Song Thrushes and Tiny Birds - lino prints

Spring is in the air and so i have been making a few new lino prints - the mini-print is called 'Crowd of Tiny Birds' and it's slightly larger friend is 'Song Thrushes'. With all of the Spring activity, nest building, dawn sing songs etc it is hard to make lino prints of anything but birds at the moment and I usually only need the smallest of excuses anyway. Both of these new prints are now listed in my online shop here - and a few others are being carved at the moment too :)

New Lino Print - Otter Feast

A new lino print of a trio of hungry otters - well not that hungry as they have a pile of fish to eat. I have only ever seen an otter footprint, never a glimpse of the elusive creature although apparently they do live right here in waterways of Bristol, urban otters! This was a fun little lino print to carve, especially the little pile of fish bones - somehow the perfect subject matter for lino. I have added the Otter Feast to my online shop HERE if you are interested in any more info about it (size, paper etc) so pop over and have a look.

Lovely Bear - lino cut print

A Lovely Bear lino cut ready to send out for Valentines Day this month - lots of my lino prints include retching dogs and fighting cats so this one is a little on it's own in terms of cuteness!! Also very happy to send secret messages in a little card along with the bear :) It is in my online shop just HERE if you would like to take a peek...

Lino Printed Golden Bats

Having a great time printing these little Flappy Bats in gold - they look really striking on black Stonehenge paper and make a really sweet little print.

Lino Prints for sale - and Artist Support Pledge news...

Three Foxes at the Disco - lino Print

Lino Prints for Sale

Thanks so much to everyone who has been browsing and buying my lino prints via Etsy and Folksy - it has been fantastic to be able to send them out by using our local Parcel Post Box and know that they are turning up at front doors around the world!  I can't offer any Tracking services at the moment, but everything has made it through so far (with a little patience as shipping times are now longer than we are all used to).

It has been fab to be able to send lino prints directly to people with birthdays or who need a bit of dancing animal cheer too - so I have been writing cards with messages from the sender too...sometimes cryptic, sometimes just really lovely...in a little hand printed card.  What fun.

Artist Support Pledge 

Artists Support Pledge is a great initiative that has been set up recently by Matthew Burrows (mostly on Instagram) which is well worth taking a look at if you are interest in art and craft and want to discover some amazing artists from around the world...and maybe even make a purchase!  I have made a couple...

The idea is to help artists and makers replace the income that is being lost due to the current shut down of art galleries, art fairs, makers markets and also lots of art and craft teaching that artists usually undertake.  Artists pledge works for sale for up to £200 $200 etc and when they have reached £1000 $1000 in sales they pledge to spend £200 $200 themselves on another artists work.  It is creating a small but really dynamic art market and helping lots of creatives get through this tough time.

I have been lucky enough to make sales through the initiative and also therefore some purchases to help other makers navigate this tricky period - really worth taking a look, even if you aren't in position to buy anything as there is some really inspiring work being pledged.

Lino cut print - Wolf Nursery School

Inspired by the wild weather, recent super moon, winds and storms - a little lino print of wolves...

These are the friendly ones though, not the wild beasties of the night - these are the jolly young ones playing at the wolf nursey school!

Trying to achieve wolfish body language in a little lino cut - without making them ferocious and snarling, that is my self imposed lino challenge.

Lino Print fabric designs

I have often thought that some of my lino prints would work well as fabric designs and so have made a couple into repeat patterns and had them printed onto cotton - and I am so happy with it!

In the photo here are 'Pigeons' and 'Stars' - both digitally printed onto 156 gsm cotton in the UK, so fully washable and a great fabric weight for lots of different types of sewing project.

I have hand printed fabric with lino blocks several times and it can be great fun, but it is really time consuming and so makes the fabric more expensive (quite rightly as it takes a while!).  I hand printed my bedroom curtains with big birds and I love them so it was completely worth the process.

As these fabrics have been digitally printed I can have much larger quantities and so I have listed them in my ETSY shop if you fancy taking a peek.

I have no idea what projects might suggest themselves using this fabric (I am up for trying lampshades and PJ's first) so have listed a few different lengths as options to buy, but am really up for suggestions of what sizes of fabric would be useful...

Below is an amazing set of coin purses made by JoeJoeHandmade using my Pigeon fabric and I think they are just fab!  I love the contrast of the black and white with the zingy zippers.

I am really excited to see what else these fabrics turn into in the future!  Pigeons everywhere....

Greetings Cards

Great to get another delivery of my cards from ARTPRESS recently - including the new Christmas Card, yipee!

I'm so happy to have my lino prints on their lovely cards and it is great fun looking out for them in shops/galleries/museums as I travel around the country.  Do let me know if you spot any out in the wild...

September exhbition

After a summer break and then a lot of beetle carving it is time for a show - really excited to be part of an art exhibition called NATURAL HABITATS in Bristol at The Malago on North Street. 

It has been organised by TRIBE AISTHETICA and there rare three of us showing nature inspired work, so definitely worth popping in if you are in Bristol.

I have several pieces based on drawings of birds and beetles I have made in Bristol Museum, where I have been lucky enough to spend time in the stores with some of the amazing collections held there.  The beetles are mostly burying beetles and it has been fascinating studying them so closely.

The show runs 2nd September - 6th October if you fancy calling in.

Puffin lino print - work in progress

Starting to plan a big flock of Puffins...
Smaller flocks will also be printed - I am just going to have a warm-up session of Puffin lino cutting to see how they come out before going for the huge one!

I went to see Puffins on the Farne Isles in June and it was amazing, totally overwhelming to spend an hour on their island and watch and draw them.  It was too early for Pufflings but the parents were busy.

I am trying to show their brilliant flappy flight in the way I draw them, so hopefully that will work out too as the drawing progresses....

I always draw my designs out on paper first before l transfer it to the lino block using tracing paper.  It can take a while for a large lino block but I love drawing so would hate to miss that stage out.  I know some people draw straight onto the block or just carve, but that is not for me!

Lino cut print - Lots of Crows and a Sparrow

Close up of all the crows...

A proof print of the crows lino print.

 The original 15 Crows lino print, which is still one of my faves...

This week I have been up to my printers elbows in Crows as I have started editioning my new lino print 'Lots of Crows and a Sparrow'.  It has gone really well, despite making it hard for myself by taping an extra piece of lino onto the block so that I could add an extra bit of crow that didn't quite fit on.  This means that each time I hand burnish a print I have to check that the crow is lined up properly and flat with the main block...the original piece of lino seemed quite big, but was not big enough.  Lesson learned.

Golden Pilea lino print

Really pleased with how my little Pilea friend is looking in gold ink on black Stonehenge paper.  The gold isn't glittery, its a lovely soft warm gold and seems to suit those lovely leaves perfectly.

It is in my little Etsy shop at the moment too...

Drawing and printing plants

I have spent a few weeks drawing plants, all those amazing leaf and flower shapes, foliage shadows and criss-crossing stems and branches.  It's been fun.  Now I am trying to make some of the doodles and drawings into prints that show off the plant forms...

I do like taking a plant out of context so that you can really see its shapes (like this one above) as well as drawing/printing the whole tangled mass that exists in a garden.  We will see what happens...

Lino printed birds

I've been doing a lot of drawing in a Museum store, focusing on the bird scientific study skins...
It's been the best as a way of focusing on drawing skills.  The images I am making are just slightly different to the Foxes at the Disco though!

Don't worry - a few animals having a boogie are bound to fight their way out soon.

Three Foxes at the Disco - lino print

Three Foxes at the Disco, they are ready for a great night out dancing!

It's nearly December which is definitely party season - and great to have a bit of shimmer to brighten up the Autumn gloom...

Spring printing projects

I find the sunny, lighter days are perfect for a flurry of lino cutting activity...

In the past week I have lino cut the Teeny Tiny Bridge you can see in the photo, a flock of birds, an angry goose, an alien, a girl climbing over a mountain range and a herd of wild boar.

Next I need to print a whole lot of cards for our local arts trail in May, because that will be here in no time at all, lickety-split...