A Pandemic Mask

So after several days of cutting cloth, cutting blocks, printing and sewing here’s my first pandemic mask. I carved the word “isolate” into a little lino block as the basis for the work. I hope it will be the first of many. I learnt as I went along. My sewing skills are rusty – soContinue reading “A Pandemic Mask”

Pandemic Printmaking And A Wheatpaste Dog

    I’ve been working on a new art project, a response to the pandemic and lockdown. It’s taken me a while to get ideas coming through but I think this will probably end up being quite a big body of work made up of many components. I’ve carved a little lino block and printedContinue reading “Pandemic Printmaking And A Wheatpaste Dog”

My Mojo Is Back

Today I started what I hope will be one of many small linocuts inspired, if that’s the right word, by the Covid19 pandemic and the extraordinary times we are living through. I’m using the hard brown lino with a hessian backing. It’s very, very hard and I should have popped it into the oven toContinue reading “My Mojo Is Back”

Blocking

I finished cutting a little lino block and made a start on a second. The one that’s finished, I’ve stuck to a commercial handle to make it into a stamp. I got the handle when I visited Berlin a couple of years ago, from the Modulor store. They’re really neat, relatively cheap and available overContinue reading “Blocking”

The Final Touch

  The mixed media print I’ve been working on for the past couple of weeks is now finished! I did the final touches this evening. “Dragon’s Revenge” is designed by Jamie Reid and commissioned by GS Artists and is a combination of archival digital print (the pale blue background and the word DRAGONS), screenprint (theContinue reading “The Final Touch”

Onto The Next Block ……

As one art project comes to an end, the next one gets started. I’m cutting a new little lino block – something for International Womens’ Day #IWD2020 . I’m using hard brown lino and I’ll fix the block to a stamp base that I bought in the Modular store in Berlin a while back. AndContinue reading “Onto The Next Block ……”

Nearly There…

  I used my sweet little antique press today to carry on printing a little lino block. Here’s a closer view of the cast iron press, which is probably early Victorian and made in London, by Sampson Mordan & Co. These are often called bookbinding or nipping presses but it’s possibly one of the veryContinue reading “Nearly There…”

A Sharp Tool And A Strop

When I’m cutting blocks for printmaking, whether it’s lino, vinyl, wood or foamboard it’s vitally important to keep my tools sharp. Once a tool goes blunt it’s a dickens of a job to sharpen it again. Sharpening your tools as you work slows you down a bit but it is more efficient than sharpening toolsContinue reading “A Sharp Tool And A Strop”

Chine Collé

  I spent the afternoon down at Swansea Print Workshop preparing some chine collé to use with a vinyl block I made some months ago. I’ve tried printing it in several ways and I want to keep on experimenting with it. The image is based on a drawing of a stream bed I did onContinue reading “Chine Collé”

Scientific Stars Of Wales

  I spent a day in Cardiff with colleagues from the FIRE Lab. We had a stand at the Sêr Cymru celebration, all about the scientific research projects in universities across Wales funded by the Sêr Cymru research and development programme. It was fascinating to hear about how much high level technological research is goingContinue reading “Scientific Stars Of Wales”