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| Clementine reduction linocut by Teresa Newham |
Like so many linocuts, it started with a photo - of my friends' chicken, in their back yard in Kerry. And like so many photos, it sat on my work bench (and rattled around in my mind) for several months before I even put the design onto paper.
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| source photo and workings out © Teresa Newham |
I was trying to work out how to do it. I decided there would be five colours, but five full layers of ink simply wouldn't dry properly unless I could hang the prints up for several weeks in between each one. I thought I might be able to speed things up by printing two of the layers partially.
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| initial cut © Teresa Newham |
There were other new ways of working to consider - I've abandoned the bench hook in favour of non slip rug liner and invested in a new registration device from Laura Boswell - so it all felt rather experimental. It was a relief when I finally had a dozen partial prints in blue drying in the studio.
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| the blue base layer © Teresa Newham |
The yellow was easily printed as a full layer with the registration device, the lino now secured in position on the base board with double sided carpet tape to keep it from moving around. I soon got used to cutting the lino on the board.
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| adding the yellow . . . © Teresa Newham |
I printed the red as another partial layer, although the narrow roller I used turned out not to be quite narrow enough. With the best will in the world I couldn't help but go over some edges while I was working, so a lot of wiping went on . . .
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| . . . and a little red © Teresa Newham |
Being a full layer, the brown was again straightforward, and I was getting quite excited as I now had a dozen well-registered prints of four colours, all of which looked remarkably like a chicken. What could possibly go wrong this late in the day? I was about to find out.
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| printing the brown with the registration device © Teresa Newham |
To my horror the lino moved on the base board while I was cutting the black layer. Perhaps carpet tape doesn't suit soft cut lino, or maybe my tools weren't sharp enough to cut without dragging. I spoiled several prints while getting the registration back, so the final edition totals an exclusive seven prints - one of which I'm keeping for myself!
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| the completed edition © Teresa Newham |
I think this is just brilliant and our friend loved his copy for his 70th birthday!
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