Meadow Cranesbill

Meadow Cranesbill
linocut by Teresa Newham

Taking a walk one bright May afternoon I spotted some pink flowers amongst a patch of nettles.   They were intertwined so closely that I did a double take, recalling that nettle flowers are blue and grow in spikes.  Sure enough, the pink flowers had their own leaves, which looked familiar.

peeping through the nettles
© Teresa Newham

A little Googling and a look in my own garden confirmed that this pretty flower is Meadow Cranesbill, a relative of the geranium (that's a true geranium, not the cheerful red perlargoniums we tend to think of as geraniums).

sorting out the design
© Teresa Newham

A couple of months later I put a design together based on my photographs from that afternoon and traced it onto some softcut lino.  I had to be careful not to smudge the pencil while I was making the intricate cut.

the cut
© Teresa Newham

My first attempt at mixing a suitable shade of ink was so subtle that it barely showed on the paper.  As I wanted the linocut to reflect the impact the flowers had on me when I saw them,  I decided to match the colour of the veins on the petals.

mixing the ink
© Teresa Newham

Eventually I had a dozen prints pegged to my makeshift drying rack - ready just in time for  #HertsOpenStudios.  I'd better make sure I get it into a frame before 8th September!

#HertsOpenStudios runs from 8th - 30th September.  I'll be sharing my studio with fellow artist Sue Wookey. Details of our opening times are shown on the side panel of this blog. Visit the Herts Visual Arts website for the full county-wide programme.

drying the prints
© Teresa Newham