Autumn

This collection of wild fruits and leaves was gathered on a walk around the field margins of Plas Tirion in late October, at the very top of the land above the house.  Here the valley sides steepen and seem to end, but rise out of sight for a few miles more to a wilder, sparser landscape of rushes and hawthorn.  At this time of year flocks of migrant birds pass along the valley, up towards the wetlands, and the trees and hedgerows are bright with autumn fruit and colour.  In this print, a collection of turning leaves, beech and hazel, with crab apples and rosehips.  

I have deliberately created a soft painterly look to this print, using a light pressing between layers to allow the background colours to show through in places. The colours I have chosen represent the rich reds and golds of the autumn hedgerows, with a beautiful blue for the background,

This print is a reduction Linocut, made by cutting and overprinting successive layers of ink from a single block of Lino, until it is reduced to the last few details. I make very limited editions when I use the reduction method, usually ten prints or less and when finished they cannot be repeated as the block has been destroyed in the making. 

I use water-based relief inks, blending them to achieve the colours that I like to use and I print onto traditional printmakers paper, either Somerset Satin or a French milled paper. The paper is a soft white with a velvety surface and may have the deckled edge on one side, depending on where it is cut from the full sheet. I use an old Victorian book press to take the impression or rub by hand with a Japanese baren if the print is too big to fit into the press.
 
Image Size 21 x 25cm
Edition of Eight