Sycamore Gap, Hadrian's Wall, Northumberland

Original linocut print

A recent trip for a friends' wedding in Northumberland was a very welcome change of scenery from Rambling Hen's headquarters in Kent. Such vast views and big skies, and of course the famous Roman Hadrian's Wall. Being so far North, the evenings were light and the sky was glowing until after 11pm, and we decided to take a nighttime walk to Sycamore Gap. No-one knows who planted the sycamore in this 'nick' (valley) of the great Whin Sill ridge, but it has stood sentinel over the ancient wall for hundreds of years. It also featured in Kevin Costner's 'Robin Hood Prince of Thieves' film. This print was born from a magical night of vast glowing skies, ancient stones and the sound of curlews and nightingales as we walked along the ridge to this tree, with no other soul about. I've tried to capture those glowing skies in the print - and this may well be the first of my prints that looks lovely in very dark lighting too (I have included a picture of it in the dark).

- original reduction linocut print

- colour: custom green/grey, blue to orange rainbow roll (Cranfield Caligo inks).

- paper: Bread & Butter 270gsm white printmaking paper, smooth

- print size: approx 10 x 10 cm

- paper size: approx 14 x 14cm

- signed and numbered. Unframed.

- This is a variable limited edition of 28. This print features a gradient rolls, it is therefore impossible to recreate the print exactly. Each print is will be very similar to the others but also unique in the way the gradient falls. 

I design and carve each motif into linoleum before inking the plate and printing it using Alma or Albert, my Victorian cast iron manual book presses. To make a reduction linocut print, the lino plate is registered (i.e. held in the same place in relation to the paper) and the design is drawn on as a mirror image. Once the first layer is carved and inked and printed on all of the prepared paper pieces, it is carved away some more to make a second layer which is then printed. This continues until all the layers have been printed, and the linoleum plate is gradually destroyed in the process. Depending on the number of layers, reduction prints can take several weeks to complete. 

Thank you very much for looking at my cards and prints.