Little pot of gold?

This little pot of gold has been in a box on my desk for the last 15 years at least. Today I opened it for the first time in probably all those 15 years and see that it has long dried up. I really must stop hoarding. I wonder if it had any bullion value - is it even real gold????

I'm a bit chuffed...

that one of my fishy watercolours has made it onto Craft Gawker today.

PINK - yikes this so isn't me!

But it is starting to grow on me. Must sit down and have a cup of tea to ponder on that one and resist the urge to get the black ink out again for at least another couple of weeks.

Spring is coming (it is isn't it?)

To celebrate the coming of spring (and in spite of the 3 inches of snow at my door which suggests otherwise) I have added these cards to my Folksy shop stock.

Sea Urchin Lino Print ( in Green)

Now looking at the considerable number of birds that feature in my work it might appear that I am a bit of a twitcher but actually the sea and its contents are my greatest inspirations. I am no Jacques Cousteau but I find it very satisfying to dive down deeper than I am tall to reach some small glimmering mystery from the bottom of the sea. At depth green sea urchin skeletons look like great globes of verdigris-encrusted copper impaled on the dark purple spines of their children and their children’s children. The water is a deceptive lens though and they are always smaller in air than they appear in water.

This is my latest print, a 3-colour lino print in shades of green printed with oil-based but water-washable inks onto 280g Hahnemuehle Etching Paper. It will shortly be available to purchase through my Folksy Shop. Is now available click here!

No ink yet but....

I rather like this. For my sea urchin print I am planning to make the most of the malleability of the Hahnemuhle paper to emphasis the little nodules. I just wanted to check that the relief created from each of the three individual lino plates wouldn’t clash to much. This test blind print is the result and I’m really pleased with the crispness of the relief. It could look great mounted with some directional lighting on it. 

Latest lino cut ready to print!

My sea urchin test lino cut is ready to print. I’ve laboriously cut hundreds of small holes in my lino plates to represent the little nodules where the long purple spines were attached to the living urchin. I was itching to get at it this evening but we have viewers coming to see the house tomorrow so I am banned from making a mess. This will be a three-colour print and I am planning two versions, one in shades of green and the other in shades of purple, all in oil-based inks. The print on the right is my draft version printed in water-based ink.  

HEART THIEF update

This item has now sold. I can put together a similar card/print (with a more primary red mount & matching heart). If you are interested let me know - but be quick if its for Valentine's Day.

"Heart Thief" is a Folksy Featured Item!

Hurrah, one of my two offerings for Valentine's Day has been selected as a Featured Item on Folksy. And now both Valentines prints have free uk P&P. Buy now - I don't want any lonely hearts lying about the house this time next week!

Pigeons

Now I am rather fond of birds but the sight of these pigeons sent me a bit Tippi Hedren. Not so my son who delighted in seeing them off. Love that green iridescence though – I can see this is going to be a green week.  

Faro Fishing Village, Gotland, Sweden

I think I will occasionally use this space a place to give a bit more background to some of my work. The print I use as my banner and its pair seem a good place to start. Gotland is a large island in the middle of the Baltic Sea between Sweden and Latvia, Faro is the smaller neighbour clinging to its northern tip. There is real beauty here. There are delightful country roads deep-lined with wild flowers, strange marshy plateaux where small succulents cluster on the bare pink rocks, long sandy strands and stark pebbly beaches guarded by towering limestone stacks. It was a bright sunny day when we visited but there was a real sense of the deep bleak desolation.
Special offer to my blog readers, buy both Faro prints together for £40.00 + £3.00 uk p&p (overseas buyers please contact me first for a shipping quote) and save £5.00 on the current list prices. Just purchase from my Folksy shop in the normal way, type 02faro into the message box and I will refund you the saving through Paypal when your payment has been confirmed.