This morning I was cutting little dots into the lino sea foam while listening to live radio coverage of the Thai cave rescue. News updates while printing said that some of the boys were out of the cave.
I was working in an attic room under an open skylight. The ink was weird in the heat, the paper kept blowing around in the breeze. I had intended to rub a bit of yellow ink into the centre of the sun, like an intaglio. Maybe next time.
Lino block (68 x 45cm) while being cut; then inked with linseed oil ink and printed onto linen. It needs more pressure, but the prints on japanese paper were ok.
Today I was cutting the little circles above the moons and below ‘rhaid deall’. All going well, it took most of an Archive Hour on the radio. Then, of course, there’s always a critic who has to sniff around the entire block.
Printing some postcards and a few cards to fold and put into envelopes when they’re dry…
A thought, for those followers who are waiting for a linocut class. The picture shows a block that will be printed in one colour only. The outlines of the lettering have been cut first. At the moment I’m cutting around the holly leaves, not really staying with the pencil lines. Creative cutting?
Sometimes people get lost in the act of cutting lines. I might see how it prints now.
It is a few decades since I printed any fabric, apart from the odd t-shirt with transfer paper. Using my lino block to print a t-shirt seemed a good idea this morning.
Lawrence’s Linseed Relief Ink is much nicer to print with than water-based stuff. I opened the skylight above the table, because people in my house dislike ink fumes. As I was about to place the block onto the shirt, a spider swung down from my fringe. A quick break to find a better place for the spider… did the cat come and rescue me? No. She sat on the stairs and made noises.
After placing the block onto the shirt, I realised I hadn’t planned what to press down with. My toolbox is heavy, but didn’t seem heavy enough. I folded the sides of the t-shirt into a parcel around the block, put it on the floor and stood on it.
I used the rest of the ink to print a couple of paper posters. Cleaning up took place in the garden, in the sunshine. Here’s the moment before the white spirit tipped over onto my foot:
But the t-shirt might be OK
Update – post-election badges:
http://stickittothetories.org.uk/product/i-didnt-vote-tory-badges-only/
berry daines 
