I printed a midwinter card but didn’t send many copies out into the world. Here it is with an appliqué tree from a few decades ago. The knitted geese are made of aran yarn, too thick but the thinner yarns weren’t available in the colours I wanted at the time.
Test prints aren’t looking right, maybe they need some tweaking.
Made a start on a linocut, Jack Frost with the sun trapped in a block of ice. Or is it? Anyway, the repetitive action of cutting small lines isn’t good for the shoulder wound so I’m staying away from the lino today.
Tidying some space around the house. The last chimney improvements added a fine layer of dust to this dinner set that has been sitting around for years. Might inspire some still life drawings, or some pasta sauces that will be good in the wider bowls in the corner.
Shortest day of the water tiger year. Apparently it’s best to gather energy during the winter, to be ready for spring.
It might look more cold and blizzard-like with a black sky? Originally I was pondering the lack of snow in our future, as well as the unpleasantness of dancing in slush.
Linocut on Japanese paper, 12 x 12 cm.
Full cold moon; a time when we’re naturally accelerated, energy is flowing and things will naturally come to a conclusion. Time to consider that ridiculous ten year project which we can now let go of.
Today’s full moon coincides with a general election. There was a double rainbow in the sky when I went out to vote.
Linocut 10 x 8cm, linseed oil ink on paper. A fairy light behind the picture for a brighter fire.
Happy Midwinter!
While looking for card to print on, I found a long-lost piece of brown lino with a baby carved in a star. My favourite son is 21 so maybe this block has been in a box since we moved away from Birmingham in 1998.
The patterns around the star are made from the zigzagging movements when trying to hack into old lino. I’ll see how it prints later…
berry daines 