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Monday, February 1, 2016

The Saga of Cossodes lyonetii Moth Woman

The long process of hand colouring Cossodes lyonetii Moth Woman

The hand colouring of linocut Cossodes lyonetii Moth Woman is at last completed. It was made for the print portfolio and group exhibition Eventide, curated by Rona Green. The show, which will celebrate the art of the relief print, opens at Mornington Peninsula Regional Art Gallery in May 2016.

After several failed attempts to print this work, primarily due to problems with our presses, I turned to renowned Master Printer Bill Young. He did an extraordinary job, in searing heat and in double-quick time. Bill lives in King Valley, a good four-hour drive from Melbourne. As good fortune would have it, however, my SOS call coincided with his visit to Melbourne for a family lunch. Even so, he and his wife, Anita Laurence, who, coincidentally, is also an Eventide artist, still traveled miles out of their way to collect my ill-fated printing paraphernalia: paper, ink and a selection of duds he'd asked for so he could try to figure out what went wrong. (I was so stressed that I left the lino block behind in the Ballarat studio and had to mail it to him by express post).

Completed edition of Cossodes lyonetii Moth Woman, 2016, linocut, 32 x 30 cm, printed in Prussian Blue
with hand colouring. Printer: Bill Young

Bill subsequently delivered the edition to us in Melbourne. This morning he and Anita called in for morning tea and collected Bill’s hand coloured P/P (Printer’s Proof).

From left: Anita Laurence, Bill Young and Shane Jones at our Abbotsford place earlier today. The muffins and chocolate
Brownies that Anita and Bill brought along to our morning tea were delicious.

The edition packed up in readiness for delivery to Rona

Over the last couple of weeks Bill has been boundlessly generous with his time and knowledge. He has even offered to check out our presses at Ballarat. Needless to add, I simply can’t thank him enough.