Sunflower

Ways of Being, my solo exhibition at Stephen McLaughlan Gallery, Melbourne, opens in less than a month. It’s primarily a painting show, but will also comprise a small number of relief prints, including Sunflower, 2024, linocut, 15 x 10 cm, edition 40. (Pictured top).

The sunflower, so named because of its constant orientation towards the sun (which it closely resembles), is an enduring symbol of optimism, longevity and resilience. 

Coincidentally these are all character traits shared by our cat, Alice. In recent months she has diligently overseen the progress of most of my paintings and linocuts. My small upstairs studio adjoins a spacious room that does double duty as a home cinema and a second dining area. The large dining table, which also serves as an occasional workspace, is overlooked by a reverse cycle air conditioner. During winter I often speed up the drying process of my prints and paintings by placing them on the table where they get the full force of the heater - as well as Alice’s undivided attention. In the photo below she is pictured with the lino blocks from which Sunflower and A Snail’s Pace were printed.

Ways of Being runs from December 4-24 with an opening celebration on Saturday December 7 from 2-4 pm. 

Photo credit top image: Tim Gresham. 

Title page for an artist book

 

Process views of the lino block for the title page of Decorated Women, a small artist book that has been in development since 2023. For additional views and information, visit our sister blog, Moth Woman Press HERE. 

Revisiting the Dalziel Brothers

Pictured above: a recent studio view with the block of the linocut, Lotus, on the press bed, followed by a closeup of the lino block and the completed print.

Lotus is one of nine limited-edition prints, lovingly carved and hand-printed in my Ballarat atelier over the past several months, that draw their inspiration from the astonishingly multi-faceted work of British Arts and Crafts designer, May Morris. 

At the time of making these works, I briefly considered incorporating selected areas of colour, as I occasionally do in my linocuts. But then I recalled my copy of Pre-Raphaelite Illustrations, a much treasured little book I purchased in London in 1978, the year of its publication. The book comprises a selection of wood engravings by the Dalziel Brothers based on works by Pre-Raphaelite Brothers Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais and William Holman Hunt. The subtlety and richness of the Dalziel Brothers’ wood engravings convinced me that in this instance, the addition of colour would be superfluous. Coincidentally, Laurie Benson, Curator of International Art at the National Gallery of Victoria, showed some examples of the Dalziel Brothers’ work in the collection of NGV in his terrifically informative, packed-out talk last Saturday afternoon. 

In advance of my Melbourne solo show in 2024, all nine linocuts are available in limited numbers, exclusive to the Gallery Shop at the Art Gallery of Ballarat, until the current exhibitions, Pre-Raphaelites Drawings & Watercolours and In the Company of Morris end on 6 August. 

The prints can be purchased either in person or online, at:

https://www.artgalleryofballarat.com.au/shop/category/pre-raphaelites-in-the-company-of-morris.

Tulips Part 2

 

Pictured above: Tulips, 2023, linocut with Chine collé, 20 x 15 cm, ed. 40, final work from a series of six. 

The point of departure for my protagonist’s body decoration was Tulip, an embroidered sideboard runner designed by May Morris in 1890. Tulip was originally an embroidery kit made for distribution through Morris & Co. Morris would subsequently incorporate motifs from her design into other works. 

An early process view of the lino block is pictured below, followed by a detail of Tulip by May Morris. (Collection: V&A, London).

For additional progress views of the lino blocks, visit Tulips, Blog Post 28 February, 2023.  

Foreign Flora and the pleasure of working to audio books

Recently on loan from Melbourne Atheneum Library, the audio book of The Testaments, Margaret Atwood’s powerful sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, provided such compelling accompaniment to my printmaking activities, I couldn’t wait to get into the studio each day. 

Pictured foreground, left: a trial proof of Foreign Flora, linocut, 15 x 11.5 cm. The tattoo is based on a floral motif in Australia, c. 1888, an embroidered table cover designed by May Morris, now held in the permanent collection of the Art Gallery of South Australia.

International Women’s Day

In the studio this International Women’s Day 2023: 

Working proof of a linocut inspired by Lotus, a textile design by embroidery and jewellery designer, artisan, educator, editor and socialist, May Morris (1862-1938). 

Tulips

  

 

Pictured above: An accumulation of lino blocks on the work table, the makings of an upcoming artist book inspired by the works of May Morris. In the foreground are Lotus and the partially carved Tulips.

The tattoo in Tulips is based on a detail from Tulip, an embroidered sideboard runner designed by May Morris for Morris & Co. in 1890. (Bottom right page view directly below).

Further progress views of Tulips follow:

Lotus - further progress views

Heading slowly in the direction of an artist book inspired by the work of May Morris (1862-1938).

Pictured above is the latest completed lino block, followed by views of the cutting process. The basis for my protagonist’s body decoration is a fragment of Lotus, an embroidered panel, one of a pair attributed to May Morris for Morris & Co, circa 1885. (A detail is shown in the final image below).

For earlier progress views, scroll down to Blog Post Monday, January 23, or go HERE.

Lotus - early progress views

Pictured above and below: another lino block prepared for carving. Body decoration is based in part on Lotus, a panel or curtain (one of a pair) attributed to May Morris and embroidered by Morris & Co, circa 1895.

As previously mentioned, before carving, I coat the block with a coloured drawing ink, making it possible to see carved areas - particularly the fine lines - more clearly. 

Behind the scenes

My last post featured developmental views of the lino block for Horn Poppy, one of several linocuts inspired by the works of British Arts and Crafts artist and designer, May Morris. 

Now scroll down to see the behind-the-scenes drama that threatened its very completion, namely, the battle of the studio chair. Fortunately a peaceful compromise was eventually reached. 

Pictured below: Alice B. Cat.

Horn Poppy

Kicking off the working year: a linocut in progress, part of a series begun in 2022, draws inspiration from Horn Poppy, a wallpaper design by May Morris for Morris & Co., circa 1885. (Page view above, left).

A recurring motif in the prolific Morris’s work, the horned poppy was often incorporated into her embroidery designs. 

In September 2022, the first two works in the series were exhibited in the Goldfields Printmakers show, The Printmakers’ Garden of Imagination at Newstead Arts Hub, Newstead, Vic, and at IMPACT 12, the international printmaking symposium, in Bristol, UK. They can be viewed HERE.

Geelong Grammar School Residency - The Art School Apartment

For the last two weeks, the Art School Apartment at Geelong Grammar School was my home away from home. Yesterday evening I returned to Ballarat, but I’ll always look back on the residency as one of the happiest, most productive times I’ve ever spent, despite its relative brevity. My only criticism is that the time flew by way too fast!

The following views focus on the residency apartment, which eventually became an extension of my work space. Photo credits for the first two views: Shane Jones. 

In August 2022, Shane (pictured in the third view below) will be the school’s next artist-in-residence. What a treat he has in store for him.

The apartment had special significance for me, as it was the residence of distinguished Bauhaus artist Ludwig Hirschfeld-Mack (1893-1965) between 1942-1957, the period he served as Art Master to the school. As an undergraduate printmaking student in the early1980s, reproductions of his woodcuts were among those I studied when I taught myself to make linocuts. It was a thrill to see several of the originals on the walls of the apartment. 

As the weather became increasingly cold, Dr Peter Bajer, Head of Visual Arts, encouraged me to work on my linocuts in the coziness of the art school flat. In the second week of the residency, when winter had really set in, I got into the habit of taking the blocks to the apartment at the end of the school day, developing my designs during the evenings and early mornings before returning to the studio.

In recent years, I’ve been investigating the work of Arts and Crafts Movement artist, designer and educator, May Morris (1862-1938). My protagonists’ body decorations (see below) are based on details from The Heavens Declare…, a panel designed and embroidered by Morris in the first decade of the last century (exact date unknown).

Below: the lino blocks ready for carving. 

Further details of this project and the residency will feature in future posts. 

Foreign Flora - a work in progress

 

Presenting Foreign Flora, 15 x 11.5 cm, a newly carved lino block intended for Illustrated Women, an artist book that’s slowly, but surely, in the making. 

The subject’s floral tattoo is a motif from Australia, circa 1888, an embroidered table cover designed in Britain by the remarkable May Morris (1862 - 1938). It’s reproduced (not to scale) in the first developmental view below. In fact, none of the flowers depicted in the textile are native to Australia. The table cover was originally commissioned by a Scottish-born couple residing in Adelaide, South Australia, which I assume is how it acquired its title. Australia is now held in the permanent collection of the Art Gallery of South Australia.

Directly following are four sequential progress views of Foreign Flora.

May Flowers Part 2

Pictured: further development of the lino block for May Flowers, 15 x 11.5 cm. Aside from some tweaking, it’s done. A previous progress view is below and a still earlier view is HERE.

As previously mentioned, the linocut will be part of a future artist book, Illustrated Women. My protagonist’s tattoo is based on a detail from Maids of Honour, a needlework design by May Morris, a larger part of which was the basis for the tattoo design in the 2020 watercolour, Maid of Honour. 

MORRIS DANCER

Pictured top: Lino block for Morris Dancer, 15 x 11.5 cm. 

This was the first work I undertook as part of the forthcoming artist book, Illustrated Women, but it wasn’t the first block from the series to be carved. You can see that one in my previous post. The subject is embellished with selected motifs from an embroidered three-fold screen designed by May Morris for Morris & Co, circa 1888. (See below).