Nice tools

I hate doing lino-cuts - but love the outcome. I have to do a little illustration of our village church for a pamphlet and find the average illustration of a little church very twee.So first I thought of "faking" a lino cut with pen and ink, then I thought, no, I need the printerly feel so I drew it onto a piece 10cm square of eraser- left from the rubber-stamp-letters I made. But this is plain extravagant and won't even get the right effect.Then I thought, hey, I am working at Oxford Printmakers: time to investigate lino cutting.

Now all of you out there who know all about this will laugh at me because I was basing my experience on the primary school tools we used. Ha-ha. So some research! I visited Intaglio Printmaker, a fabulous specialist shop in London, near London Bridge. intaglioprintmaker.com

Here is a photo I took of the interior of the shop, and here is a photo of the tools. I bought two tools - this seems miserley unless you have figured out the price, but rather two excellent tools than 10 cheap ones, and some proper lino (not the school sort) and an alternative vinyl which is softer and apparently quite popular today.

Oh, and on the way into the shop I saw this beautiful sign. I think the lettering was laser cut from one ply wood then glued onto a background. It looked like real wood and I'm fairly sure it was.

Lino Cuts - The next exciting adventure.
(It may seem to some of you that I just faff around all day decorating wine bottles and making bunting. 
Actually I do a lot of artwork but can't show and tell until the right time. I have done three pieces for the LX exhibition lately and have selected one to show; but you all need to wait until the end of September when we have the exhibition. So, in the meantime, I talk about how to wrap work in bubblewrap etc.!)

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