Tuesday 15 March 2016

Cutting Lino


It`s been a while, in fact just over a year, since  Forest Loper blogged: sharing ruminations and observations, from my vantage point at the edge of a large and hilly forest in the Scottish Borders.
The majority of contributions are the happy by-product of trail runs; up, over, through and around the many paths, logging roads and non-paths criss crossing the Elibank and Traquair forest that hugs the villages of Innerleithen, Traquair and the hamlet of Glenbenna.

I trained as a sculptor, up in the be-wooded sculpture department at Gray`s School of Art in Aberdeen and above the river Dee. Over the years, I`ve tried to maintain and develop my work. However, sculptures (especially if they involve very large hunks of tree) are enormously labour intensive:

Growing a Sculpture   http://forest-loper.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/growing-sculpture.html  and                                                                                                                                      
The Rove of the Blue Blue Sea  http://forest-loper.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/the-rove-of-blue-blue-sea.html 

Some of my blogs have featured my lino prints. Mainly to illustrate an associated memory or rumination:

Ciara Shine  http://forest-loper.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/ciara-shine.html  
and
Marine Green, Bracken Brown  http://forest-loper.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/marine-green-bracken-brown.html 




Recently I`ve rediscovered lino. Lino cuts produce all kinds of happy accidents; its very process causes you to look at and depict a scene backwards and upside down. Its very black-and-whiteness provokes pattern making, cross hatching, stippling and dotting. The peeled off paper print never looks as you had envisaged it.
The particular scene I have depicted is the first in a series. (See the wee film above). It`s in part a celebration of Innerleithen; the hills, forests, mountain-biking and coffee houses. And while I`m not a particularly active participant these days I still get a buzz from these goings on.
Narrative is important to me and so, family friends feature: driving Landrovers, walking their greyhound Luke. And all, in some way, affected by the presence of a rescue helicopter on the scene. Not uncommon in these parts.
I`m very pleased that the owners of No1 Peebles Road (the coffee house in the print) love it and have purchased a copy for display.

This is a Limited Edition print of 100. If you are interested, please contact me at either:

rothiemurchus61@gmail.com   

or by phoning

01896 870 781