Red-winged Blackbird Reduction Linocut Letterpress Print
Marsh Chorus
8"W x 10"H
Oil Based Ink on Cotton Rag Paper
Unframed
Limited edition reduction linocut print
Where I live, there is a creek that meanders slowly through a nearby green space. For a wonderful, brief part of summer it is lit up with the songs of Red-winged blackbirds. The males flit from different stalks of marshy plant life while looking for that perfect love interest, doing everything they can to get noticed.
I've been exploring the complexities of reduction linocut, a printmaking process that uses only one block to print many layers. The artist starts with a barely carved block and prints a layer of colour, then carves away more of the block and prints the next colour. This process is repeated until all the layers of colour are printed, leaving very little of the original block behind.
Since the layers are permanently removed from the printing block, the edition of prints is limited to the original printing session. If an error occurs, there is a chance that part or all of the work could be ruined. This piece has many layers of colour, each layer taking several hours to print all the individual pieces within the edition.
I have printed this work using antique industrial printing presses, also known as “Letterpress Printing” which is a highly specialized artform that requires mechanical and artistic skill. This allowed me to be quite precise in lining up the many layers the application of ink was consistent. As a result, the colours are rich and highly pigmented, almost painterly in quality.
The buyer will receive a print from the edition (please note, the photo depicts the A/P or artist's proof), each piece in the edition is of the same quality as the A/P.