I love using my sketch book first, eye to hand to capture images in a traditional way. Then I’ll play with composition, review depth and shadow to best represent that initial inspiration and characteristic. Once the design is finalized and I transfer the sketch onto a battleship grey artist lino plate. I love the subtle details you can carve from the Lino and it is fully compostable.  I give my lino sheet a quick sand and stain it with some acrylic ink before transferring my design over with a tracing paper and pencil. Then I carefully draw over the pencil lines with a permanent maker/ fine liner pen and the design is ready to be carved. It all has to be reversed, so there’s quite a bit of thinking to the process to get a composition back-to-front!

I find the actual carving process meditative and my favourite cutting tool is Pfeil. The mushroom shaped handle is comfortable to hold onto and the tools are so sharp! You have to fully concentrate on what you’re doing or else you might make a mistake. And once the lino piece is cut there’s no turning back. 

Inking and printing come next and this is the exciting part when the print is revealed! The depth of cuts, the shapes designed, the expression of light and shadow will all take an inked definition that isn’t immediately obvious in the lino itself. The alignment, the press and unveiling can be nerve-racking! If it worked, the prints are hung out to dry like laundry on a line. The finishing touches involve adding the edition number, title, my initial and finished with my Chinese ‘chop’ (a stamp with my name on).