Lino-prints and then off to Edinburgh !

This time last week I was busy setting up for the second lino-print workshop for the Society of Floral Painters.  I have now tutored the two workshops and the interest seems to be going from strength to strength, with a third one having been booked for 2013 !

As usual we had great fun and most of the students had come to the first one, so they were coming with new ideas and were more confident (at least that is what I would hope !)  I also had several new students, who were soon less tense and getting used to this new medium for them.

More of the workshop images can be seen on the SFP blog: http://society-of-floral-painters.blogspot.co.uk/

My demonstration piece was a multi-layered lino-cut which I had been working on for a while.  With the help of a factsheet from the Printmaker Laura Boswell, http://www.lauraboswell.co.uk/ , I made a form of registration device to ensure that each layer was aligned with the one before.  I have only taken two prints from the cuts at the moment, as I want to improve an area of the design so that it shows up a bit more (the egg case cluster in the corner).

Printing the first layer using the registration device

The original design incorporating seaweed, mussel shell, mermaid's purse, egg case cluster and

wire- weed

The final lino-cut, there were three in total

I will have to return to this lino-cut design at a later date, as tomorrow I am off to Edinburgh and from next Monday I will be taking part in the Certificate in Botanical Illustration Course at the Royal Botanic Gardens.  I am very excited and nervous at the same time.  The course is for two weeks in total and I imagine it will be pretty intense.  One thing I am really looking forward to is to have two weeks of a complete focus on botanical art and hopefully 're-tune' my botanical illustration skills.  After all, that is where my passion in portraying the natural world began many years ago !

Happy painting and I will try and post whilst I am up in Edinburgh :)