Vestibule Reduction Print

Printed on handmade cotton rag paper.
Sand Dunes 300GSM 3.25x4.75"
Sage 150GSM 3.25x4.75".

"A vestibule is a small room leading into a larger space such as a lobby, entrance hall or passage, for the purpose of waiting, withhold the larger space view."

This print symbolizes the waiting and the knowing, that there is something beyond
this arched window space as lovely as the feelings evoked by a meadow of wildflowers. To represent the waiting, it is a window rather than a doorway. This piece demanded a great deal of patience, much like waiting for something beautiful to transpire.

Every single one of my prints is hand-printed and not a reproduction.
This print is a multi-color/ layer print. It is called a reduction print.

First I start by drawing the image desired to carve onto a block of linoleum. Areas to remain the color of the surface being printed on are carved from the block first. Then the ink is rolled onto the uncut surface of the block. I then lay the paper on top of the block, first attaching the tabs that hold the paper in place so that each time I lay down the paper the image is transferred with complete registration. When the paper is removed the image then appears in reverse. In this case, this process is repeated as many times as needed to create the image desired with many different colors. Removing/cutting away each area desired to retain the color used. Each layer of color is taken away from the same linoleum block. The linoleum at the end of the process is almost completely carved away. Meaning you are never truly able to create the image made from this one block again. Always starting with the lightest and ending with the darkest color. Creating this print was over a two-month process for me and waiting for it to cure was another month or so. Not every print is the same, some picked up extra ink here and there. Each is unique and one of a kind.

~A little History ~

“The Art of printing was born in China during the Han Dynasty (a print on fabric can be dated 220 AD), although some artifacts have been discovered in Egypt dating from the sixth or seventh century BC. “

“Linoleum was invented by Frederick Walton (UK) in the mid-1800s, first patenting the material in 1860. At that time, its main use was that of flooring material, and later in the 1800s as actual wallpaper. By the 1890s artists had started to use it as an artistic medium. Although linoleum is a floor covering that dates to the 1860s, the linocut printing technique was first used by the artist Die Brücke in Germany between 1905 and 1913. It had been similarly used for wallpaper printing. “

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