Lammas prints
Yesterday was Lammas, or Lughnasadh if you prefer. It’s mostly an agrarian holyday, but I was brought up a pastoralist (Welsh hill farming isn’t really so concerned about the grain harvests) so the only aspect that really speaks to me is the sunlight. I started carving the block as the sunlight faded, and was printing these over midnight.
Linocut on smooth white drawing paper, and on blue rough-weave handmade paper.
The white one seems a little harsh – like a very white-hot sunny day (you know the ones; when the sun is so bright and hot that colours seem bleached out and everything goes black and white) – but I do like the blue one; it feels more restful. Like sun over the sea.
Oh, they're gorgeous.
Thank you both!
I agree about the white – that particular paper is rather hard-surfaced and bright. I didn't think of using the blue paper when I was cutting it, but I did a print onto cornflower paper and saw the blue underneath when I picked up the paper, so that was an of-course moment.