March Slice of Life – Day 30

Today is Day 30 of the March Slice of Life – the daily writing challenge hosted at “Two Writing Teachers”.

Yesterday afternoon I spent a few hours learning how to create a lino block print. I have done a fair bit of printmaking and really enjoy creating my own stamps.

The workshop took place at the MCDougall Cottage – an 1858 granite and limestone cottage. It hosts special events that celebrate the area’s Scottish heritage. I have been to a number of art shows and even a ceildh – a musical concert of traditional music.

Since my father was born in Scotland,  I am drawn to all things Scottish. We were creating a Celtic design for our class. First there was a discussion of the meaning of Celtic designs. Then step-by-step we created our blocks:

Draw our design

Place it on the lino block using a charcoal pencil

Heati the block with a hair dryer (as it needs to be softened before carving)

Carve the design

Print the design

It was a full 3 ½ hour workshop and I didn’t quite finish, although I got to print and see what needs to be altered..I still have some fine carving to do  – but this I can do at home. There were only 7 of us so we got lots of individual attention.

I enjoyed the process, but I do prefer the softer speedball block that I use for carving my stamps.