Description

Morning Journey is a hand printed reduction linocut in oil inks, on Fabriano Artistico paper.

Corinna is a tiny settlement on the Pieman River, located at the edge of Tarkine wilderness in North West Tasmania. Set within temperate rainforest, this former mining village now offers accommodation and camping platforms from which visitors can explore the remote area.

I was lucky enough to stay here for several days, and soon came to realise how life in this place becomes centred upon the river and the rainforest along its edges. Kayaking for hours along this natural corridor I felt immersed into the peace and beauty of this area. In the early morning the river surface is covered in drifting wisps of mist, before it is dispersed by the rising sun.

With this artwork I aim to convey the mystical feeling of setting out to journey along this misty river, with the wake of the kayak creating curving patterns in the smooth river surface.

As linocut printmaking is generally a medium of hard edges, one of the key challenges for creating this artwork was to depict subtle effects such as smooth ripples on the water surface in the morning light. I created soft edges by manipulating the ink on the lino block using textured cloth, and by painting with small rollers prior to transferring the image onto paper.

This artwork is a play in contrast, between hard and soft edges, and between deep riverbank shadows and bright morning light rising over the river banks.