Creating “The Mighty Oak” linocut
Original Print – Linocut on Paper
An Oak tree stands tall in the middle of a row of Poplar Trees, in tones of different blues.
One of my earliest lino prints, it occupies a special place in my collection. I've kept one for myself, and it hangs on my own lounge wall.
Trees make special art
This Oak tree exists, it's real. There is an Oak tree just like this where I grew up, and I always felt sorry for it. It's utterly dominated by taller trees on both sides. I also admired it. It is a delightfully Mighty Oak.
Trees have always drawn me to them, though I don't think of myself as a tree‑hugger. Perhaps it's growing up in the UK which is highly wooded and forested.
I understand Britain was more or less one big forest way back, and that many of our coppices are remnants of this ancient thicket. Outside cities, you're rarely very far from a wood here in the UK.
As an English artist who works directly from my subject (landscape), not having to figure out how to paint trees in the scene at some point is a rarity.
There are times, like this, when trees deserve to be the focus of a work of art, and this was one.
Printing “The Mighty Oak”
“The Mighty Oak” is a traditional style linocut print, showing a grand old Oak tree dwarfed by towering Poplar trees.
Two printmaking blocks were used to create this original print edition. They were both inked with graduated colour.
This original print is unpretentious landscape art with, nevertheless, a quiet subtle sophistication. The photograph of it I took back then doesn't capture it. My photography has improved somewhat since, I'm glad to say.
I understand this print had international appeal. One of my galleries told me they'd sold one to some nordic visitors to the UK. It's lovely to think of my art going off into the world to make new stories with their owners.
Selected for Ferens Open 2010 art exhibition, Ferens Art Gallery, Hull, Yorkshire, UK.