Featuring the reduction technique 
Somerset-based artist, Lisa Takahashi, is probably best known for her bold, geometric linocut prints of cyclists, although she also works in watercolour and oils. In the past she has exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and in 2018 reached the semi-finals of the Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year.
Lisa is an artist in demand so Lacock Art Group members felt very lucky to watch a demonstration by her at one of our Thursday evening meetings in September. Lisa reintroduced many of us to the techniques involved in this special art form, which is something most of us hadn’t tried since our school days!

​Lisa has been making linocut prints for about 10 years, developing her own blocky, simplified style.  Initially the subject of racing cyclists fascinated and preoccupied her – proving to be very popular with the public – but after virtually exhausting all aspects of the topic she has since diversified. Favourite subjects at the moment are the sea and boats.
Invented in 1845, lino (linoleum) is made of solidified linseed oil and sawdust applied to a canvas backing, making it a natural material. Its inherent durability meant it was very versatile for use in high traffic areas, and was often utilised on the floors of naval battleships. Artists of the time quickly recognised that it would make an excellent medium to cut into. The rest, as the saying goes, is history.

Techniques and tools
There are four main techniques for making linocut prints in more than one colour and for our demo Lisa decided to show us the ‘reduction’ method that she said Picasso invented by Picasso when he was in his 80s –impressive in itself. He’s known to have often used this process for making bullfighting posters.
The reduction, or reductive, technique uses one lino tile into which each layer of colour is carved. The tile is printed in a colour after layer is cut, building up the colours in subsequent layers to create depth, definition and contrast. At each layer more lino is removed from the tile’s surface, hence its name, making it quite a challenge and focus is key. The more you cut away the more difficult the process becomes. You need to pay attention and, in common with creating other forms of art, it is very therapeutic. This also means you can’t go back and reprint another time because the block is destroyed, but one edition can run to about 100 prints before the lino tile quality degrades and starts to crack.
Multi-block linocut is an alternate method, in which more than one lino tile is used to make a print. Often, each colour is printed onto a separate lino tile to build layers. Although this method means you can return to print again nevertheless it can be hard to align the different layers accurately.
Lisa tends to use a few specialist tools for her craft - lino angled tools, which are very sharp - working with four shapes of tool. You don’t need different depth of cuts as in wood carving so most people can manage with only a few tools. Lisa used standard lino with a depth of 3.2mm. It’s possible to use the kind of lino sold by carpet/flooring shops (called Marmoleum) but the surface can be quite waxy so the paint is harder to print. She uses a trusty old toothbrush to scrape away ‘crumbs’ of lino from crevices after cutting it.
For smaller prints she uses special Japanese paper called HoSho, which is thin but strong.
Lisa prefers to use oil paints for her linocut prints, adding a medium (Druck-Medium) to make it sticky and transfer paint to paper effectively, mixing them on a piece of Perspex palette.

Painting approach
By pure coincidence, or serendipity, Lisa chose a photo of a house in Lacock as the subject of her demo print. She usually starts by outlining the shape of the image on the lino tile with an Indian ink pen. The image on the lino tile is the mirror of the picture being recreated. Once the drawing is complete she begins cutting into the outline with the tool, being careful to keep her hands behind the blade to avoid cutting yourself – safety is paramount. A golden safety rule is to rotate the block not the tool.
Lisa typically works from light to dark colours, in a similar way to watercolours. She decided to make the street scene for the demo in shades of blue using a mix of Prussian blue and white for the sky. She added Paynes grey to the blue to make a darker blue where necessary.
Using a registration corner made from mount board she lines up the first print for printing, then presses the paper with a round bamboo Japanese tool called a baren to transfer paint to paper. When sufficient layers are printed, clean the block and cut more lino away to make the next layer. Use a tiny amount of Gamsol, similar to white spirit, to remove paint residues from the block. 
‘Chatter’ marks are random lines that appear when ink is accidentally picked up on the wrong (carved away) parts of lino and leaves unplanned, random and unexpected marks. Sometimes this creates added charm, other times it gets in the way.
At our demo Lisa for the last layer of colour Lisa cut away details such as little drop shadows, reinforcing lines where they were needed, window frames on the houses, bricks and so on. 
The resulting print was brilliant, as you can see in the photos. Our thanks to Lisa for giving such an interesting, warm and informative demo. It was well-attended by members and guests, who all enjoyed it enormously and Lisa may well have inspired a few of us to try linocut printing again.

Calling all local artists
Art exhibition registration deadline looms​

A firm fixture in Wiltshire's annual cultural calendar, the 49th Calne Music and Arts Festival (CMAF) is gearing up to open for business on 6 October, offering a comprehensive and wide-ranging programme of activities to suit different tastes and ages.

​Central to the programme is an open art exhibition that runs in Marden House for the duration of the Festival, 7-14 October, presenting the works of predominantly local artists, professional, semi-professional and amateur, who are based in Calne and surrounding Wiltshire towns/villages. The majority of artworks exhibited will be for sale. The standard of exhibits is typically very high so, if previous exhibitions are anything to go by, this year the standard is sure to be equally impressive.

​Participation in the exhibition is genuinely ‘open’ with work only refused if it does not meet the entry criteria. Several LAG members have taken part in previous CMAF exhibitions.

Key exhibition dates and links
If you’re interested in exhibiting this year, you will need to register online by 5pm on Thursday 28 September, using the form on the CMAF website. This link takes you to the form. Alternatively you can print the form, complete it and take it with you on the artwork submission day – this is likely to take longer than using the online option.

Artists can submit up to three works each, for an entry fee of £5 per piece. You can find detailed information about entry criteria, terms and conditions in the online form.
Artwork hand-in day is Saturday 30 September, between 10am and 2pm, at Marden House.

As well as the exhibition the programme includes a number of art events, including:

• A life drawing session on Sunday 8 October, 6-8pm, £3 per ticket.
• Drink & Draw at the Lansdowne Strand Hotel, Monday 9 October, 7-9pm, no entry fee (presumably you buy your own drinks).
• A talk on flowers in art by Gail Brown of Tangerine Art Talks, followed by ‘Meet the Artists’ featuring Nick and Cathy Pearce, local potter and painter respectively, on Saturday 14 October at 10am, which is free. 

A star musical attraction this year is a concert by leading international Ukranian harpist Alina Bzhezinska who will perform a set of Solo Jazz Harp on Friday 13 October at 12.15pm (midday), cost £5. A Ukranian meal will be available to buy in the Festival café, prepared by members of the Ukranian community.

You can view the full programme here on the CMAF website where you can also buy tickets.

Today, 8 September, 2023 is a significant date. It marks the first anniversary of our late Queen's passing. Elizabeth II reigned for over 70 years, making her the longest reigning monarch in British history. Over the years, her enduring, deep sense of duty and devotion to service won the respect of many in the UK and Commonwealth, including some who were not royal supporters. Elizabeth II was also known for her sense of humour and quick wit, which revealed her human side, and admired for her dignity and strength of character. You could say that Elizabeth II was a British monarch of a kind like never before.

One of our members, Ken Baldy, enjoys painting portraits of the late Queen and other members of the Royal Family, producing several in his unique, inimitable style. She would surely have appreciated them. They are always popular at our exhibitions. Here are a few of them, as an affectionate tribute to Elizabeth II on the first anniversary of her death.

Successful August bank holiday exhibition for LAG

Our most recent exhibition and art sale took place over the three days of the August bank holiday weekend; a regular spot in our events calendar each year. Held as usual in Lacock Village Hall, the exhibition often benefits from the additional footfall that the National Trust village attracts from late-summer visitors on a day out, and this year was no exception.  There was also some healthy competition for us on bank holiday Monday from a few stalls set up outside the Red Lion pub (often frequented after our weekly art group meetings by some of our members), including one or two stalls selling various types of art. 

Somewhat mixed weather throughout the weekend didn't seem to deter visitors to Lacock with a steady stream of people calling in to look at the art on display at our exhibition, which was good to see.

Our August exhibition tends to generate higher sales compared to our February and November exhibitions, partly driven by the additional day. This proved to be the case this August. In total 41 paintings were sold during the course of the weekend, 35 were original works hung and displayed on boards, and six were unframed works from the browsers. 

As ever, greeting cards proved popular with 99 sold in total, 42 of which were Kay Smith's handiwork!
This resulted in achieving total sales of just over £2,500. LAG members John Harris and Joy Tickell each sold five of their paintings, and a few others sold four each including Karen Road and Richard Newsome. 

​Visitors keep on voting
We are continuing to invite visitors who look around our exhibitions to take part in our 'visitor vote' by submitting the name of their favourite painting on display. This informal competition is just a bit of fun, and we really appreciate people taking the time and effort to take part. 

A total of 257 votes were cast during the August exhibition and 99 paintings received one vote or more. 

This time, the winner of the visitor vote is . . . Kay Smith and her painting of a ballerina, featured on the poster for the August exhibition, which received nine votes. Congratulations to Kay, who won a bottle of wine. This is something of a hat trick for Kay, being the third time one of her paintings has won the visitor vote.

Finally
Thanks to all of our members who helped to set up/take down the exhibition boards, supported the event by stewarding, and for producing such a variety of fantastic art for people to enjoy.

The biggest thank you of all goes to the lovely, friendly people who visited our exhibition and showed such appreciation for our art.

Our next exhibition is in November - please check the events page on this site for details.