Various test prints - and the finished book
The Illustration Process
When Knud Romer first contacted me about the illustrations for “24 dage med rim i December”, we immediately realized that we both shared a passion for golden age illustration - think Kelmscott Press, Walter Crane, Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac etc. - and the craftsmanship belonging to that era. And we set out to create something in that exact spirit. A book of craft, joy and beauty. Whether we’ve attained that goal, I’ll leave for the reader to decide, but the craftsmanship at least, I can attest to.
24 Dage med rim i December is illustrated with fullpage linocuts, and took the better part of two years to create. Each block of lino was laboriously cut and carved by hand, inked up with a roller, test printed on an etching press and carved some more. And eventually handprinted and editioned in it’s final form. It’s a process known as relief printing, and a process which allows for multiple unique works of art being printed from the same block. A democratization of art, exactly in the spirit of William Morris, the founder of Kelmscott Press.
The Motifs
The motifs developed organically from reading the rhymes. Knud Romer’s verses are short, but saturated with layers of meaning. I read each rhyme very carefully, and then went with the central theme and relevant associations. It was such a wonderful process, as the Christmas theme just lends itself so well to the imagination. So many traditions, so much iconography, and a shared emotional understanding of the holiday. Christmas has a deep-seated cultural significance, whether you are religious or not.
But Christmas is also a time of contradictions or contrast. Of spirituality vs consumerism, of celebration vs sorrow, and of tradition vs renewal. On a personal note, I’ve worked on these illustration while getting used to being a single mother, and while loosing my own mother to a neurological degenerative disease. I’ve celebrated and enjoyed all the Christmas magic with my young sons, while mourning the loss of family. And I think this, for many people, is the epitome of Christmas. It’s a magical time. It’s the harbinger of the returning light. But it’s also the darkest time of year, and brings all the emotions and contrast to the fore. It’s the holiday of fragile balance, and delicate ambivalence, as well as joy and love. And I’ve tried my best to capture this in the illustrations, to make them resonate with the heartfelt sensitivities of Christmas.
A carved and inked linoblock
Video of the linocut process, carving and printing a linoprint
The Linocut Prints
Linocut is a form of relief printing, whereby you carve away the parts of a linoblock, only leaving behind the material you want to imprint on the paper. Once the block is carved - using specialized tools and knives - you ink up the remaining parts, to print on paper (basically, like a stamp). You can print it in various way ( I started out using thin Japanese paper and the backside of a spoon), but it’s most common to use a press. I have an etching press, which works with relief printing too, on which I pull all prints. Each single print is manually inked and handpulled. This means that, although printed from the same block, each print is unique, handmade, slightly different, and an original artwork in it’s own right. For this reason, linoprints are made in editions, signed and numbered by the artist, and something very different than a technologically reproduced print, like ciglee or similar.
Christmas prints availability
Linocuts makes for a wonderful present. They are environmentally friendly, only printed in limited editions, and are a unique and thoughtful gift. Furthermore, all linocuts made in my studio are printed with the highest archival quality reliefink and papers, and will literally last for centuries, if treated caringly. A keepsake for future years and generations.
Printing linocuts however is a labourintensive process, as each print is made by hand. For this reason, here’s a bit of info on my printing schedule: I’ll be printing the first batches of the editions throughput November 2024, and I will upload them to Etsy as they become available. I’m printing them chronologically, and all should be done in time for December. All prints are signed and numbered, and comes with free national and international shipping w. tracking.
You can find them here, in the Christmas section of my Etsy shop.
