Lino Wrestling

Newly arrived through the post is a five metre roll of lino from Lawrence Art Supplies

It’s so long that the only place that I can unroll it properly is in our hall at home.
With the helpful supervision of the dog, of course……

Next I spend a few happy hours on my knees, with a steel rule, set square and Stanley knife, cutting it into more manageable sections (and with hardly any weeping, swearing or shouting).

Finally, weary and battle-scarred, I stagger upstairs with it all and store it under the bed…..

Well, another vital job done and definitely worth a large glass of wine, I think….

4 thoughts on “Lino Wrestling

  1. This is great to see lino on such a big scale and how you tackle it. I have used lino only in the smaller pre cut rectangles.
    If I want to cut out an awkward shape in the lino – what kind of knife (or how to cut it) do you recommend as I am having problems trying to cut smaller shapes as the hessian background is quite tough?
    Jacqui

  2. Hi Gail,
    I'm also a printmaker and painter. I can identify with your post. Cutting sheets of linoleum and storing it under the bed! And feeling wine is a good reward for the job completed!

  3. It's funny how much of your working life is so familiar that you don't register how odd some of it is – not the (too frequent) glass of wine though…
    I just use a very sharp stanley knife, Jacqui, and keep scoring the lino until I can bend it over. Then I cut through the hessian at the back. If it's an odd shape, then I sand down the edges afterwards. It's not easy …

  4. Thank you Gail for the information about cutting through the lino – I have been using a craft knife – but hadn't thought about trying to sand it down after if I wanted it to be smoother.

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