Continuing Lino Printing

Using a combination of lino printing and hand painting with printing ink, I have finished printing Wymering Manor's history and owners onto the curtain. I am very pleased with the outcome and thoroughly enjoyed the process. I am considering working back into the curtain by stitching, but I am unsure as of yet as printing ink can take a few days to dry when used on fabric. 

Here are some photos of parts of the curtain;

Initially, I found it difficult to chose what parts to represent on the curtain, but I ended up having enough room to include all of my research on to it. I decided to do some parts in blue and red for key moments in time, and for important numbers or information, so that they stood out against the brown. I chose to use brown for the majority of the prints as it gave a softer tone to the black pattern prints, as well as allowing the coloured prints to still stand out. It may not be noticeable, but I hand mixed the brown ink to match the wooden banisters in the Great Hall, to further produce a sense of nostalgia and familiarity. To further produce a sense of nostalgia and familiarity, I decided to keep the images that represent different moments in time simplistic, also so that they aren't overwhelming and taking the eye away from the rest of the curtain. I decided to print images of a Roman helmet, Portchester Castle, an open book, a pair of wedding rings, and a backpack. These might seem like an odd mix of images, but they each represent a moment in time; the Roman helmet represents the Roman settlement that existed at Wymering from 43AD to 408AD (1), Portchester Castle represents the Roman outpost that was at Wymering to defend the castle (1), the open book represents the Domesday book of 1086 where Wymering is first mentioned in history (1), the pair of wedding rings represents the change of ownership of the manor in 1570, where it passed from the Waytes to the Brunnings through marriage (1), and the backpack represents the moment in time where the manor was leased to the Youth Hostel Association and people from around the world would stay in Wymering (2).

(All images taken by me.)