Description

Especially when the October wind
With frosty fingers punishes my hair,
Caught by the crabbing sun I walk on fire
And cast a shadow crab upon the land,
By the sea’s side, hearing the noise of birds,
Hearing the raven cough in winter sticks,
My busy heart who shudders as she talks
Sheds the syllabic blood and drains her words.

Dylan Thomas

The poem was a catalyst for a cycle of images over a period of months.This figure was the first to emerge, after a long walk on Swansea beach one evening in October 2002. I like the way the poem refers on one level to the actual process of writing and the link with the physical sensation of walking along the beach, moving freely  between internal and external landscapes. I enjoy the physical process of writing and wrote out the poem several times by hand. In the process of writing
and over writing it became a densely textured piece of abstraction.The text in the print is the result of one of these processes, with a layering of hand written text
overlaying the printed text.The hand written text is part of the poem.
As an image, the text was the last to emerge and completed the cycle giving it a sense of closure. It is a piece of etched copper, which has been printed without ink so that it canonly be read by the shadow it casts. As the light sourcechanges, different aspects of the text can be read.
Each print requires two printings, firstly through the etchingpress for the lettering and then the Columbian relief press for the linocut.