Red Cow Open Mic 4, Lino Prints

First, a nice evening of music and performance at the 4th Red Cow Open Mic night. Many good songs and inspiration. Of course, with new music it's harder to have it stick in one's mind compared to songs we are familiar with. Nigel sang The Beatles song 'Things We Said Today', a song I remember from years ago, and was reminded how good it was.

Our performances went well  (I sang My Baby's Non-Binary, and Robot; Deb Quick Get Your Lows, and 70s Lip Sync) as did seemingly everyone's. Another very enjoyable night, though I felt I somewhat antagonised Nick Ferenczy in later conversation by interrupting him to contradicting some of his points. I regretted this later. My actions were perhaps my revenge for his poem which had all of the excitement and relevance of a church sermon and none of the brevity.

Today, I spent the morning recovering and documenting yesterday's event. This afternoon, I've printed the first batch of 7 Cycles & Shadows lino-cut CDs.

The design was drawn on paper two days ago, scanned, then flipped horizontally and printed onto tracing paper, then traced to the lino surface using a pencil and a scribe; these were Essdee Lino Blocks, 152x203mm. Then, cutting. The large No. 8 ESDEE blade was the most used.

For printing today, the blank discs were placed in the CD cases and ink was extracted from the bottles using a round-edged palette knife, a Winsor and Newton No. 29, and a thin layer of ink applied to left/right edges of a ceramic tile. This was ink-rolled, although the roller would not roll easily on the slippery surface, then applied to the lino surface, taking care to preserve the red/blue ink placements. It was then pressed down by hand on each disc, inking again between prints.

The colour was not solid, due to the hard surface (slightly damp or soft paper is best for printing), but the results were pretty enough and, given the sensitivity of the CD surface this was perhaps the best that could be done with this process.

Each disc is unique, which for this art form is a good thing. The water-based ink from Søstrene Grene should be safe enough for the longevity of the audio (a solvent based ink may have been less archival). This are 'medical grade' archival CD-R discs.

Cat Covid Guitar, Pictures On My Telephone, Lino Cutting

The day has flown. All day I've felt rather hot and overwhelmed, physically 'burned out' I think. I must try to slow down a little. My usual speed is running. My personality is to pedal just as hard when going downhill.

I started the day with an hour of weekly admin, a few emails to address for the start of the working month, then more work on Cat Covid. There are so many guitar parts here, I needed 4 tracks (for me, that's a lot). The key change at the end meant recording some new parts for the final chorus, and I had a few solos and other parts to add. Part of this process is experimentation, playing to the music and seeing what works, what can be discarded. Generally, if you keep imagining a part after you've removed it, it is worth keeping.

While playing, my lino cutting supplies arrived. I unpacked and stored them for later. I was disappointed (and surprised) that the ink was water based - I'm sure I asked for oil based. I don't like water based inks or any art media that is water based apart from actual watercolour!

After lunch I recorded vocals for 'Pictures On My Telephone', and added them to the piano. The piano I recorded had the full melody in the lead, which wasn't really needed, so I removed it all, and used only the bass notes.

This took me to 3pm, at which point I decided to design the lino-cut CD art.

I was an interesting process, I rather enjoyed it despite these uncomfortable feelings. As a surface it's a little harder than lime-wood carving, but still very easy. I found it useful to rotate the surface to get curves rather than rotate my hand. I tended to use the 'number 8' cutter most, it was like a big brush.

This evening involved lots of guitar playing, for fun, for practise, and test doodling to these songs. I still feel hot and uncomfortable. I must try to rest. Tomorrow is the 4th Red Cow Open Mic and I'm looking forward to another performance.