Monday 10 November 2014

Bronze Age Dartmoor - Etchings

The series of prints derived from the 5 Bronze Age sites on Dartmoor I chose to focus on are (I think) pretty much ready.

This one is 'Watern Oke', an unenclosed aggregated settlement overlooking the valley of the River Tavy. It comprises 60 hut circles, many complete with hearths and lintels.

When partially excavated in 1905 by the Dartmoor Exploration Committee, considerable quantities of charcoal were found together with cooking stones, pottery and flint artefacts. Interestingly, one Romano-British glass bead was also recovered, suggesting more than one period of occupation. Further stone hut circles probably survive in the area north of the monument, but are buried beneath peat and can't be identified.

This print is one of a series of drypoint etchings printed in water-based printers' inks on a small home etching press. So far I've pulled 10 prints from each plate, which isn't many. Not sure how large / small to make the run yet.

On a side note, I'm off to the local show and talk session for members of the Devon Guild of Craftsmen this evening, in Ann Bruford's fantastic-looking yurt. Maybe they will have some advice about an appropriate size of print run. Hoping for some positive feedback on the whole series too. Guess I should get into the kitchen now so I can endear myself with baked-goods!

No comments:

Post a Comment