Yellowtail Press
By Catherine Arsaut - Printmaker
Yellow Tail Black Cockatoo
2020
4 Layer Multiplate Linocut print · Edition of 40
Size: 57 x 57cm / 22.5 x 22.5 in
Handcrafted linocut print, featuring a Yellow Tail Black Cockatoo and Silver Banksia flowers. Printed on a warm white archival Stonehenge paper (150gsm), which features two deckle edges. Limited editions of 40 signed and numbered by the artist. This is a multi layered linoprint, printed off four hand carved plates, and printed using a hand powered etching press in the artist's home in southern Tasmania. The handmade nature of this printing technique means that every copy will be so ever slightly different from one another, each having their own uniqueness.
The Yellow Tail Black Cockatoo is one of the only three types of cockatoos naturally present in Tasmania (the two others being the Sulfur Crested Cockatoo and the Galah). A local favorite, this large bird prefers the bush to suburbs, and can be found in small to large groups. Noisy creatures, you'll usually hear them before you see them and they tend to favor areas rich with Banksias, Casuarinas (Sheoak) and even introduced pine plantations. They have an impressively strong beak, as can attest the amount of torn apart pine cones I keep finding in my paddock.
The Yellow Tail Black Cockatoo is one of the only three types of cockatoos naturally present in Tasmania (the two others being the Sulfur Crested Cockatoo and the Galah). A local favorite, this large bird prefers the bush to suburbs, and can be found in small to large groups. Noisy creatures, you'll usually hear them before you see them and they tend to favor areas rich with Banksias, Casuarinas (Sheoak) and even introduced pine plantations. They have an impressively strong beak, as can attest the amount of torn apart pine cones I keep finding in my paddock.
The Nitty Gritty
One of my earliest multiplate linoprints, I remember how intimidated I felt when tackling the carving. At 57 x 57, it was larger than anything I had attempted at the time. For this print I initially planned on carving 3 lino blocks, but yet again, poor planning along with inadequate experience, meant that I had to bring in a 4th one. Here's the breakdown: The first layer is a grey, and can be seen in the leaves and some of the bird background feathering. The second layer is the yellow (Flowers and bird detailing). The third layer is the same grey as the first, and appears in the flowers detailing and the optional decorative border. And finally, the last Black layer, morstly in the bird but also in the Banksia's branches.
Two versions of this print existed: One in a square format with an Art Deco inspired border, and one in a rectangle (portrait) format without the border. The later has now sold out but the square one remains available.