Last fall, Tina Gleason contacted to ask my permission to get a version of my 'Reflection' linocut tattooed on her arm. She lamented that the linocut itself is no longer available. It's unusual for me, but Reflection was a reduction linocut. That means that I first carved the block to produce the 'background' silver layer and printed it on lovely dark blue Japanese washi with silk fibres. Then I carved further to produce the upper white layer. That means that 'Reflection' is limited edition. I cannot print more since the block for the silver layer exists no more. You may recall that another of my prints once inspired a tattoo, which I take as a great compliment. I was glad to hear she wanted my blessing and very flattered that she felt so strongly that she wanted the image permanently tattooed on her body - her first tattoo! She wrote today to say she finally found the right tattoo artist and had the image tattooed on her forearm by Deirdre Doyle in Cambridge, MA. Above you can see the original linocut, the sketch on her arm and the final tattoo. I love how this sort of transmission of artistic ideas, where the translation to another medium means that something altogether new is created. To me this sort of reinvention, especially for something non-commercial, and in fact personal and intimate, is using the image as inspiration to create a derivative work which I can and do welcome!
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