Belinda Hall - Swift Parrot Swirl

Swift Parrot Swirl
Belinda Hall

Tessellated Linocut
Printed with linseed-oil ink, hand-coloured with watercolour on Stonehenge paper
37 x 37cm paper size
57 x 55cm frame size
Limited Edition of 7

Artist'a Statement
'I live in a celery top pole house on a five-acre block just south of Hobart. Our home is nestled in a valley with tall eucalypts that stretch towards the sky. In summer I wait… I hear them first and then I see them. Like torpedoes they streak across the sky, owning the airspace with agility, speed and confidence. The ‘high vis’ blur of orange under their aerodynamic and angular wings makes me smile; the complementary bright orange and lime green are not for the faint-hearted. Their flightpath is fast, furious and noisy. Their visit is, unfortunately, too fleeting. Every year I look forward to catching a glimpse of these beautiful, rambunctious acrobats of the air and take great pleasure that they have a stopover on the highest branches of our trees before continuing their long journey.  Every summer I look towards the sky, waiting again.'  

This original linocut is hand-carved and handprinted. It is built up by using one small diamond shaped linocut block, which is repeat printed, tessellating to form an eight-pointed star. The process is a little like piecing together a puzzle or a patchwork pattern design - but with a Tasmanian flora and fauna twist. This design features a Swift Parrot with a central Tasmanian Blue Gum foliage radiating from the centre, with the hope that the cycle will continue.