Carol Black-Addyman

Originally from Southern California, Carol moved to Auburn with her husband in 2010. In 2021, after many years of practicing a variety of artistic pursuits – from acrylic still life and painted murals to chinoiserie and reverse painting on glass – Carol decided to focus solely on linocut printmaking. Taking her inspiration mainly from the local countryside, she now produces original linocut block prints from her home studio. Each piece begins with a drawing. In addition to making art, she and her husband tend their 1-acre garden and look after Tiger the cat and a motley assortment of chickens.

What is a linocut?

Linocut is a printmaking technique similar to woodcut, in which a design is carved or cut into a piece of linoleum using gouges of various sizes. Another term for this is “block printing.” The linoleum is then inked with a roller, paper is laid over the inked surface, and an impression is taken; this can be done by hand or with a press. The resulting image is called an original print. Most of my multi-color work done using the reductive method. For this process, a single block of linoleum is used. As each color is printed (usually working light to dark), more of the block is carved away for the next color, and so on. At the end of the print run, the block has been almost entirely carved away (reduced) and can never be used again. As a consequence, prints made this way are limited editions.