The practicalities of making a print begin first of course, with the idea. Then I do a detailed drawing, which I love doing. This is a deeply involving process. Sometimes I will do a detailed drawing, for around three hours, on site. It requires a lot of concentration. Then the drawings are taken back to the studio and I work out a balance of black and white. The creative process involves seeing the total picture.

Next comes the process where the drawing is traced onto lino. I use a black felt pen and redraw the line in a much thicker and less sensitive manner than the drawing. It's a process of letting go.

Cutting out happens next. I use the cutting tools like a paint brush, (these are a speedball and lino cutting tools) when I'm cutting I have to imagine the shape I am creating. Every move is part of creating that shape - selling an idea. It's an arduous task but very satisfying cutting the lino into a particular shape. When that's done to my satisfaction, I print them up.

Because I'm a self taught printmaker, I don't have any of the classic cuts you see in woodcuts. I just go with the feel. Because the prints are hand coloured, I tend to cut out more black then if I was making a black and white image.

Colouring is the next part to creating the finished print. The strong black and white shapes allow for strong colour- but even so I like the light to shine through. I don't like opaque colours. Especially when I'm doing sky or air, I will often do three colours to give a sense of moving through it - rather than being a flat finish. Because my colouring is more "painterly" than classic print-making, no two of my prints are ever the same.

Colour is really difficult and is a continual challenge for me, which I meet with various stages of frustration. I am inspired by Fred Williams's work. His colours of the Australian landscape are excellent.

Working on each edition, I am constantly trying to improve my work. I don't paint all the prints in an edition at once. I enjoy my prints so much because you can paint the same image different ways and you learn something each time.

The whole process for me is about concentration, letting go and a continual learning curve. You never know until you've printed it up, what the finished print will look like. There's always the joy with the first print-up. It's a less controlled situation than immediately seeing your results, as in painting.

I have been influenced by the work of Georgia O'Keefe and the following quote sums up those special feelings about flowers:

"Nobody sees a flower really
It is so small it takes time
We haven't time
And to see takes time
Like to have a friend takes time."

Likewise, I love the poetry of Judith Wright and her poem "A Dark Gift" expresses some of my feelings.

Words by Jan Phillips with Jude Taylor

25 November to 1 December 2003