Merthyr's Industrial Past by Artist Jenny Willcock

Description

Lino-cut Prints

“Merthyr’s Industrial Past” Artwork Interpretation

I started my composition for this artwork by drawing the Cefn Coed viaduct, basing my drawing on a photograph I had taken of it. I love this viaduct and have been meaning to create a piece of artwork on it for some time, and the Valleys Retold project seemed like a perfect opportunity to do this. I was then left with an empty space in the bottom two corners, which I decided to fill with other images of Merthyr’s industrial past (again, drawn from photographs I had taken in the area); on the left is Pont-y-Cafnau, reported to be one of the world’s oldest iron railway bridges, and on the right, a coal truck.
Pont-y-Cafnau has some trees and hedges surrounding it. Its position on my artwork illustrates how this landscape’s industrial past has cut through much of the countryside that was once there.
The colours I chose (including the use of black paper) are a connection to the theme of the work; coal, furnaces, nature (including blue sky, green trees/hedges). Rotating the colours around the sections of my three prints illustrates the ever-changing scenery of the South Wales valleys over the last 200 or more years.
I had originally intended to create my print on white paper, with black ink used as an outline for the viaduct, the coal truck and the bridge, however I made an error when I was cutting my lino, as I had cut out the parts I had wanted to leave behind, and vice versa. I was discussing what to do about this with other members of the art group, and one of them suggested I print on black paper, to get the same effect. Another member of the group gave me some black paper she had at home. This is a lovely example of how we all supported and encouraged one another during, and since, the Valleys Retold project.