A word from Georgia Stoneman
Breon and Hugh’s working relationship spanned over fifteen years. With Hugh working alongside as the printmaker, while his wife Linda Stoneman handled the publishing, an incredible body of linocuts, etching and carborundum were produced. Aside from work, and forged through strong black coffee (and as I fondly remember, some rather delicious chocolate biscuits), a solid and lasting friendship was established. Both Breon and Hugh had an integral understanding of colour, tone and form which underpinned the ease of their working relationship. The collection of prints in this exhibition cover all aspects of their bonded career, from the bold and expressive etching Three Black Squares, the warm toned linocut I Saw from the Beach as well as the infamous and beloved birds. We are delighted to show this comprehensive insight into the collaboration.
Despite Hugh and Breon no longer being with us, both live on through the timeless, beautiful work created and the deep and special friendship with Duibhne, Breon’s daughter.
If you are interested in any of the works listed in this exhibition, please contact us for a price list.
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Breon O'Casey photographed by Antony Crolla at his home in Cornwall, 2006'A print is a print, and I like to keep them simple. Picasso loved experimenting with different combinations of methods for his linocuts; whereas Mattisse’s linocuts are white lines on black, his etchings black lines on white; the simplest possible method. I side with Matisse.
For my linocuts, my tool is a pair of scissors, I cut shapes from the lino and stick them on a board. Each shape can then be linked separately. If some shapes are close together, I cut the board up and, after inking separately, put together the pieces on the press, like a child’s jigsaw.Most of my prints are either linocuts or carborundum prints. Carborundum prints are a sort of poor man’s etching process. When dry, the whole plate is inked up (like an etching) and then wiped clean. Where you have painted with carborundum the ink is held. And this is your image. If you want to add colours you place a same size sheet of plastic over the first one and you can see easily where to put your colours.
At least as much effort goes into a print as a painting. The only difference is that they can be sold for less money.'Breon O’Casey, 2005
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‘O’Casey had been making linocuts since the sixties, when master printer Hugh Stoneman moved his press from London to Orchard Flower Farm a few miles away in the early 1990s, O’Casey began a regular collaboration with him. Stoneman who had trained with Stanley William Hayter in Paris was an enabler, producing prints of high technical accomplishment through experimental partnerships with his artists, crucially allowing O’Casey to make trials with linocut, etching and carborundum.
Three years after Stoneman’s death in 2005. Tate St Ives commemorated him with the show Hugh Stoneman, Master Printer which included a group of prints made by Terry Frost and O’Casey at his studio in Madron, near Penzance.’
Words by Ruth Guilding, from the publication Breon O’Casey Retrospective
Image: Hugh Stoneman in his Print Studio at Orchard Flower Farm, Cornwall -
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