Special print for RNLI 200th year
On March 4th 1824 in a London pub the RNLI was founded by Sir William Hillary, since then the institution has saved over 146,000 lives thanks to the men & women volunteers who crew and help launch the lifeboats. This year we celebrate 200 years of one of Britain’s most recognisable and respected charities and here in Sheringham we have been busy organising a whole host of events to run throughout the year.
Last year I started dabbling in linocut printing, it’s something I’d always wanted to try as it looked so satisfying carving through that soft lino to produce something you can make prints from again and again.
Initially starting with single colour prints I then started to look into the more complex process of the reduction-cut technique where layers are built up of different colours with sections of the lino cut away as each layer is made.
I decided to try making a print to commemorate the RNLI’s bicentenary and produced a digital design which I then transferred to the lino and began the carving.
I made ten original multilayered prints and offered them for sale online with £50 from each sale going to the RNLI. Amazingly the prints all sold within 24 hours with people ordering from all corners of the UK including one going off to Orkney and another to Lerwick, Shetland.
A few people asked if I had any more left, sadly due to the nature of reduction-cut printing no more originals can be made using what is left of the lino after the all the previous layers had been cut away but I decided to offer a limited edition Giclee print for anyone else that wanted to own the picture.
The Giclee prints I am offering are a limited edition of 200, each one hand numbered & signed. Professionally printed on Hahnemuhle 308gsm, 100% cotton, smooth, matte photo rag paper. The prints are classed as archive quality and fade resistant, available as a loose print or mounted & framed from my online gallery here.
I’ll be giving £5 from every loose print sale and £10 from every framed print sale to the RNLI and at the time of writing have raised a total of £650 for the RNLI from this design.
Number 1 of 200 - an example of the framed giclee print now available
As a crewmember on RNLI Sheringham lifeboat since 2000 and a member of The Sheringham Shantymen I’ve been very busy this year helping out with organising & taking part in various events and celebrations. I offered to make a music video of a special recording of the RNLI unofficial anthem - ‘Home from the sea’ for the Sheringham Shantymen and below is the result which has been very well received.
The video features an introduction showing Cromer lifeboat launching with an amazing musical score composed by one of our crew at Sheringham RNLI, Jon Payne, the music is based on the RNLI pager tone. The introduction then heads into ‘Home from the sea’ with the first verse read by Steve Banks, a fellow helmsman at Sheringham RNLI.
It was great to be able to record the video amongst the old RNLI lifeboats at Sheringham Museum, such an atmospheric place, they even allowed us onto one of the boats for the photo below for a bit of fun!
The Sheringham Shantymen onboard the JC Madge, an open-top rowing & sailing lifeboat used in Sheringham 1904-1936