An ambitious project from start to finish, The Cycle, a novel told in 187 engravings, was conceived in 2005. Inspired by my experiences working for a small charity, The Cycle
follows in the tradition of novels in woodcuts where hand-cut images
replace text as the narrative form. The narrative follows a couples'
struggle to bring up two children on low wages whilst dealing with the
realisation that their lives do not match up with what is presented to
them. The brothers end up repeating their parents' mistakes but after a
chance intervention, one brother begins to make different choices and
starts to change his life ... The narrative is told within 187 engraved
blocks, and the book uses a total of 200 engraved blocks. Each block
took one day to engrave, with several months of drawing and preparation
to reach that stage. The Cycle took me 2 years to complete and I made only 12 copies, hand printed and bound by myself, for the first edition.
EDITIONS
1st edition 2007
In 2007 the artists' first edition of 12 copies was completed, hand bound & hand printed by the artist.
2nd edition 2010
In 2010 The Cycle was commercially published in a litho
edition and retitled by the American publisher as "Walking Shadows: A
Novel Without Words. This edition is currently for sale.
3rd edition 2013
The Cycle
was printed letterpress by Richard Lawrence in 2012 then bound and
published in 2013. This edition is currently available for sale priced
at £125...
