Jane Dallaway

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  • Lino printing class week 4: Northern Lights

    11 November 2026

    My finished Northern Lights print: a dark night sky with three curtains of green and yellow light carved as short diagonal lines

    The skill we were learning in today’s class was gradients via the medium of the Northern Lights. We prepared the background prints first (a solid piece of lino covered in yellow, green and turquoise inks) and gave them time to dry a little while we cut out our design.

    My prints among those of my classmates. A selection of sheets of A4 with Northern Lights inspired prints on them

    More prints from classmates, including three carved lino plates

    My carved lino plate, inked in blue, with three curtains of light cut as short diagonal lines

    I knew I wanted to keep it simple today so, unlike some of my classmates, I went for just three curtains of the lights.

    Two prints damaged on the journey home, where the black ink stuck onto the back of another print

    During the journey home the prints stuck together and I lost some of the darkness on a few of them. As I now have some kit at home I might give this another go later in the week. I’ll probably start again and include a mountain or something in the foreground, then do three-quarters of the background in graduated colours and leave the bottom white.

    Key learnings this week:

    • preparation: thinking about the theme and having an idea in mind helps me overcome my “but I don’t know what to do” feelings
    • when cutting after a first printing, clean the lino first (ink + lino shavings = blobs)
    • transport home with the best print on the top: today I sandwiched it between others with the thought it would be more protected. Instead it got wiped  

  • Tate Modern member visit 1

    3 November 2026

    View from the members bar balcony, looking up at the Tate Modern chimney

    When my Dad died I used some of the money he left me to buy lifetime membership of the National Trust. Whenever we visit one of the properties, there’s always a refrain of “Thanks Dad”. I love this. I feel it keeps him present in my life.

    Recently I sold some shares that my Mum had been given when one of the banks merged. The registrar had introduced a cheaper way to sell the handful we owned, and it was enough to buy a year’s membership of the Tate. So I did.

    Yesterday I took my new membership out for an outing and visited the Light and Magic exhibition.

    Smoky World, 1959, by Fan Ho. A woman walks down misty stairs towards the camera while a man climbs away from her, beneath UP and DOWN signs. This is also the poster image for the exhibition

    Misty World, 1961, by Fan Ho. A man stands with his hand raised to his face while people climb misty stairs behind him

    On the Stage of Life, c.1954, by Fan Ho. Three silhouetted figures in lit windows against a dark facade

    I was taken with these three Fan Ho photos, including Smoky World, which is the exhibition’s poster image. Beautifully displayed, and I liked the sense of movement in them all.

    Construction, 1958, by Peng Seng Wu. A worker silhouetted among black and grey scaffolding poles

    I loved the form of this one, Construction by Peng Seng Wu, which felt very well titled.

    Behind the Curtain, c.1957, by Gertrudes Altschul. Overlapping leaf skeletons in black and cream, layered to form the curtain of the title

    Behind the Curtain by Gertrudes Altschul caught my eye too.

    I then decided to visit one of the open-to-all exhibitions and was drawn in by Gathering Ground.

    Silver coloured trumpets emerge from the ceiling

    Musical pans plugged into pipes at the side of the room

    Wider view of instruments emerging from the floor and the ceiling on the left hand side, and the wall on the right

    I was particularly enchanted by Begin Again (2025) by Abbas Zahedi. The information panel says:

    Instruments and playback devices, made from recycled materials, have been plugged into Tate Modern’s utility pipes and deeper architecture. Zahedi invites visitors to tune in to the site, engaging in what he describes as ‘seismic resonance’ - a dynamic interplay between sound, body and space

    I sat beneath the trumpet spider for a while, enjoying the sounds surrounding me.

    Hold (2026) by Tarek Atoui in the Turbine Hall, seen from the floor with my knees in the foreground, looking up at hanging drums, lamps and bamboo pipes

    I finished my visit in the Turbine Hall with Tarek Atoui’s Hold, lying on a piece of rock and letting another set of sounds wash over me and through me.

    As I left the Tate Modern I was delighted to say a quiet “Thanks Mum”.

  • Quatre-vingt-seas

    1 November 2026

    Beach hut number 86 along Hove Promenade, with orange, red and yellow vertical stripes on the doors and a pale green roof, named Quatre-vingt-seas

    This play on words made me smile!