Alison Diamond

“After a walk up to Westgate Road toward Benwell, to visit my allocated section of Hadrian’s wall, the road turned into a circle of 1930s semi-detached houses. At the centre of this loop sat the remains of the only visible surviving, vallum crossing on Hadrian’s Wall. The stonework on the crossing showed that it supported a monumental gateway. A quote from John Collingwood Bruce, (author and one of the earliest scholars of the wall) “the fact that there were monumental gateways over the vallum suggests that the ditch and ramparts were more than just a military boundary. Archaeologist’s now think the vallum also indicated a legal or administrative boundary”.

How to begin to depict this piece of history?

The fact that its position, although protected by a gated fence was so public and indeed a focal point for this housing estate, where everyday life continued around it fascinated me. A house was being fumigated and residents were going about their business, neighbours chatting over the wall, some heading off down to the shops and magpies visiting the site as the storm clouds rolled in. The area was alive and buzzing with activity.

Through the gap in the houses a block of flats is visible evidence of the rising population and the expanding city of Newcastle upon Tyne.

I took photographs and made sketches and once back in the studio, assembled a collage aiming to recreate a sense of containment and momentum the site portrayed. I then faced the challenge of manipulating perspective to encourage the design to fit into the restricted dimensions. I added the figure pointing and drawing attention to the crossing.

Is this a tourist or could this be me?

The design once inverted was transferred to a linoleum block, and all dark areas were identified using Indian ink, I then carved out the light areas. My intention was to concentrate on texture, form, and perspective. The linoleum surface was then rolled with a thin layer of Relief ink. Proofing paper was then placed onto the inked surface and hand burnished with a wooden spoon. The paper was pealed back to reveal the transferred inverted image.

Finally, I inked a second piece of linoleum with selected colour, printed this onto Kozo paper and left to dry. Once the key block was resolved with further carving, I registered the pre-printed print on Kozo paper and after burnishing again pealed it back to reveal the two-layer print.”