Samhain

Linocut on Awagami kitakata, edition of 50, 7 x 5 inches (17.78 x 12.7 cm)

This image depicts a spooky fanged face under-lit by the glow from a snaggle-toothed jack-o-lantern. The title, "Samhain," refers to the Irish Gaelic name for the autumn festival marking the end of summer and beginning of winter we now call Halloween (the English name meaning the Evening of All Hallows, or All Saints Eve). This was a time the ancient Celts believed the veil between our world and the spirit world thinned and allowed them to walk among the living. Some would try to dress like creatures from the other world in order to pass safely. Others would hollow and carve scary faces into turnip lanterns to scare away evil spirits. From these practices evolved the modern notions of Halloween costumes and jack-o-lanterns carved from the New World's more obliging pumpkin gourds.

The design was originally conceived for a cut-paper lantern, which I modified and transferred onto a linoleum block. The print came together before the lantern that inspired it.