Devil’s Last Dance

Devils Last Dance

Inspiration for the image came from an ancient woodland on top of the South Downs, the Chanctonbury Ring. 

I first came across this ring of trees late one evening while cycling. I needed a place to pitch my tent, and the wood looked like a perfect hideaway. But no matter how I tried, I couldn’t walk into the wood because of the eerie atmosphere surrounding the trees. 

Apparently the Devil had a hand in the creation of the ring, and if you were so inclined, you could summon him by going around the wood at midnight on Midsummers Eve. 

Later in the year I returned to Chanctonbury to sketch and take photos as if from the Devil’s viewpoint. The image evolves from three layers. The top layer, black, is created from a copperplate etching with the colours added as two separate carrborundum plates. Theses layers are hand coloured and unique to each print, and create a variable edition of eighteen.