Let's Follow Her | Framed

Let’s Follow Her captures a lively group of young sea turtles making their way toward the water, each one carved with its own patterned shell, outstretched flippers, and sense of movement. Laurie McIntosh’s earthy palette of olive greens, warm ochres, browns, and soft neutrals gives the piece an organic coastal quality, while the variation in her hand-carved marks brings personality to every turtle. It is playful and immediately recognizable from across the room, but the closer you look, the more remarkable the craftsmanship becomes.

Most importantly, this is not a reproduction of an original artwork. Each impression of Let’s Follow Her is itself an original, hand-pulled work of art. McIntosh creates the image using the demanding reduction linocut process, sometimes called “suicide printing,” in which she works from a single linoleum block throughout the entire piece. The block is carved, inked, and printed for the first layer of color; she then returns to that same block, carves away more of the image, inks it with the next color, and prints the same sheets again. This process continues layer by layer, with each new carving permanently removing the portion of the block responsible for the previous color.

Every sheet must therefore pass through McIntosh’s hands repeatedly, with each layer individually carved, inked, carefully registered, and hand-pulled in sequence. There is no going backward: once part of the block has been carved away, that layer can never be printed again. By the time the final color is pulled, the original block has effectively been transformed through the process and can never be used to recreate the complete image. The slight variations inherent to hand printing are part of the character of each impression and evidence of the artist’s hand.

Each Let’s Follow Her is signed and numbered by Laurie McIntosh as part of a limited edition. This particular piece has been beautifully matted and finished in Laurie’s signature champagne frame, a warm, understated metallic frame that complements the natural palette without competing with the intricate linework. Fully framed and ready to hang, it makes an especially charming piece of original Lowcountry art for a beach house, nursery, children’s room, or any space with a connection to sea turtles and the South Carolina coast.

Available at Gray Man Gallery in Pawleys Island, South Carolina.

28.75"W x 30.5"H