Young artists' work printed with road roller

Surfacing company Taydal has donated a roller and driver to make the print in one, smooth roll (pictured in 2022 outside the University of Suffolk)

Linocut images created by young artists will be printed on a 12ft (3.7m) wall hanging using a road roller.

The work is the final instalment of Our Place in Time, a three-year project run in Ipswich by the Oyster Community Press.

Schools and art clubs have been creating designs based on personal or inspiring events in 2023, which will be printed on Saturday.

Organiser Alison Smyth said: "This is a great opportunity for young people's voices to be heard, to express what is important to them in the world."

Melpomene, the muse of tragedy, and Thalia, the muse of comedy, were daughters of Zeus

Chloe, 13, a student at Claydon High School, has created an image of the comedy and tragedy theatre masks.

"Last year I started to find a love for drama and I joined the drama group and I've done a lot of good things since then," she said.

"It is exciting, I can't wait to see everyone else's [pictures] on there."

Other images from Claydon include a koi, in memory of a student's grandfather who loved keeping fish, and a globe to illustrate a student's experience of travelling to South Africa.

Art teacher Molly Baynard and Alison Smyth praised the dedication of the students taking part this year

Molly Baynard, an art teacher at Claydon High School, which has taken part in the project each year, said: "It's really interesting seeing it [the artwork] change over the three years.

"Coming out of Covid it was a lot about lockdown and being isolated.

"I've noticed this year a lot of the students are choosing to talk about hobbies or amazing experiences.

"I think they're going to really enjoy seeing all of their work combined with the other schools altogether on that that large-scale wall hanging.

"It's going to be lovely."

'Very theatrical'

A linocut is a type of block printing where a design is carved into a linoleum block.

Ink is then rolled onto it (usually with a small roller) and then paper is pressed on to create a negative or relief image of the design.

Alison Smyth said: "It was really difficult [last year] because it was very windy and we are grateful to our volunteers trying to keep the wind off the printing.

"It was blowing the cloth up as the road roller was getting very close - it was very hairy and very theatrical."

The images will be printed at midday on Saturday and displayed in The Hold on Ipswich Waterfront.

Afterwards the three wall hangings, each containing 60 images, will be kept as part of the Suffolk Archives collection.