Guide Me Oh Moon, Anne Trulove and the Rake

Lead by the emotional darkness and tragedy of the iconic Glyndebourne production of Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, but wanting to avoid stealing from Hockney’s brilliant flattened out crosshatched sets and costumes, this large multi-layered woodcut, with almost life-size figures, took an inordinately long time to make. Each print passed eight times through the press after cutting away the wood which accommodated the previous layer of colour. For Tom Rakewell’s coat and Anne Trulove’s dress, I did steal from a combination of William Hogarth’s awe-inspiring narrative etching sequences from the mid 18th century – A Rake’s Progress, A Harlot’s Progress, Marriage A-La Mode, Industry and Idleness, The Four Stagers of Cruelty and Beer Street and Gin Lane. I wanted to try to convey Anne Trulove’s blind love for Tom; well not quite so blind. The lyrics in Anne Trulove’s sublime aria in the opera convey that she is hooked and goes back for more, despite knowing of his cold heart.