When I first began making prints, in the late seventies, I saw it as a great adventure with many unforeseen surprises, as I began to discover the remarkable number of ways one could work on the metal or block to create unique imagery.
Among these early works was a woodcut series entitled “Rings”. Utilizing the electric rings of an old stove top, I burned variations of circular imagery from the coils, into wood blocks, which were then inked and printed. Another series made use of some interesting netting which I found in a public park, where it had been used to retard soil erosion. The material was so pliable that I found I could tie it around a plate and use it as a stencil, which I would then spray over and through with enamel paint. The paint acted on the plate as an acid resist, which after etching, I inked and surface printed in relief. The series I named “Veils” includes relief etchings, as described, as well as others made on frosted Mylar.
Another of my discovered methods was a marbleizing technique, which involved spraying enamel paint onto water held in various shaped containers – square, rectangular, round – each of which momentarily set up unique patterns in the paint, floating on the surface of the water, but which rapidly retreated to the sides of the container. There was a very short period of time – seconds – to dip the meticulously cleaned copper plate into the water and lift off the paint before it gummed up at the sides. Many tries were necessary, to explore all the variables involved and the range of imagery available from this method. This process lead to a body of work entitled “Waterbourne”, a number of relief etchings, which were wholly, or in part, created using this 'dipping' or 'marbleizing' technique. Both “Solitude” and “Realms” are among these works.
I tried every possible way of making textures and images on metal that I could imagine, and more would just suddenly appear. I experimented with a variety of grounds and methods of achieving half-tone effects in relief printing. Once, on an impulse, I even sprayed a soft ground plate with a garden hose to see what effect that would have. The prints “Black & White” and “Brink” are examples from that ritual. I also found that by atomizing water on a clean and level plate, allowing small droplets to gather, that I could follow that with a very fine, light coat of enamel paint which was left to dry, before etching. The texture from this technique can be seen in “Realms” as well as other “Waterbourne” prints.
In the beginning, discovery was the primary aspect which drew me into printmaking. Now, though I still use many of these old techniques, my inspiration has shifted, from its origins in the abstract, to sources as varied as the natural world, dreams & surrealism, and various social issues.