1/25/10 & 2/2/10 update

Chapter 3, Synchronicity...

I wrote Blog Chapter Two as if I were a bit of a Synchronicity Zealot, labeling people my “angel helpers,” and thanking the universe. In reality I think of myself as a pragmatic believer. That is, I will think of the universe/God as an entity that wants to assist me in my most worthy, heart-felt quests because it is useful: it helps me move forward. I suppose that’s why we have religion. If we have a framework of beliefs that explain things, assign meaning to them, and unload some of the responsibility for events to a higher power, it’s both comforting and freeing. Synchronicity continues to show up in my art-making journey. Fast-forward from the end of the last blog, when I just started as a Roycroft Renaissance artisan, making block prints in the Arts & Crafts tradition, to a couple of years ago...

I had been making block prints for a dozen years and it had been going pretty well, although it was extremely labor-intensive. I carved a separate block for each color, and printed by rubbing the paper against the block with a wooden spoon.

This time, for various reasons, I decided to use a slightly different method than my usual. I didn’t do any research to see if this method would work. I just plunged ahead and started making a huge block print called “Iris Garden” in this new way. I made about 80 prints of color #1. So far so good.

Then came time to print color #2 over that, and it was extremely difficult. Applying one color to one print required 20 minutes of hard labor with the spoon. And there were unforseen complications. A lot of prints ended up in the trash. By the time I was finished with all the colors and the hand-painted blossoms, I had an edition of only 25 prints, a very tired arm, and a bad case of burnout.

I took a break from printmaking, and did paintings and giclee prints instead. But I knew there were a lot of people out there waiting for my next block print. In a customer survey, the overwhelming majority voted for block prints over less expensive giclee prints. But I then realized I couldn’t face it. Even the old familiar method I had used for many years looked too exhausting and inefficient.

So I started thinking about getting a press. But I had never used one before. I went back to my printmaking professor and tried printing from my blocks on every press in his classroom. None worked. We got bad, blurry prints. We concluded that my blocks are just meant to be spoon-printed. Sigh, ugh.

Then synchronicity happens. I meet a guy named Mitch Cohen who tells me he runs a book arts center and (I swear I didn’t even bring this up, he did) invites me to try his press. I tell him of my experience with presses. He assures me that I can make blocks on HIS press.

I eventually move past skepticism, get into his studio, and get acquainted with his press. It’s a charming little letterpress, the kind that Elbert Hubbard and the Roycrofters might have used. You hand-crank it. You can make maybe 2 to 4 prints in a minute, before you have to add more ink. Compared to spoon-making 1 print every 15 minutes, this is worth trying.

I run home and design a new six-color triptych--three images that create one scene, to be framed together. I’m calling it “Lakeside Woods.” I carve the three blocks for the printing of the first color, yellow. Only the parts that should remain white (with no ink) are carved out.

Last weekend I take my blocks to the studio, and with only a few minor technical issues, I manage to make a hundred and twenty prints from each block.  O, M, G. This changes everything.

I must give credit here to Mitch and the Genesee Center for the Arts, for showing me a saner way to make block prints! Here he is showing me how to use the letterpress.

I must also credit my incredibly supportive husband. When it was clear that the paper cutter required more than my 120 pounds of pressure, he happily cut about 400 sheets of paper to exact size. He also made friends with all the presses in the place, and cleaned the letterpress as needed, reveling in nostalgia for his solvent-scented days as a commercial printer. (My meeting him was a huge case of the universe/synchronicity showing off.)

Now I’m carving the blocks for the second color, orange, and crossing fingers that the next printing will not reveal lots of registration issues…