Printmaking

I started exploring printmaking in 2002, starting with etching and lithography and then trying linoleum block carving. Each method has its different moods and styles. This page just contains straight-up printmaking images.

Etching

Most of the etchings here are done on copper plates, which are painted over, scraped into, and etched out with chemicals, then cleaned up, inked up, and printed out onto paper in a printing press. A couple of years ago I tried out a technique called ‘Alternative Etching’ – which is more like building up texture with sandpaper grit and medium than etching into metal, but the resulting images have that same ethereal textural background that I particularly love about etchings.

Woodblock & Linoleum Block Printing

Woodblock and linoleum block printing are a whole different kettle of fish. It’s carving into sheets of wood or linoleum with carving tools, rolling ink over the top, then printing onto paper using a printing press (I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve cut my fingers carving into the block). The images come out with more of a graphic quality that’s really different from the feel of etching. You can either work with one block, or multiple blocks, printed onto the same piece of paper (or sometimes maps, in my case). I usually use one block, carving away more of the block before I ink up and print a new colour (if working in multiple colours) – a process called reduction printing.

To purchase prints, go to https://squareup.com/store/wanderingwaters or visit Woodland Studios in Stoughton, WI, where some of my work is represented.