My Method (in allegory)

I never had interest in paper- how it was made, whether a drawing was on it or any other surface, what it was made of or how it took certain forms- until every other surface failed to capture my intent. An image would spring from my forehead, and it only looked right when it landed on paper. Then I began to notice how much better it looked on certain kinds of paper- certain tones and textures, and once I discovered printmaking, any relationship I may have had with canvas suffered a debilitating blow.

Relief printmaking, the oldest and most direct method, is delightful and lively- the paper’s summer romance. Stamping her image onto the paper, she asserts her presence. She claims the paper for her territory then flaunts their romance unabashedly at every eye she has the good fortune to catch.

Etching, engraving, and related intaglio methods are paper’s sordid, dark-day lovers- they are so dependent on the paper’s absorbent flesh they simply cannot live without it. Delicate lines, gentle aquatints, scratches and gouges partner with the thin film that clings to the surface of the plate, or the bashful blotches of poorly-wiped ink, and reconfigure the very identity of the paper.

If intaglio is the mistress, Lithography is the love of paper’s life. It can be tumultuous getting the stone (and the paper) to the point of meeting each other, but when it works, oh does it work. The film of ink- part of the paper but still its own entity, makes everything about the paper more wonderful- adopting or remodeling its surface, making it glow with light or throb with lust.

There are many other lovers and friends- the collagraph is the larger-than-life, domineering short-term gal-pal who buys you things, takes you to her friends house, gets you drunk, then introduces you to attractive older gentlemen to distract you while she takes advantage of your love interest. Monotype is the irresolute slacker; seducing you into multiple one-night-stands then making you wonder why you kept going back. Monoprint is the senior lecturer in Religious Studies who meets you for a beer after class where, after having a huge fight over the phone with his ex-wife, he gets pissed that you won’t sleep with him.

Bookmaking, papermaking and related book arts are the best friend who never gives up, no matter how infrequently you call her. Huggable, kissable, loving but brutally honest- even if you haven’t spoken in years, when you see each other, you pick up right where you left off.