Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in printperson's LiveJournal:

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Friday, May 9th, 2008
4:21 pm	TH update The plate is done. Tomorrow, I will begin to print the edition of 100. While everyone else is out planting in their gardens, or seeing the lilacs at the Ewing Park Arboretum (always a big crowd there for Mother's Day), or hunting for morels, I will be in my basement studio, printing. It has been a long time since I printed such a large edition myself, but since I am in Iowa, I have to do it alone. In Venice, my long-time edition printer is Roberto Mazzetto at the Stamperia del Tintoretto. I hope to be able to print at least 30 impressions a day. (Comment on this)
Sunday, May 4th, 2008
10:40 pm	almost done I may finish the plate tonight. Or tomorrow. I will start printing the edition of 100 impressions next week. But I won't post a photo of the actual print until the Terrace Hill Foundation has the unveiling. I have been working on this almost daily since mid-January, so it will be good to bring it to completion. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, April 26th, 2008
12:11 pm	Terrace Hill update I haven't posted recently because my home laptop hasn't been working well (it took 1 1/2 hrs to start this morning), because the USB ports on my desktop at work don't function any more, and because I was totally swamped with preparations for the exhibition I organized at the Des Moines Art Center (Iowa Artists 2008: Drawing) that opened on April 24. There is a nice article in the Des Moines Register (April 24) on this exhibition. Miraculously, my laptop is working right now, so I am taking advantage of it to post (while listening to one of my favorite Eros Ramazzotti cds - Stile Libero). I have also been working on the engraving, and have additional progress to show. Two days ago I brought a proof of the engraving to Terrace Hill and drew on it in ink to show me how to finish the carpet in the foreground. I made a tracing of the new information. Then I re-coated the copper plate with white paraffin, placed the tracing (face down on the waxed plate) through the press so the graphite transfered to the plate in reverse. This morning I am drypointing these lines and will take a proof in a few minutes. An hour or so later...ok, here it the plate with the drypointed additions (they look like velvet lines), inked on the press, ready for printing a proof. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, April 13th, 2008
5:13 pm	13 April plate update I have been working...the plate is complex and the work goes slowly. I have been fitting this in with much other work - I am curator of two exhibitions on drawing that open imminently (Apri 24 and May 2). And I had a week-long trip to to NY and CT last week. I am back in Iowa now, and went to Terrace Hill with a proof of the engraving the other day. I did most of the work on the plate in Italy, so this was the first time that I was able see the image on the plate in the room itself. Did some drawing on the proof to tell me what to do next. The square/round frame in the other room is for a copy of Raphael's Madonna della Sedia. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, March 24th, 2008
12:16 pm	another progress report Here is a recent photograph of the plate. I have had other work obligations so haven't had too much time to engrave over the past two weeks. But now the book cases and side table are in, some things are on the library table, and I have started to drypoint the chandelier. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, March 12th, 2008
10:18 pm	engraving progress It is hard to photograph the plate without reflections - sorry about that. I hope the new work on the plate is visible.Click on the photo to enlarge. A lot of the work I have done on the plate recently is in drypoint. This is under-drawing that helps to establish placement and details that I will engrave with the burin. I haven't done any drawing in notebooks for the past two weeks. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, February 29th, 2008
3:56 pm	peacock engraving Here is a view of the plate in progress on my work table. I am using a #4 burin to engrave. I have sharpened the burin so many times over the years that it has gotten really short. I recently bought another one but the shaft snapped when I tried to re-angle the face. Must have been bad steel. I have a peacock feather duster for reference on the table. I had never actually drawn peacock feathers before, so am learning. I am trying to decide how (or if) to attempt to render the irridescence en engraved line. I was happy to see a peacock feather design in the brocade a virgin is wearing in a Paolo Veneziano altarpiece at the Accademia. I also had a look at Aubrey Beardsley's Peacock Skirt, but although his approach to drawing the feathers is delightful and gorgeous in its own way, Beardsley wasn't too informative for me. The second photo is a closer detail of the engraved peacock (or rather, the Victorian peacock feather holder)in . The lines are filled with whiting (bianco di Spagna) so they are easily legible while I work. I am starting to indicate some of the architecture now. (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, February 28th, 2008
7:28 pm	local trains You might be thinking that these are the same drawing posted twice, but in fact I made them on separate recent train trips to Montegrotte Terme and to Padova. I have similar ones from lots of other trips, but two are enough. Veneto regional trains don't have too much variation. On the blog are earlier posts of drawings that I made on train trips to Verona and to Saint Petersburg (Russia), and then there are some of my airplane drawings too. When I was a student at the High School of Music and Art in New York, we had homework assignments to draw on the subway, so drawing on trains comes pretty naturally to me. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, February 23rd, 2008
9:59 pm	image transfer I covered the plate with white wax, then placed the drawing, done with a 6B pencil on tracing paper, face down on the plate. I rolled it through the etching press and the graphite transfered in reverse onto the plate. I then incised the major outlines of the image with a drypoint needle. and after that I removed the wax with paint thinner. Now I am ready to engrave with the burin. Photos will follow as I progress. (Comment on this)
Monday, February 18th, 2008
3:05 pm	progress report on the new Terrace Hill print First, a bit of history. Longer ago than I dare to admit, I made two engravings, Terrace Hill with Moose, and Terrace Hill with Bengal Tiger and Raccoons, illustrated here (both 17 x 14") to benefit the restoration of Terrace Hill, an amazing Victorian-era mansion that had recently been acquired by the state of Iowa for the governor's residence. The animal fantasies came out of the history of the house - hunting trophies, a tiger skin rug, the Raccoon River that flows behind. The two editions of 100 impressions each sold out almost immediately and are sought-after. Last year I was invited by the Terrace Hill Foundation to return to the scene and create a new engraving. I was intrigued by the challenge of creating something new that could complement two engravings made nearly 29 years ago, but were true to what my work is like today. So last month while I was in Des Moines, I made new drawings in the mansion (see recent posts). The Terrace Hill Foundation selected my drawings of the library and the peacock as the subject of my engraving. During the last two weeks I have been redrawing and preparing the image for transfer to the plate. The transfer drawing is in 6B pencil on tracing paper. Today I printed the transfer onto the copper plate, which I had beveled and coated with white wax a few days ago. So now the graphite is printed in reverse on the wax-coated plate. I will begin to drypoint the image, and when the major outlines of the composition are incised in drypoint, I will remove the wax and begin to engrave with the burin. (Comment on this)
Monday, February 4th, 2008
4:50 pm	latest engraving This is the second plate of panoramic views from our terrace. I finished it and the engraving shown in a previous post, and I made many drawings at the governor's mansion for an engraving commission while I was in Des Moines in January. Now back in Venice...bought a new sketchbook from Polliero on Sunday. (Comment on this)
4:45 pm	peacock feather holder (Comment on this)
4:40 pm	one more Terrace Hill drawing This is the grand stairway at Terrace Hill. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, January 29th, 2008
4:54 pm	another drawing from Terrace Hill I drew today in the library of Terrace Hill. My finished drawing is on the table. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008
2:34 pm	Jan 22, the music room This morning's drawing. (Comment on this)
Saturday, January 19th, 2008
3:29 pm	My new engraving I have just completed this engraving. I began working on the copper plate in Venice this fall and brought it back to the US with me just before Christmas. I have worked on it since things quieted down after the holidays and after many late nights of work, finished it two days ago. The plate dimensions are 8 1/4 x 19 3/4"(21x50.2 cm) It combines two adjacent views from our terrace, which is located at the junction of four canals. The view is along Rio Sant' Agositn towards the Ponte Sant'Agostin and, to the right, towards Rio Marin. Many of the drawings I posted this spring through fall are of views from the terrace. I have begun a second plate that continues the view around to Ponte de le Oche, and I hope to finish it this week. (9 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, January 18th, 2008
12:38 pm	return to Terrace Hill Many years ago, I was commissioned to make two engravings of the interior of Terrace Hill, a Victorian mansion that had become the Iowa Governor's residence. The two editions of one hundred engravings sold out quickly and became rather sought-after. Now, I have accepted the commission to revisit the site and make a new work. I agreed to do it because it was an interesting challenge to respond to my own history but make something true to who I am now. So, I have started drawing at Terrace Hill again. I did two sessions this week, and my plan is to draw every day next week for a couple of hours. I will go back to Venice with the drawings and engrave the plate there. So far, I don't know what my print will focus on (the foundation will be involved in the decision), but just going in to draw is a start. This is a much larger notebook than my Polliero books. Page height is about 14 inches. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, January 10th, 2008
5:15 pm	Mapping Lois Last night I completed a large drawing/watercolor that was commissioned by the four daughters of a dear friend of mine to celebrate her 70th birthday. Let me try to describe this drawing. (If you click on the image you can enlarge it to see the detail.) The dimensions of this work are about 26 x 22 inches. It is entirely executed in india ink and watercolor. I have incorporated a weather map from the day she was born in 1938, and the isobars are repeated across the top of the drawing. That was also the year of one of the most destructive hurricanes to hit the United States, so I have included a hurricane chart. She has traveled extensively, so I included the flags of every country she has visited. Also, maps of places she has lived, including Boston and Des Moines, and a London tube map (her maiden name is London). The L and F reproduce two of my engraved alphabet letters. There are also images of her lighting candles at Passover, standing in front of a Calder painting in her collection, and with her husband and nine grandchildren. She loves color. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, January 4th, 2008
11:18 am	Precinct 70 Democratic caucus at Merrill Middle School, Des Moines Four caucuses were held at our site, Merrill Middle School. Ours was held in the gymnasium. We had 554 registered participants and at least a hundred observers, including foreign press and tv. It was a glorious event. I have indicated the first and second round results. (Comment on this)
Thursday, January 3rd, 2008
9:50 am	Hillary Clinton final pre-caucus rally, Iowa State Historical Museum Last night, I attended the Hillary's final pre-caucus rally. It was held in the atrium of Iowa's State Historical Museum in Des Moines. The museum space is very interesting in its own right, with antique biplanes hanging from the stepped glass ceiling. They certainly add a touch of weirdness to this political image. There were so many people there. (the newspaper says about 2000). I arrived early, picked my spot and backed up to a pillar so I wouldn't have lights shining in my eyes, would block anyone or be pushed. The crowd was warmed up with music and then a Hillary trivia contest with tee-shirt prizes. Finally, the star-power arrived...Bill and Chelsea Clinton, Madeleine Albright, Wesley Clark, plus stars and Iowa state and national Democratic politicians. Bill introduced Hillary, she spoke, and the crowd loved it. I made three drawings...am posting two...may watercolor them eventually. I have come to the end of the notebook, and am working backwards on pages earlier left blank. So these last drawings are interspersed with Venice. Tonight...the caucus itself. (Comment on this)