Hand Pulled Prints come from a long history of skill and craft. My love for them was kindled as a freshman in college at the Maryland Institute College of Art. I took Introduction to Printmaking and fell in love. My mom, not so much, she came for a visit and looked at my hands and asked, “So we’ve stopped washing our hands now?” Yeah, the ink for etching, made from lamp black and linseed oil can be difficult to get off. We bought better cleaner and life became cleaner, or at least my hands did.

Prints are based on the making of multiples. And, while I love that challenge, I also love making monotypes. Mostly, I’m working in Intaglio, a printing process where the ink prints from below the surface of the plate. I inscribe lines on the plates (plastic either recycled from clear plastic food containers or acrylic from framing artwork). Then push the ink into the lines, wipe the surface off and then print using a press that pushes the paper into the lines to catch the ink. The paper also has to be soaked in water so it will be more receptive to the ink and to being molded to the plate. Right now, rather than using one piece plates, I’m creating collages, so each image will inherently be different. The resulting prints are embossed and beautiful. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoy making them.