I love everything about printmaking, the gooey black ink, the polished copper plate, the hand tools unchanged for centuries, the quiet hand-powered press as it smoothly shifts the steel bed back and forth, but most of all I love the paper. The paper I use comes from ancient French, Italian and English paper mills, some in operation since the 13th century. I've held in my hands a young scholars vellum-covered edition of Virgil printed in the 16th century. The paper is the same as I use today. Most modern high end prints and books today unfortunately use crappy paper and consequently they have no have no soul.
It's good to look at a fine print closely, but it's even better holding it in your hand while you're doing it. Feel the pulse as well as drink in the image. My stuff is old timey, basically the same technique as Rembrandt. Jeff Schaller uses multiple cutting edge techniques in his prints but he uses exquisite paper as well. Jamie prints his lustrous black and white photographs on the best paper. And Rhoda? Offhand I'm not familiar with anything she's done on paper, but knowing her I'm sure she has. Probably some thick, felted, delicately stained thing that, of course, she made herself.
Adrian
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