Woodcut Printer's Notes

The printer performs many tasks to keep prints alive, crafting and designing solutions to problems posed by everyone in the project.

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I couldn't get it perfect. Each sheet I cut was a little different. After three tries I told him, "I'm a printer, and cutting and folding these sheets isn't in my line." He stopped working at his computer and looked over my three tries. "I see. Yes, they're not perfect, but then everything in my studio is imperfect."
I guess he thought they were okay. "I figure by the time I cut thirty, I'll be pretty good at it," I said. He laughed, and then he said I reminded him of something funny. "John Cage said that he hoped that--by the time he died--he'd be in perfect condition."

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It wasn't a woodblock she was working on. The strange sound I heard when I came in to the studio was her humming and the sound of the wood rasp she was using. As I drew near, she saw me and, with her eyes, she smiled but she didn't miss a stroke of the rasping's voice nor a note of her tune in her own lilting hum. The rasp was a musical instrument in her hands. She sang in counterpoint, now in sync, and then in a kind of round.

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It was inexplicable.
I was watching the curator. But I was fascinated because even though it seemed meaningless to me, to her it was as though there was a reason for every move. Her face reflected deep attention to each detail.
When a little brown slip of paper fell out of the near-finished mat and as she picked it up I saw one side was amost covered with numbers--numbers that all started with a 97. She carefully pasted it to the back of the matboard and went to the next one, which had been pressed under a heavy glass sheet.

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By the expression on her face I could not tell if she was pleased or displeased. "Is this my sister's idea?" she asked.
"No, I mean I wanted you to have it."
She eyed the computer. "What is it?"
"It's just a Pentium. Nothing special. It will make selling much easier." Then, "You wanted to sell my prints . . .," I added.
"Okay," was all she said.

Artist's Diary
The artist provides the vision
and imagery of the living print,
laboring after the compelling image.

Curator's Log
The curator is seldom seen but is
always seeing to it that the living prints'
records are correct and rules followed.

Publisher's Journal
The publisher produces the bases for
living prints by supporting all the players
and keeping communications clear and on course.

Professor's Papers
The professor explains the living print,
the history of printmaking,
and keeps the academic community informed.

	Artist's Diary	The artist provides the vision and imagery of the living print, laboring after the compelling image.
	Curator's Log	The curator is seldom seen but is always seeing to it that the living prints' records are correct and rules followed.
	Publisher's Journal	The publisher produces the bases for living prints by supporting all the players and keeping communications clear and on course.
	Professor's Papers	The professor explains the living print, the history of printmaking, and keeps the academic community informed.