FINALLY!

Work in the studio has slowed down in recent months. All the symptoms of aging: the arthritis pain, memory, mobility etc. are slowly increasing. So I'm celebrating that I finally finished a new wood engraving, ran the edition, and this morning was able to remember how to put it up on my website. If you want to see that page, it's here: http://www.telusplanet.net/public/jimwest/bergamasco.html

During the process of running the edition there is a segment of the process I recognized now as risky. I hadn't given it any thought before. I print on an old proofing press. As each piece of paper is cranked through the press and is taken off the roller, it must be placed where the ink doesn't  get touched. The ink takes a couple of days to completely dry. Back when the studio was built I installed two wires up near the ceiling (ten foot ceiling as I recall) that run from one wall to the other. They are up that high so that, if I'm printing an edition on large paper I can walk beneath them without disturbing them. During the process of printing the edition I take each print individually over to the wire, climb a ladder, and clip it to one of the many clips I've installed on the wires. When I went up the ladder the other day, and stretched (not safe to step on the top two steps of the ladder) to reach the first clip the arthritis pain in my back was excruciating. That caused me to wobble on the ladder.

I made it up and down the ladder for about half the edition, then decided I better spread the rest of them out on the work table. I have now decided to take the wires down (or, to have someone younger take them down for me). I think I have a drying system figured out that won't require height.

                         Introducing the latest Alien of Planet Earth: Bergamasco Shepherd