The Wonderful Beast

I printed this weekend for the first time since the fall (my break was due to morning sickness first, then the need to move all my art stuff from upstairs to the basement laundry room). So, that means that I finally got to try out my new Conrad etching press. It has been almost ten years since I worked on a press this nice, and it was amazing.

I decided to pull out some blocks I had abandoned in the fall:

1. Ready to go!



2. Proofing on newsprint. Loving it.


3. Now on good paper...so far, so good.


4. Lifting up the print (the magical moment).

So, the printing session wasn't perfect. I was printing on top of a color I had printed previously and had trouble getting the registration right in a new location. I'm sure others have to set up and move their registration all the time, but I find it pretty tricky. I also think the registration wasn't very tight on the first color anyway...I will just blame pregnancy brain. I normally find registration problems very frustrating, but this weekend, I was so glad to be printing again that I didn't care. I just chalked it up to getting-to-know-you time with the new press and figured if I get any salvageable prints, that's a bonus. Truthfully, I'm considering starting the whole edition over anyway because the prints are coming out so much better now.

The new space is working out much better than I expected. In a way, I prefer it because I'm somewhat separated from the rest of the house and can really focus. There are still some things to work out, like I need better lighting and more tabletop surfaces. Kneeling on the floor to get my paper is no easy task these days, and getting back up is even harder!