Page 19 - the Noise July 2016

process & printmakinG julie & david Williams let the ink fly!
flagstaff residents of 18+ years, Julie & David Williams each currently have a collec- tion of prints featured at Arizona Handmade Gallery. It is clear at first glance these two are masters of the craft.
Ms. Williams’ landscape wood cut prints are richly textured and intricately detailed. It is hard to tell just how many layers of color went into each print, but the cumulative ef- fect is a depth and lushness rarely associated with printmaking.
Inside their shared Boulder Point studio, Ms. Williams shows me a few of the wood plates she uses to create her prints. The first one is midway through a printing session. Parts of the image are yet to be cut and printed. The others are from completed works. I can see just how much work goes into creating every print.
“How long does it take to go from initial concept to the finished print?” I ask, running my fingers over the carved out plates.
“It’s a long process. It usually takes about a month or more to complete an edition. The ink takes a day to dry, during that time I cut where I need to. Most of my prints have at least 12-15 colors and are editions of 20.”
Ms. Williams works from both photographs and sketches. “Pictures are nice for color reference, but sketches condense the image down and help me decide what’s important and what I’m trying to share.”
She starts with a solid surface of wood and cuts away until in the end, many of her wood plates no longer resemble the images they created. Each new color and layer that Julie applies to the print obliterates parts of the wood from the layer that came before it. “Print, cut, print, cut until the surface printing area is gone and the image has emerged on the paper.”
Ms. Williams, raised in rural Northern California, has a strong appreciation for the natu- ral environment which translates directly into her work. “People can only love what they understand and they will only protect what they love.”
She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Printmaking from Northern Arizona Univer- sity in 2005. Her work has been showcased in many national printmaking exhibitions,
from left: david Williams’ chuck & me and Julie Williams’ vista — prints from the collection at arizona Handmade.
including annuals in Boston and Los Angeles.
by jen turrell
David Williams earned his undergraduate degree in Fine Arts with a focus on illustra- tion from NAU, and the evidence of his background in illustration is easy to see in his prints. He has a Masters of Fine Arts in Printmaking from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and he is currently a Professor of Printmaking at NAU.
The process for Mr. Williams’ intaglio prints starts with a zinc plate. He covers the sur- face with acid resist, then scratches it away where he wants images to appear. This is where his skill as an illustrator comes in, drawing finely detailed images on the plate. The plate is put into acid which eats away where the surface has been scratched. He uses sev- eral techniques on the plates to get different textures and effects. Once the plate is done, he runs it through the etching press with 10,000 pounds of pressure — the ink residing in the engraved lines is forced onto the paper. It is the opposite of relief printing where the ink is on the surface and is much more gently pressed onto paper.
Mr. Williams tells me that when it comes to printmaking, the process is as important as the image and the outcome. Each print is made from the original plate by the print- maker. This means every print in the edition is considered an original. The prints are signed and numbered, and in the case of Ms. Williams’ woodcuts, the wood from which they were printed is destroyed in the process of finishing the work. In the case of Mr. Wil- liams’ intaglio plates, once an edition is finished, the plate is cancelled by striking a gash through the image so no future reproductions can be made.
Unlike his wife’s work, Mr. Williams’ prints focus more on telling stories and incorporate cultural, historical and political images. “That’s the illustrator in me,” he says. “I like mak- ing collages out of the images in my mind.”
You can see works from the Williams’ collection, with an opening 6-9PM on First Friday ArtWalk July 1 at 13 North San Francisco Street, Flagstaff. azhandmade.com
19 • {online at thenoise.us} JULY 2016 | the best of arizona | the nöísẽ