Working proof for Fire

In a year-long process, artist Josephine Halvorson explored the intricate multistep process of creating a sophisticated colour print with Wingate Studio and master printer James Pettengill in New Hampshire. The relationship between the artist and master printer has a rich history, critical to the foundations of printmaking itself. The master printer’s expertise and technical knowledge of certain processes are critical to guiding the actualisation of an artist’s work, both physically and aesthetically. “Fire” is Halvorson’s first etching and her painterly background, affinity for everyday objects, and close in-person observation is evident in each step of the process. The wood-burning stove is located in the printmaking workshop and is a Jotl, a brand that Halvorson’s parents sold during her childhood. She experimented with a variety of techniques including: drypoint, soft ground etching, aquatint, spit bite, sugar lift, modifying the copper plates repeatedly. After each modification, an image, or proof was printed, its visual effects analysed, and subsequently revised.

The artist and printers explored multiple printmaking processes, including burnishing in which a narrow tongue of metal is used to smooth the copper below, exposing areas of pure white. This process creates a gentle, gradual visual effect reminiscent of watercolour. After many revisions, the soft ground plate produced the desired texture on the face of the stove and around the flame and was then printed with all four isolated colour plates. On the resulting proof, Halvorson continued to burnish the cinders around the lip of the stove in order to refine the details and the final look. Further areas of revision included the tip of the flame, which Pettengill hand painted to envision the effects of spit bite. The proofs, 43 in total, will serve as a valuable teaching tool at the MFA as they demonstrate the varied and nuanced effects of each technique, while annotations reveal how essential dialogue between artist and the studio as they work toward the life-size final proof before the edition.