I spent the afternoon at the Boston Print Fair at the Boston Public Library. I’ve been to the IFPDA Print fair in New York City before, but this was my first time at this fair. This event is nowhere near the scale or the NY event, but there was still a terrific range of work represented by many print dealers from across the country. I was surprised the first time I went to the IFPDA Print Fair that there were actually Rembrandt and Kathe Kollwitz prints for sale. One would think that they had already been scooped up by every museum out there, but apparently not. It was an amazing chance to get really close to a lot of historical and contemporary works. I caught a quick glance at an etching, “Night Shadows” by Edward Hopper as well as a woodcut by Kathe Kollwitz today.

Edward Hopper, “Night Shadows”, etching, 1921

I was asked to participate by the Boston Printmakers, so several of us did rotating shifts throughout the weekend showing our work as well as the process of making prints. All of us brought plates and prints at various states in order to demonstrate the printing process. The majority of the time, printmaking processes can be huge enigmas; it’s nearly impossible to look at a print and discern the process without a significant background in the process.