After a decade of traveling to festivals, fairs and art shows, I began in some ways to feel as though I had seen it all. My appreciation for artistic talent in any medium never wavered, but I started believing that there were very few things that could strike me. I tried to guard against what I believed to be impending boredom, but still felt a twinge of it when one of our  team members mentioned teaching me the printmaking process. 
     Don Morey joined our team at The Blue Water Traveler.com midsummer of last year and was appointed our official Artist Liaison. His reputation had preceded him and we knew that he had the ability to sculpt and paint, in addition to his primary medium; printmaking. At The BWT however, we like to make sure our players are adaptable (see archived stories, i.e.; Wheatland Festival). So the first mission given to Don was to restore Mary Jane- our 1980 Volkswagen bus, a noteworthy stretch from his usual craft.   Since then Don hasn’t let me live down that body work is not artist liaison territory. There was no doubt that it was time for me to visit his studio and see exactly what Artist Liaison work entailed.
     When I first arrived at Don’s home and studio in North Branch, Michigan, I could see that the ‘house’ itself could be considered a main attraction. The place that Don creates in and calls home is a fully restored hundred and fifty year old church. Surrounded by perennial gardens and adorned with a large cedar deck on the west end; it appeared the creativity had spilled out of the church and covered the land surrounding it.
     Inside, Don and I talked about the art displayed on the walls of “the sanctuary” much of which he created. There were sculptures he had cast, original watercolors, and of course etchings. As Don talked about the art he collected over the years, it was clear that he has a deep appreciation for the work of others.
     Don took me to the lower level of the church where his studio is. Every inch of the nine hundred square foot work area featured a work of art. There were countless works in progress in addition to completed pieces, covering the walls and surfaces of the drafting tables.
     Having seen Don’s work before, I was aware of his ability to produce magnificent art. Like most however, I was unaware of the patience and labor intensive process that etchings require.
     Don explained to me that first a substance called “a ground”, which is an acid resistant coating, is applied to an engravers copper plate. After the plate is prepared with the ground, Don draws directly onto the plate with a dry point needle. This process exposes the bare copper, which then is etched with acid, allowing for the development of an intaglio image.
     I learned that because of the transfer from plate to page, the entire depiction has to be carved in mirror image in order to maintain the integrity of the subject. As the image is etched it is almost impossible to see the fine lines or the rendering at all. It is because of this that after each progression on a work in progress, that the plate must be inked and printed, before the development can be seen.
     Like many people, I put in my time working shops jobs when I was younger. I also worked in the tool and die industry briefly with my brothers and over the years, tried my hand at becoming a novice carver at best. All of this takes a steady hand, a keen eye and attention to detail. While I watched Don’s steady and skilled hands, I remembered that holding a scribe in hand and following lines, is one of the most difficult tasks I’ve encountered. After demonstrating this process to me Don let me try my hand at scribing for a minute, before deciding to spare the plate from the touch of an amateur’s hand and moving on.
     Don presented a finished plate which he had inked for the press before I got there, as inking alone takes about a half an hour. He also had pre-soaked one hundred percent rag paper, which he told me is as strong as canvas, to print the image on.
     In the same tradition that was used in the 1400’s, Don padded the plate and the paper with thick felt on each side. After positioning the plate he manually began to crank the wheel of the press. Don told me the press applies one thousand pounds of pressure, per square, inch to the plate. I was witness to the first of 50 original prints; it was marked at the bottom right 1/50. This print he would keep, the next three would belong to his daughters.
      learned that print making is the only reproduction process that makes ‘multiple originals’. In Don’s words, “Not only do we have an original because of the way the press strikes the plate, but I could never [water] color all fifty prints the same. Or a client may want a different background or season in the print, so each again becomes slightly different.”
     After running the plate through the press a couple more times we switched mediums. Don noted that while the coloring process is much less physically strenuous than the printing process it is not much less tedious. Don taught me how to hold myself steady enough to fill the smallest of areas with color. Had hours and hours been available, I would have liked to have completed the print, but as it was- I left it to the professional. From start to finish, upon completion, Don would have one hundred and fifty hours into the image, while other images evolve onto the page over a period of years.
     As the afternoon came to a close, and I knew that I was going to have to drag my arms home (this job could certainly replace the need for a gym membership!) I still had one question unanswered, where does the inspiration come from? “When it’s time to create an image, I sit down and I ask the copper plate what it wants to be,” Don said, “and the inspiration is all around us… if we are willing to see it.”
     While I walked through the gardens on the stone path, back to my car I found myself planning my next visit. Perhaps I would try my hand in sculpture? I realized that The B.W.T.’s Artist Liaison/Body Work Extraordinaire hadn’t just taught me what Artist Liaison work actually is, but he had reminded me that, despite my travels; I have not yet seen it all.

At the wheel,

Josh Johnson