My Early Prints "To A Discerning Eye" That William Stanley Hayter Might Have Really Liked Back In 1978 When I Made Them If He Had Ever Looked At Them

In the black and white etching above : " To A Discerning Eye " I did it on le 10 Juillet, 1978, Lundi ( Monday ).

Here in the dark Navy-blue etching below , also called " To A Discerning Eye " ( Troisieme Etat, #6 ) it was pulled/printed on Mardi ( Tuesday ) le 27 Juin, 1978. Funny, both of these etching were done about this same time now ( it's now Thursday, really early morning, July 30th, 2009 at 1:07 AM ) : that's 31 years ago. Wow, how the glorious time has flown! It sure has been a good ride, really. I also have never felt more artistically alive and awake and in love with life and all my art expressions from drawing, watercolors, collage work, poetry and photography. I'm alive and thriving and only lacking time and energy to accomplish all that I still want to : whatever or wherever that may be and lead me ...




Here are two Artist's proofs that I did ( one in black ink, and one in dark navy blue ink ) of a very early plate that I made using textures, cloth, fabrics to make it. I think if Bill Hayter had ever really looked at it he would have approved and even perhaps really liked it. Of course I have no way of knowing any of this except from the times he actually spoke to us downstairs at his Atelier 17 in the basement.

He did this a couple of times if not more and I even have a sketch or two that he made of his ideas and how to actualize/ better visualize them. I'm glad that I kept them. I will take a picture of them and include them here later. It was nice, we would all sit around a drawing table downstairs and he would take the time to show and to teach us some basics of etching. He had a very kind smile. His face itself was as if completely etched. Perhaps it was a bit more like it had been carved first and then etched later as well : like a bas-relief in gnarled/grizzled flesh with curly hair.

Even after all these years I am very pleased to know that I worked in Bill's Atelier 17. I met so many people from around the world and that, too was worth as much if not more. His Atelier 17 was a very good place for people to meet and to work side-by-side and to exchange ideas and learn by observing as well as from talking and actually sharing ideas and experiences.

Enjoy these two copies above. I will be adding to this blog and writing many more about my experiences in Paris, France from 1977-1980 when I etched at the Atelier Calvert Brun, then at Atelier 17 with William Stanley Hayter and his two assistants Juan and Hector Saunier : and then at the end when I was the assistant to Joelle Serve at her own etching workshop.

Great times and experiences that are fun to remember in bits and pieces. Cheers, TONY