multiple original artworks. Plate images can be raised in relief above the plate surface (as in linoleum and woodblock prints), cut into the surface (as in intaglio etchings and engravings), inked or painted directly onto the surface (as in monoprints), or stenciled (as in silkscreen prints).

Finished prints are titled, numbered, and signed by the artist. Printmaking is done by hand and does not include the mechanical reproduction of works by other artists.

Mary makes use of Peregrine's three large inking stations, an acid room for traditional intaglio plate etching, a darkroom for modern nontoxic photo polymer etching, and two superlative 30” x 50” and 18” x 36” American French Tool etching presses.

At home, she uses traditional Japanese chisels and a Rube Goldberg-ish homemade press, powered by a car jack, to make woodblock prints.

The love of good paper

Red Squirrel’s chief workaday paper is 70 lb. Mohawk Superfine, a commercial sheet beloved of bookmakers and printers for its rich performance in archival-quality printing. Mary and George use it for books and for pastepainting, in particular, because it doesn’t fall apart when wet and dries beautifully. It is strong and acid-free.

What is pastepainting anyway?

The vividly colored, patterned papers you see in many Red Squirrel books are mostly pastepapers.

Bookmakers have made and used pastepainted papers for centuries as covers, endpapers, spines and other decorative elements in their work. In the 19th century, pastepapers even served for a time as a substitute for wallpaper.

In pastepainting, paints are thickened with a special boiled starch mixture to stay wet longer. They are then manipulated with combs, sponges, palette knives, brushes and other tools to create textured patterns and images. Red Squirrel’s starch mixture also contains alum to help bind the color to the paper and a clear acrylic medium that dries to a permanent protective finish.

Our studios

Mary and George work everywhere! They cut paper and make books upstairs in Mary’s studio, which used to be a guest bedroom. They pastepaint in the kitchen, where water is handy, and in George’s studio in the back parlor beside a ticking wood-stove, where the early morning light is beautiful. And George takes photographs wherever he goes.

Behind the lens

George works with an Olympus E-500 digital SLR camera, assorted lenses, a tripod, and a light touch in PhotoShop.