#judith jaidinger

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Wood Engraving Wednesday

Here are some original prints from the Wood Engravers' Network (WEN) 25th Anniversary Portfolio of Prints (WEN Block & Burin Bundle No. 62, Autumn 2019). WEN was founded in 1994 by Ann Arbor wood engraver and letterpress printer Jim Horton to foster education and create a resource for wood engravers and the practice of wood engraving. Over the decades, WEN has expanded to become an international organization with members from around the globe. 32 wood engravers participated in this anniversary print exchange. The prints shown above are:

For 25 Years, a three-color engraving with a letterpress quotation from Emily Dickinson's poem "This My Letter to the World" by WEN founder Jim Horton, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Staying Sharp at 25, a five-color engraving by Joanne Price at her Starpoint Studio, Bagdad, Kentucky.

Extinction Afterlife-Chaos, a Corian reduction relief engraving by Abigail Rorer at her Lone Oak Press, Petersham, Massachusetts.

WEN XXV by Judith Jaidinger, Illinois.

Composition #25, endgrain maple engraving by Anders Sandstrom, Indianapolis, Indiana.

WEN25, endgrain maple engraving by Julie Kirihara, Eagan, Minnesota.

The Printer's Hands by Nancy Bittner, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Endless by William Myers at his Piano Press, St. Paul Minnesota.

Cotswold Farmhouse endgrain English boxwood engraving by Andy English at his Isle Handpress, Little Downham, Cambridgeshire, England.

Gears, homemade maple block engraving by Marc Horovitz, Colorado.

Beauty by Leslie Evans at her Sea Dog Press, Watertown, Massachusetts.

The prints below are:

Portfolio case print by Jon Hinkel at his The Tight Squeeze Press, Duluth, Minnesota.

W.E.N. 25th ("Hopeless"), a Resingraving by George Dirolf, New York.

This portfolio is a gift from our friend Tony Drehfal.

View more engravings by members of the Wood Engraver’s Network.

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Judith Jaidinger Woodcut ‘The Heart Has Many Doors’.

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Wood Engraving Wednesday

JUDITH JAIDINGER

The print Born of Mysteries by Chicago wood engraver Judith Jaidinger (b. 1941) appears in the wood-engraving collection Surroundings: Engravings in Wood printed for the Wood Engravers' Network at the Piano Press in St. Paul, Minnesota in a limited edition of 100 copies. All the prints in this collection were pulled by the individual artists.

Judith Jaidinger, a BFA graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, began her career making commercial engravings at Sander Wood Engraving Company and Zacher Wood Engraving Company in Chicago. She told the Western Michigan University News in 2003:

I consider myself fortunate to have become interested in wood engraving at a time when wood engraving was still employed in advertising art, albeit at the end of its commercial life in the United States. Not only did I learn the craft of wood engraving from some of the last of the master engravers, but I also benefited from their generous gifts of tools, equipment and wood blocks when they retired.

Now in her 80s, Jaidinger is a longstanding member of the Wood Engravers' Network and continues to actively produce engravings. Our copy of Surroundings is a gift from our friend Jim Horton.

View more engravings by members of the Wood Engraver’s Network.

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Wood Engraving Wednesday

On New Year’s Eve, Ann Arbor wood engraver, letterpress printer, and founder of the Wood Engravers Network (WEN) Jim Horton sent us his new book on Commercial Wood Engraving in the 20th Century published in 2020 by The Legacy Press in Ann Arbor (what a wonderful way to start the New Year!). Horton has been a practicing wood engraver for over 40 years, and as he points out in his book, was drawn to the medium by his mentor David M. Sander (1923-1999) of the Sander Engraving Co. (1900-1971, Chicago), to whom this book is dedicated.

The book includes chapters on the history, tools, and processes of commercial wood engraving, and includes a preface by Judith Jaidinger, who Horton identifies as “the last commercial wood engraver.” The last two chapters offer a history of the Sander Engraving Company and a memoir of David Sander. The bulk of the book, however, consists of 114 luscious plates of product proofs from the Sander company, from which we offer a few examples here. We tend to be drawn to machine parts, and our favorites are the Threaded Screws! And just look at the beautiful rubbery sheen on those tires! Click on the images for greater detail. Wood engraving is effing awesome!

Other images shown here include photos of Horton’s studio. One of the tools Horton discusses is the ruling machine, which can make incredibly fine and detailed cuts. You can see a portion of one just off to the left in the photo of Horton’s engraving work space. When our department head Max visited Horton’s studio a few year’s ago, he says “there must have been about a dozen or so ruling machines in every corner of the studio; I’ve never seen so many in one place.” Horton has since donated a few of these machines for display and use at the Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, where WEN maintains its headquarters. 

Of this book, Cathy Baker, proprietor of The Legacy Press which publishes books on printing, paper, and bookbinding, writes: “Normally I don’t make personal comments, but I want to acknowledge that this is one of the most delightful books that I have published. Wood engraving is fascinating, and I only regret that I have not cut more blocks than I have. . . . I know you’ll find Jim’s story of David Sander and the Sander Engraving Co. as enjoyable and informative as I have.”

As an aside, The Legacy Press will soon be publishing Peter and Donna Thomas Bibliography, 1974-2020, which was compiled, written, and the photographs produced by the Thomases and the staff here at Special Collections, UW-Milwaukee. You can get a sneak peak at the bibliography by visiting our online exhibition on Peter and Donna Thomas.

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