An intaglio (pronounced in-tal ‘yo) print is produced form a plate that has the image below the surface, such as a etching, dry point or mezzotint. Ink is forced into the depressions and then the surface is cleaned. The cleaning process is very time consuming due to the care that has to be taken to not remove the ink form depressions that may be very shallow. The paper, which has been soaked in water for some time in order to remove the sizing and then blotted to remove any excess water, is placed on top of the plate, covered with felt blankets and then travels between rollers which force the paper into the depressions to retrieve the ink. The prints are placed between blotter paper, under pressure to keep them flat, until they are dry. Due to the cleaning process, which leaves each plate slightly different, intaglios are considered to be original works of art rather than limited edition print. All of the plated I create are hand engraved and my take over a hundred hours to produce.                                                                       close window