See The Work / Print Process

Copper block etching has its roots in a 300-year old craft born in Italy called intaglio, where master craftsmen used acid to bore into the copper plate to create intricate scenes. They then coated this plate with ink and pressed paper onto it.

Matthew Smith has honed, refined and re-invented the technology to produce results the early masters couldn't imagine. He carefully cuts sheets of copper on precision band saws and etches these plates with a sorcerer's knowledge of chemical reactions involving various types of acid and protective buffers. He is constantly tinkering with the process, looking for new ways to wring more life, more color, more texture from his prints.

The process begins with Matthew's creativity and fast-thinking mind coupling with his desire to make things. He receives and processes the countless ideas that occur to him throughout any day, instinctively choosing only the ones that strike a nerve, signaling the challenge and potential gratification at the end. For example, while reaching for the radio one morning in 2006, the image of a mermaid swimming gracefully in a backward arc came to him. Thus the seed was planted, and after revisiting the image a couple of times, he completed the realization of that idea, which hangs in his gallery today.

Some ideas emanate from the decks of the fishing boats he's worked on. In 1981, some 10 hours off the coast of Tasmania in a thousand fathoms of water, the crew he was fishing with hauled up a net full of exotic sea creatures from the deep. Suddenly, a spectacular octopus freed itself from the net and crawled over the side. The octopus that out-smarted its would-be captors left a lasting impression, and has become one of Matthew's favorite pieces.

Once he's locked onto an idea, Matthew either sketches it out on paper or goes directly to cutting copper. This is not an easy process. Copper is a tough metal that sometimes vibrates uncontrollably against the band saw. Rendering detailed edges can take hours and put fingers perilously close to the blade. Unwavering concentration into the wee hours of the morning is an absolute necessity. Matthew, who sees life as a series of challenges he enjoys taking on, wouldn't have it any other way.

Once he has cut the outline of the initial plate, he will work it by hand, filing down the edges, making precision cuts with a small hand jig saw and ensuring the detail he demands from every print.

Next comes the alchemy. When calculating the depth of detail of the copper plates, Matthew draws back on his innate ability to accurately visualize fishing ground topography to find the fish where others couldn't. With Merlin's skill, he anticipates the plate's topography by choosing which buffering compound to use with which acid. That decision helps him ensure the plate has the exact depth of a scale on a fish, or feather on a sandpiper.

First he applies the acid-resistant buffering compound onto the copper to carefully control the acid's action. Then he applies the acid, which etches the copper as he sees it in his mind's eye. This entire process can sometimes take a day for a small print or many weeks for big prints.

Some prints, like one of his larger prints of a striped bass called "Swampscott Schoolie," require several copper plates to evoke the different textures and colors he wants. With the schoolie print, one plate provided the detail for the scales, another for the fish's distinct lines, and another for the tail and fins. Some of his prints have required eight or nine copper plates, depending on the depth and color he wants to achieve.

The magic continues with determining which color inks to use and at what viscosities. The ink's viscosity determines how it settles into the copper plate's topography, and thus, how it transfers to the paper. A print's color depends on many variables, including viscosity, blending and even the angle at which the print is rolled through the press. Matthew or one of his artists on staff uses brushes, scrapers and rollers to apply the ink to the plate. They will do the same for other plates to be used on the same print.

Typically, Matthew has a distinct vision of how he wants the colors to appear. But often, he'll discuss various color schemes with his staff. It often just comes down to experimenting and trying out different palettes in order to see what works best.

Matthew uses the highest quality hand-molded Italian paper to print on. How this paper absorbs the ink is another option that dictates the outcome. Additionally, the thickness of the felt that rests between the roller on the press and the paper or the copper block—depending on which is on top as the print passes through the press—also affects how the ink is transferred to the paper.

Matthew and his staff will sometimes follow a strict color regime within a single plate's edition while at other times allowing viscosity tricks to lead the way, weaving them into the production run of 300 or so prints. The entire print run becomes a learning curve, as the experiments with different inks and pressure yield improvements at every turn. After the last print has been produced, Matthew retires the copper plate, sometimes recycling it by cutting it for smaller prints. Matthew then signs the prints before his skilled staff frames them to museum standards for sale at quite reasonable prices.

Matthew has left a lasting impression on the printmaking process, much as the imagination and craftwork of his prints leave viewers spellbound.