The papers behind the work

I treat paper as part of the work, not a backing for it. The surface decides how the image arrives: how light sits on it, whether the colour lifts or settles, whether you read a print or an object. So I choose paper per artwork. A felt cotton sheet, a faint metallic shimmer, and a handmade Japanese washi do not carry the same picture the same way, and I would not ask them to.

Each family of paper the atelier prints on has its own answer here, and a closer look at each one.

How the paper is chosen

Here is how I think about it.

How is the paper chosen?

The surface changes what the image means. The soft felt of Hahnemühle German Etching gives the open editions a calm, matte surface; the faint shimmer of cotton Photo Rag Metallic lets the metallic series catch the light as you move; and the handmade Japanese Awagami kozo, with a deckled edge, makes the washi pieces read as objects first, prints second. I choose the paper per image, not by default.

The papers the atelier prints on

Three families of paper carry most of the work. Each has its own look at the surface, and each suits a different kind of image. A closer guide to each one follows on its own page.

Hahnemühle German Etching, 310 gsm

The open editions are printed on Hahnemühle German Etching, a 310 gsm sheet of 100% alpha-cellulose. It is white, with a clearly defined felt structure, acid-free and lignin-free. The felt gives a calm, matte surface that holds colour without glare. This is the paper behind the open editions in Loved by Collectors.

Hahnemühle Photo Rag Metallic, 340 gsm

The metallic series is printed on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Metallic, 340 gsm and 100% cotton, natural white without optical brighteners. Its surface carries a faint, silvery shimmer, so the image catches the light as you move past it. This is the paper behind work such as Operator, Heavy by Light, and the Tectonic Drift series.

Awagami kozo washi, 300 gsm

A small number of works are printed on handmade Japanese washi: thick, 300 gsm kozo (mulberry) paper, formed sheet by sheet by the slow-vat Tamezuki method, left untrimmed with a natural four-sided deckled edge. The sheet has real thickness and holds its shape in the hand, so the work reads as an object first and a print second. The Solar Pavilion and WHSPR are printed this way.

Caring for a print

The papers differ, but the care is the same across all of them.

How do I care for a giclée print?

Keep the print out of direct sunlight and away from damp. The prints use pigment inks on acid-free archival fine art paper, which resist fading and yellowing far better than dye-based photo prints. For the most protection, frame behind UV-filtering glass, and ask the framer for a spacer mount so the textured paper is not pressed flat against the glass. Handle the sheet by its edges with clean hands or cotton gloves.

For how editions work, open and limited, see edition mechanics. And for why the colour is built the way it is, chromatic pressure sets out the method.