WHAT IS A SERIGRAPH?

Serigraphy is a term describing the silkscreen process when used for fine art rather than commercial purposes. Unlike many of the serigraphs on the market today, these original prints are produced and hand-printed by the artists themselves, in their studio on d'Arches Silkscreen 88, a 100% rag, neutral pH paper. Serigraphs are produced in an edition, limited in number as indicated in pencil below the image. The notation 1/100 means that this particular print is the first of 100 in the edition. By signing and numbering it, the artist is guaranteeing that there will never be more than 100 original serigraph prints of this design. Edition sizes are noted with each image on these pages.

There are different methods of producing a stencil for printing the serigraph. With the film method, a very thin lacquer-soluble film on a transparent backing is laid over the pattern and cut with a knife to trim away the areas you wish to print. After cutting the stencil, one for each color or blend of colors, the film is adhered to the silk screen with a fluid and the backing is removed. With another method, a negative block-out stencil is registered for placement with the previous colors so that the imprint will fall into the right place. This becomes more difficult as the number of colors in a print increases. When the ink is prepared to its desired color, proper consistency and transparency, the squeegee is hand-pulled by the artist across the screen, pushing the ink through the silk onto the paper below.

The entire edition is printed with one color, before dissolving the stencil and preparing to print the next. The edition size is determined by the number of "good" ones in the end. There may be slight imperfections due to the handmade nature of the printing process, and blends of color may vary somewhat from print to print. If you are unhappy with the print you receive, for any reason, simply return it promptly, undamaged, for a full refund less postage.