Craig Mindell; Sunlight through Glass, blocks cut 1992, printed 2014; wood relief print; image: 36 x 24 inches

Craig Mindell; Outdoor Cafe, blocks cut 1998, printed 2014; wood relief print; image: 24 x 36 inches

Before 2012 Craig Mindell printed his plywood relief prints by hand, an impressive undertaking considering that he usually prints three color blocks for each and that the image is moderately large (most are about 24 x 36 inches). He acquired in 2012 a 30 x 50 inch Conrad press (Model Mono 30) and has been printing with it ever since. In cases where he had not completed an edition before he got the Conrad press, he began to print unfilled portions of editions with his new press. As one might imagine, the qualities of the pre- and post-Conrad press images are considerably different. The former are less subtle, depend on saturated colors, and the ink on the paper varies in density.

The blocks for the two wood relief prints, Sunlight through Glass and Outdoor Cafe, recently added to his collection at the AP/RC, were cut in the 1990s (actually 1992 and 1998 respectively) but printed in May and June, 2014. Mindell achieved more harmony of values since he had more control on the transfer of ink to paper. In addition, he changed the blue and yellow inks to achieve more subtle color blending.

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