photos by Tafi Brown

I am a self-taught wood engraver, with some generous help from colleagues along the way. After graduating from Oberlin College in 1970, I moved to Boston and made my first engraving in a small block of maple. I was inspired by the illustrations in old books and kept wondering, "How were these done, who did them, and why aren't they being done today?" To answer those questions I read the entire collection of books on wood engraving in the Boston Public Library, and used some engraving tools given to me by a wood sculptor, tools that I still use today.

The actual prints on paper are clearer than what can be shown in my online Gallery, as some of the detailed lines I engrave get lost in cyber-translation. Nevertheless, it gives you a good idea of the nature of my work.

Printing on an antique, cast-iron letterpress is an art in its own right. I own a 1920 Chandler & Press letterpress which I found in a print shop in Alstead, New Hampshire, where I moved in 1973. It was available because the printer was converting to offset presses. He helped get me started in the very involved craft of printing woodblocks and I continue to engrave by hand and print my own blocks on the C & P.

In 1980 I was juried and accepted into the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen and exhibited in the annual Craftsmen's Fair at Sunapee Park for many years. The photo at left was taken in 1976. The block being engraved is the view of Lake Warren in East Alstead titled "Old New Hampshire Hills."

Beginning with the 2000 edition of The Old Farmer's Almanac (the oldest continuously published periodical in North America, going back to 1793), you will see my wood engraving adorning the Almanac's title page. It is of Ceres, goddess of agriculture, and I based it on an old wood engraving of 1797 that is in the Almanac's archives. My 18-year-old daughter Linnet was the model for Ceres. I started the commissioned engraving on New Year's Day 1999 and finished it two months later.

Historic engravings in The Old Farmer's Almanac

More about the Ceres engraving for the Almanac