About this work
Edition of 20
Framed dimensions: 39.5" h x 51.75"w x 1.5" d
Signed bottom right: P Schuette 2022
Edition 8 of 20
"'The Visitors' commemorates – and exaggerates – a scene which I have often witnessed outside my kitchen window: the gathering of Stellar's Jays up in the trees. It will be a part of a show on birds and seemed to fit the requirements. I drew all sorts of poses of Stellar's Jays and then moved them around the page until I had a composition that pleased my eye. Next, I drew the Jays and the trees on a copper plate with my drypoint tool. At times I sanded out the drawing or even whole birds to correct the image. Drypoint is my primary way of working. For color, I do monotype on a separate clear plastic plate that has each bird's position in the composition marked on it. In essence, each bird is an individual painting, as monotypes do not have a matrix to just ink up over and over. They are individually painted for each of the 20 editioned prints. There are 14 birds in this piece, so 14 x 20 = 280 drypoint monoprint, monotype birds. When we started to print this edition and had 6 prints done, I wasn't satisfied with it. It looked too flat and so I backed up and added secondary trees in the background which greatly improved the piece. I could only produce 2 of 'The Visitor' prints per day so it was a big deal to back up and make the change. It would have always bothered me though if I hadn't."