Johanness Oporinus

Just about everybody has heard of Vesalius, but who has heard of Oporinus?  Oporinus is the printmaker who published Vesalius's anatomy book, which as we all know was the first attempt at an accurate representation of human mechanics.  Previously anatomy lessons for physicians consisted of once a year watching someone from a great distance pulling the organs out of a deceased convict.  As to the medical texts prior to Vesalius's and Oporinus's De humani corporis fabrica (1543), they largely consisted of globular red and brown shapes mostly indistinguishable from each other. (Prints and People: A Social History)  As wiki will tell you Oporinus also published the first Latin Koran, which garnered massive protests at the time and was only permitted because of Martin Luther's backing.  Shown above was his printer's device.

Maybe someone out there will have an answer

Maybe someone out there will have an answer for me. On the job hunt, I am frequently stopped short by the fact that employers are really only interested in MFA. The interest in MA seems to be shrinking. A few years ago the NGA did extend their graduate internships to MA, but they don't any longer. I have a MA, and I am not particularly interested in going back at this point in my life. What sort of jobs are available with this degree?

Jeb Prazak

This is the first printmaker outside of my family who I had the pleasure of working with; my parents signed me for a class with her when I was in high school.  She had her own studio and gallery in Dodgeville, WI.  She lived above the gallery in a loft space reached by a ladder.  It was a beautiful facility and home.  I thought it was time I gave her her due on this, and in all honesty it should have happened sooner.  About the same time I was getting back into it in college Jeb had developed cancer, and due to the bills was forced to sell everything.

P.S.  I just a saw a flier for Wisconsin artists, and evidently Jeb is still working.

Book in Review

This past summer I picked up and read Magical Secrets about Line Etching and Engraving:  The Step by Step Art of Incised Lines by Catherine Brooks of Crown Point Press.  To any with a serious interest in printmaking this book is a must read.  I tend to be a bit of a technical junkie myself, and while the subject is not a new one to me this book did offer some new techie twists and tricks that kept me interested throughout.  Every printmaker I have worked with to date (Jeb Prazak, Joel Elgin, Peter Hoffer, Allison Wilse, Rob Hay, and of course my mother) all have had mildly different ways of handling things.  This book was no exception and did not disappoint.

New old stuff to the Naked Beast

I don't think very many people follow the Naked Beast, but to those who do.  Just posted some new old stuff.