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Wood Engraving and a Wood Engraver in the 21st Century

© Jim Westergard, himself

Jim Westergard has a mailing list for some of us who are interested in his weird images. I get the news, and go to see the images. The expertise the man has in this old medium has intrigued me, and I wanted to know more - so I asked him to tell me (and you) about himself. Reluctantly, he tried to stay within the certain number of words we are supposed to limit ourselves to - but I was just teased by the little that told, so I asked and asked him to write more, more MORE! He said, basically, OK, I'll give you both barrels. After he wrote it all out and e-mailed it to me, he said he was quitting it to return to his studio. You will see what he cooks up in that studio, a Yank and his wife who loved Canada so much that they took Canadian citizenship. Meet Jim, the old wood engraver up there in Alberta. (He says that "old" is a word to be proud of.)

Wood Engraving & Wood Engraver Catapulted into the 21st Century

Wood engraving was in its prime during the early nineteenth century, when it was used to illustrate printed material. A person in the twenty-first century, surrounded by modern tools, conveniences and digital imaging would have to be nuts to be using a nineteenth century printmaking medium. Jim Westergard qualifies as a nut.

Wood engravings are images printed from blocks of end-grain hard wood that have been engraved with fine tools. Ink is rolled onto the surface of the wood and, wherever the wood is engraved, ink will not touch, and so that line will not be printed. Jim Westergard uses nineteenth century engraving tools as well as a twentieth century electric engraving tool, but no tool from the twenty-first century. This, of course, certifies the nutty status of this older Canadian artist who hunches over a bench, squinting at a block of wood. To assist his tired old eyes as he engraves those teeny little lines in the block, he clamps on the mighty magnifiers.

Jim originated as an American in Utah; did a stretch in the Navy and wound up kicking around the Bay Area in 1960, watching beatniks read poetry in North Beach. He met Carol Hincks, the painless dental assistant, in Palo Alto, and married her. The two of them quit their jobs and picked up a VW Beetle in Wolfsburg, Germany. They bummed around Europe for five months until the money ran out, then came home and settled in Phoenix.

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep

The copyright of the article Wood Engraving and a Wood Engraver in the 21st Century in Visual Arts is owned by Jim Westergard, himself. Permission to republish Wood Engraving and a Wood Engraver in the 21st Century in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.