How This Book Came to Be and Thanks to One and All

It all started with a print-making class I took through the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art in July 2011. On two consecutive Saturdays we met at the Sonoma Community Center in the Print-making Room which boasts one of the most incredible presses around. Our teacher, Julie Cavaz, provided everything we needed including encouragement for all of us beginners. The first week we did monotypes. The second week we did etchings on plexiglas. I chose to do a bowl of tomatoes which I photographed in my kitchen, printed out to a size that fit and carved it onto the plastic—not very adeptly, I might add. But it worked.

Over the course of the day, I pulled seven prints, trying seven different approaches. Some worked better than others. I learned quickly that patience was required, not optional. Thanks to Pat Reed for the photo above. Once home, I filled in some missing lines with pen and ink and then scanned the images. What you see in this edition of seven books are printed versions of the scanned images. The original prints are in the eighth book.

In August, I took two book-making classes also through the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art. Emily Marks taught the classes on two consecutive Saturdays at the Museum and furnished us with a wealth of supplies and expertise. We learned four different book-making methods. I chose the Japanese stab stitch for Tomato Prints and Recipes.

Thanks to both of these excellent teachers and to Barbara, Carol, Geraldine, Karyn, Kristin, and Pat for contributing the recipes to accompany the prints. A day doesn’t go by that I don’t thank my lucky stars for Katherine Fulton.

I hope you enjoy both the prints and the wonderful recipes.