Amateurs 1937

Paul Landacre made this print, "Amateurs," using wood engraving, and, I have to say, it really speaks to me. I can just imagine Landacre, carefully gouging out the wood, removing material to create these bold contrasts between light and dark. There's a real sense of labor in that, a dedication to craft. I can feel his hand moving across the block, deciding where to cut, where to leave the wood untouched. You know, the marks are so deliberate, so clean. It feels like he's thinking about work, about the ordinary stuff we do, and maybe how clumsy we can be sometimes. Like, are they really amateurs? Or are they just us, trying to figure things out? I always think about how artists are in this ongoing conversation, riffing off each other, finding new ways to say something that’s already been said. It is like they’re amateurs and experts all at once!