Psalm 113.3

John Wesley Grossman

Grossman's interest in chromolithography began with a visit to an antique store in the mid 1970s, in which he found a collection of Victorian ephemera, printed chromolithographically onto cigar boxes, labels, and cards. Fascinated with the process, he decided to try to use to same technique for his own fine art. Already an accomplished oil, acrylic, and watercolor landscape painter, Grossman wanted to see if he could recreate the atmospheric tonality of his plein air compositions using a multi-stone technique. He approached Master Printmaker Ernest de Soto of San Francisco for direction. De Soto suggested that, since the artist's studio was in Marin and his own workshop was across the Bay, that aluminum plates would be the preferred method, as opposed to the large, ungainly litho stones. Grossman got to work.

Using a 35mm color slide that he took of the Sleepy Hollow valley in Marin County, he created first a watercolor sketch, and then began testing the litho crayons and tusche washes on a plate at his own studio. Each color required its own black and white plate, with Grossman determining which color would go where on each plate--to be printed in reverse, in order from light to dark--in his mind's eye.

After proofing each color, Grossman took the plates to de Soto's workshop, where printer Brian Shure began pulling the images under the direction of de Soto. The edition was completed March 4, 1980.