"Ink and paper are my muses Using hand press printing and printers' ink to create original prints has absorbed me for the last 47 years I love the qualities of all papers, especially fine rag papers and washi papers Their tactile and soft surfaces beg to receive ink and I am always happy to oblige them "
-- George A Walker
George A Walker is one of Canada's foremost woodcut artists Over the past 40 years Walker has created more than 1,000 wood engravings to illustrate seven wordless books and countless prints covering subjects ranging from literary works to half-remembered dreams, to historical figures and events
Ink and Paper is a collection of the best of Walker's work from the 1970s to the present The book is a complete survey of his career, with over 250 prints -- including many from his wordless novels about important figures in Canadian art, politics and history -- as well as photos of Walker's handmade limited edition books Each carefully selected image, complete in itself, is paired on the facing page with a complementary image that enhances the visual experience Ink and Paper is capped with an afterword by Tom Smart, curator, essayist and director of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery
Walker attributes his fascination with woodcuts and their use in wordless novels to attending an exhibition featuring the work of Frans Masereel, the first master of the wordless novel After the exhibition he began an obsessive pursuit to find books illustrated with woodcuts, wood engravings and linocuts, and to learn everything he could about fine art printmaking and the art of wood engraving
The result of that obsession is a four-decade career and an astounding body of work -- celebrated here for the first time in this gorgeous retrospective
About the Author: George A Walker is an award-winning wood engraver, book artist, teacher, author and illustrator who has been creating artwork and books and publishing at his private press since 1984 Walker's popular courses in book arts and printmaking at OCAD University in Toronto, where he is Associate Professor, have been running continuously since 1985 For over 40 years Walker has exhibited his wood engravings and limited-edition books internationally He has illustrated two hand-printed books written by Neil Gaiman and is also the illustrator of the first Canadian editions of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures In Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass He was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Art for his contribution to the cultural area of Book Arts He lives and works in Toronto
