self taught

"At the age of 35 Fred Geary taught himself the art of xylography without guidance from outside of one or two books at first." (Dienes, 1946) Others did the same thing. Like Paul Landacre, Lionel Lindsay, as well as Thomas W. Nason, who were later commissioned by the Woodcut Society to do prints.
Nason wrote something about his learning curve. I would like to think that Fred Geary had a similiar experience. With that, here is what Thomas Nason of New England wrote: "I am always perplexed by the question, so often asked, as to how I happened to take up wood-engraving. It is difficult to give a satisfying answer. In the early twenties, I became aware of an increasing interest in wood-engravings, based mainly on seeing them used as book decorations
and magazine illustrations. These
prints, done for the most part in a bold and effective manner with rich blacks and sparkling whites, appealed to me very strongly. I seemed to see great possibilities in the medium for personal art expression. In 1922, I made my first wood-engraving, which was more of a laboratory experiment than anything else.

The decision was soon reached that I would never find it particularly thrilling to cut away the wood around the lines on the block simply to reproduce my drawing. But I was exceedingly interested in engraving extemporaneously directly on the block with a smooth-cutting engraver's tool which would go in any direction with equal freedom and which would cut a fine line or a broad one with much the same movement. I found this kind of engraving on wood a creative process within itself. As I became familiar with the use of the burin on boxwood and perfected my knowledge of printing from engraved blocks, the fascination of the process really got hold of me.


But my progress was slow. I produced a few blocks each year but continued to engrave them purely as a avocation; constantly experimenting, and striving to improve both my technique and composition...I do not know exactly how many have succeeded it but I do know that each one has presented an individual problem and that the final result is always a matter of conjecture. The first trial proof always brings a moment of keen anticipation and excitement --and often brings disappointment." Thomas W. Nason

(courtesy of the Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library, 14 West 10th Street, Kansas City, MO, accessed Sunday, March 21, 2010)
(To the left are close up shots of a 5 by 8 inch House print by Fred Geary)
House by Fred Geary. Image size 4 by 5 3/4 inches. Fred Geary Print Collection, Carrollton Public Library, 1 North Folger Street, Carrollton, Missouri, United States

For more on Nason, click HERE