The Idea of having an art studio open to the public has brought new excitement into my life- I have some coins that I engraved displayed in framed cases, recently I came in contact with a print maker here in Italy and made an appointment to visit his studio. It is in the wine country near the town of Certaldo, located in the province of Tuscany, near Florence, about one hundred fifty kilometers from my home. Franca who is not only my interpreter, chauffer and trip advisor, found a castle to spend our first night in.
Castles are like Seven Eleven stores here in Italy, Every major town has at least one. The following day we set off in search of his studio to show him my engravings. The trip to his place took us through very scenic hills, vineyards dotted with wealthy villas, and old churches...Finding Walter´s home took several cell phone calls asking for directions as we wandered over very winding narrow un- named roads. Finally we arrived at our destination, were greeted by half a dozen cats, Walter and his wife Marlise. They invited us in for coffee while I showed him the plates and coins I hoped he could turn into prints for my gallery .I asked if he thought they could be printed. “Leave them with me and I will see what can be done”, he said.
That was two weeks ago, today he made the two hour drive to my home and delivered these. His studio is listed as Walter Sarfatti artist printmaker in Tuscany .Here is the results of the excellent work he did. The dimension of the coins and plates I had printed are small, ranging from 5 to 2.5 cm. They are going to be very limited signed editions and will be for sale at my gallery next summer. If they interest you, contact me at
joseph4art@gmail.com leave a message. I will get back to you. Meanwhile, after seeing the prints I decided that I should return to engraving, I have made arrangements to visit my old school, “The Bottega Incisione Giovanelli” and see if I can buy the basic equipment needed to engrave, not that I expect to do any serious work but I think I can engrave plates and minor objects for printing at my new studio
Here are the images from Walter and a couple of recent paintings
Thank you,
Joseph engraver