Saint Helices P3C, intaglio print, 24" x 18" plate, 30" x 22" paper, ed. 30, 1997. A limited number of prints are available.

This is the largest of the suite of Saint Helices prints that I made in Montreal. The composition is a combination of the designs of the previous two prints. The upper-central area is composed of the radiant center design from version P1C, and the lower-central area is composed of the directional brushstroke design from version P2C. The star pattern devised in the drawing Saint Helices Star Pattern is utilized for the first time in this print.

The same idea for the detachable twelve section color plate devised for version P2C has been enlarged to scale and applied in the printing process of this image. In order to have the stars appear as white in the final image, each individual star form had to be extracted from five pieces of the twelve piece color plate. The resulting "divots" acted as empty spaces where the colored ink would not be accepted by the plate, and the white of the paper would show through at those exact points in the print. There is no doubt in my mind that I worked harder on and longer on these prints than any of my paintings to this point. These prints are true feats of creative engineering in terms of preparing the plates, and in the printing process. The plaster cast paintings, Saint Helices versions 76, 77, 78, and 81, do approach the same level of obsessive, process-oriented, image making.