Focus on a Printmaker:
An Interview with Linda Lee Boyd
by Benny Alba
©1999 The Journal of the California Printmaker
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Linda Lee Boyd is major contributor to the ongoing development of the California Society of Printmakers. Linda's current prints are portraits of very physical men in the trades. The men are depicted shoveling, pouring concrete, building. Benny Alba interviewed Linda Lee Boyd in July 1999. "Linda is a very fine artist whose pieces are quiet, like Linda herself, and yet a strong, intense energy is there below the placid surface." Dan Robeski, President, California Society of Printmakers

Linda Lee Boyd

Benny Alba: How did you get started doing woodcuts?

Linda Lee Boyd: (laughs) It started when I had a roommate with a difficult basset hound. Living with that dog was like living with a uncontrolled child. With the premise of "if life hands you a lemon, make lemonade," I made prints of him. It got me into graduate school!

Alba: How did you start being interested in art?

Boyd: After I got my BA at Cal, I worked for a couple years at PG&E as a clerk. That helped me decide it wasn't what I wanted to do with my life. I had always drawn so I began taking art classes at San Francisco State, including a woodcut class from Roy Ragle, and that was it. Roy Ragle was and is an incredible inspiration, both artistically and personally. He kept encouraging me to continue doing prints. Somehow cutting and printing woodcuts felt especially natural to me and you can see that so much of my artistic expression comes from that moment.

Alba: You now pull Roy's prints. How did that come about?

Boyd: He has had health problems for many years. Eric Callies, another student of Roy's, started helping him print by hand, then Eric and I began working together when Roy bought a press and his condition deteriorated further. The prints are 24- by 36-inches per section in the larger works, finely cut, and mounted on plywood. Because of Roy's physical condition, he needed our help. Roy kept encouraging me to do my art. It was personal encouragement. I can't say enough about that. And printing his work is the least I could do.

Alba: About your images. You also do still lifes. Why is that?

Boyd: Portraits do not sell well. I start from a figurative point of view, not a commissioned one. Alice Neal, Lucian Freud, and earlier, Vermeer, are artists who made figurative portraits of individuals which became visual signatures of the artists and the style that they defined. Those are artists whom I particularly admire. Portraiture isn't like getting your photo taken. That is, unless you are talking about someone like Richard Avedon. I find people interesting to look at. It started with my family, friends, and co-workers. I always took photos with the idea of making prints of them.

Alba: So you use a camera?

Boyd: Yes, but it's because I'd rather have people I know be my models. They can't sit still long enough.

Alba: What kind of camera do you use and what is the process of transformation from photograph to finished woodcut?

Boyd: I just have an old Minolta 35 mm single lens reflex which I bought from a boyfriend who found it in the cab he was driving. He was putting himself through law school and needed the money. Nobody claimed the camera so I got it. I'm not a great photographer, but I try to get people when they are not aware of being photographed. I don't do a formal sitting. Out of a roll of 36 color pictures, over the years, I may use one or two photos or parts of them. I get them developed at a quick print place. I use an overhead projector to enlarge the photo or part of it to get the proportions correct. Then I redraw it on another sheet of paper, working until it is right. After that I transfer this line drawing to the block using carbon paper. Before I cut, I do a complete drawing with shading so I know where the lights and darks are.

Alba: Who are some of the subjects of your prints?

Boyd: Well, I started out with my uncle -- I've done at least four of him -- and then I did my mother and brothers as well. After that, I went on to do co-workers such as the longshoremen and the guys pouring concrete.

Alba: Did you know these men personally and individually, or are the images simply intended as generic portraits of workers?

Boyd: I worked with these men, so I knew them as well as one knows one's co-workers. These prints are observations of the men, but also I want to give a sense of how they feel about themselves and their work.

Alba: You refer to this series as "the working men." Boyd: I was working part time as a bookkeeper for a contractor and had to deliver the paychecks to the construction sites. Once they were pouring a concrete floor and I thought that it was very interesting the way they moved around with the concrete, the sluice, and the hoses, so I started taking pictures any time they poured.

©1997 Linda Lee Boyd Pouring Concrete IV; woodcut 24"x22"

Alba: Let's focus on your woodcutting process. What tools do you use?

Boyd: I use different techniques. I use electrical tools such as a Dremel, plus the the usual hand tools and wire brushes. The complete drawing takes the longest time. The cutting follows the drawing. If I get the drawing right, the cutting seems to be fairly easy.

Alba: What wood do you use?

Boyd: I use finish-grade birch plywood. Nowadays the manufacturers cut the veneer with laser tools so the surface is much thinner than older wood, making it harder to get the range of tones. But the blocks are still beautiful.

Alba: Tools ... tell me a secret you know about tools.

Boyd: I don't have any secrets. I sharpen them every time I use them. And I use a razor strop in between to keep them in good condition.

Alba: The positive/negative compositional aspects of your work are often striking. At times they are less visible on first glance due to texture. Do you focus on design, texture, or what are your primary concerns?

Boyd: I need to define shape some way or another. For example, in Pouring Concrete IV, I use simple lines to convey the idea of hair. I simplified the hair. These men are out all day without a chance to comb and their hair gets all over the place.

Alba: What about your use of color?

Boyd: I use it just to define the layers a bit. It gives perspective and depth.

Alba: What colors do you use and why do you limit yourself to those?

Boyd: I use mostly blues, grays, and browns. I want the color to be subtle, not the main focus. I am interested primarily in shape and texture and what they represent. I'm not particularly responsive to color in nature. I don't use color for expressive means as much as to differentiate areas of the print.

Alba: Do you use a separate block for each color?

Boyd: No. I avoid multiple blocks if I can as wood is expensive. I ink the whole block. The Claudia Chapline block for the CSP poster was from two blocks-blue and black.

©1999 Linda Lee Boyd woodcut, 24"x16"

Alba: How many hours of hands-on work do you do in an average week on the blocks? Boyd: My working hours are limited only by my need to earn a living. My art work doesn't sell enough to support me. It is my hope that someday it will. Needless to say, my process is very labor-intensive. The amount of time I spend on a block is partly determined by the size of the block since I work pretty minutely over every square inch. As for printing, it's about the same for each block. I use a Griffin etching press and my edition sizes are determined by how many prints I believe I can distribute. Art Hazelwood assisted me in printing the Claudia Chapline poster, which of course cut down on my normal expenditure of time and labor.

Alba: What do you do to the block when you've editioned a print?

Boyd: The blocks? People have asked to buy them at Open Studios when they see them as part of the demonstration. I wouldn't sell a block. But I just keep them in a safe place.