In Platemark s3e21, host Ann Shafer talks with Pam Paulson, founder of Paulson Fontaine Press, Berkeley, California. After earning her MFA in painting from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1982 (she was a teaching assistant for Robert Colescott), Pam cut her teeth in printmaking at Crown Point Press in downtown San Francisco. There she worked with luminaries such as John Cage and Richard Diebenkorn.

In 1996, she started publishing prints as Paulson Press. She and Renée Bott joined forces as Paulson Bott Press, and following Renée's retirement in 2016, Pam is joined by Rhea Fontaine precipitating the change in name to Paulson Fontaine Press. The Press works with a fabulous array of artists and specializes in intaglio printmaking.

Our conversation focuses on some of the intriguing projects Pam has worked on over the years, leading off with projects at Crown Point with artist John Cage during which the press was set on fire (on purpose). 

Episode image: Alex Wein

Pam Paulson and Rhea Fontaine at Paulson Fontaine Press.

 

John Cage. Dramatic Fire, 1989. Aquatint on smoked paper. Sheet: 18 ¼ x 23 inches. Published by Crown Point Press and printed by Pam Paulson.

 

Richard Diebenkorn. High Green Version I, 1992. Color spit bite and soap ground aquatint with hardground etching and drypoint. Plate: 39 ¾ x 22 ¾ in.; sheet: 52 ¾ x 33 ¾ in. Crown Point Press, San Francisco.

 

Caio Fonseca. Three String Etching Giallo, 2006. Color aquatint, spit bite aquatint, soap ground, sugar lift, and softground etching. Sheet: 39 x 50 in. Paulson Fontaine Press. Berkeley.

 

Gary Simmons. Double Swing Hallway, 2012. Color aquatint etching. Sheet (each of 6 panels): 19 ½ x 25 in. Paulson Fontaine Press. Berkeley.

 

Gary Simmons working on Double Swing Hallway, 2012, at Paulson Fontaine Press.

 

Caroline Kent. The Charlatan’s Sleight of Hand; Forest and Shadow; We Hold Them Inside Us; A Poem About the Cosmos, 2022. Set of four color aquatints with sugar lift, spit bite, and softground etching. Sheet (each): 50 ½ x 36 in. Paulson Fontaine Press. Berkeley.

 

Judy Pfaff. Six of One–Las Margaritas, 1987. Color Woodcut. Sheet: 41 x 69 in. Crown Point Press, San Francisco.

 

Squeak Carnwath. Medicine, 2011. Color aquatint etching. 37 x 36 in. Paulson Fontaine Press, Berkeley.

 

Louisiana Bendolph. As I Leave Shall I Return, 2013. Color aquatint and softground etching. Plate: 34 x 26 1/5 in. Paulson Fontaine Press, Berkeley.

 

Woody De Othello. Steppin Through the Night, 2021. Color softground and aquatint etching. Sheet: 43 ½ x 37 in. Paulson Fontaine Press, Berkeley.

 

Chris Johanson. Abstract Art with Cosmic Narrative, 2014. Color sugar list, soap ground, spit bite aquatint with hardground etching and drypoint. Sheet: 40 x 44 in. Paulson Fontaine Press, Berkeley.

 

Martin Puryear. Untitled (State II), 2014. Color softground etching with drypoint and chine collé. Sheet: 35 x 28 in. Paulson Fontaine Press, Berkeley.

 

Tauba Auerbach. Plate Distortion II, 2011. Color aquatint etching. Sheet: 44 x 33 ½ in. Paulson Fontaine Press, Berkeley.

 

Sam Levi Jones. Water and Air, 2018. Color flatbite and aquatint etching. 65 ½ x 65 ½ in. Paulson Fontaine Press, Berkeley.

 

Charles Gaines. Numbers and Trees, Tiergarten Series 3: Tree #6, 2018. Color aquatint and spit bite aquatint etching with printed acrylic box. 41 ¼ x 32 x 3 in. Paulson Fontaine Press, Berkeley.

 

Charles Gaines. Numbers and Trees: Palm Canyon, Palm Trees Series 4, Tree #1–#4, 2021. Set of four color aquatint and spit bite aquatint etchings and chine collé with printed acrylic boxes. Each: 62 x 35 x 3 ½ in. Paulson Fontaine Press, Berkeley.

 

Alicia McCarthy. ZAPCRLM, 2021. Color aquatint. Plate: 51 x 51 in.; sheet: 57 ½ x 57 in. Paulson Fontaine Press, Berkeley.

 

Alicia McCarthy and printer Z Groshong working at Paulson Fontaine Press.

 

Chris Brown. Arrival, 2010. Color spit bite aquatint, aquatint, and softground etching. Sheet: 33 x 45 in. Paulson Fontaine Press, Berkeley.

 

Kerry James Marshall. Untitled (Handsome Young Man), 2010. Hardground etching with aquatint. Plate: 16 x 12 in.; sheet: 24 ½ x 19 in. Paulson Fontaine Press, Berkeley.

 

Tauba Auerbach. Plate Distortion III, 2011. Color aquatint etching. Sheet: 44 x 33 ½ in. Paulson Fontaine Press, Berkeley.

 

Tauba Auerbach working at Paulson Fontaine Press.

 

https://paulsonfontainepress.com/