John Robert Haydu


Artist Gallery
Haydu wrote about his work in 2017: Thanks for sending the image of the print. It certainly helps jog my memory about that specific intaglio. In much of my work I would employ elements that were both organic and geometric (I use the term loosely). During my undergraduate studies, I trained as a commercial art major (now referred to as graphic design). However, when I began to explore fine art, I shifted my emphasis to painting and printmaking. These latter experiences occurred during my pursuit of a graduate degree. Eventually, I was hired by the art department at Central Missouri State College (now known as the University of Central Missouri) to teach a variety of art courses on the undergraduate level. In the late nineteen seventies an opportunity to teach exclusively in the printmaking area became available and for the next 30 plus years I focused on teaching all of the various printmaking techniques. In the late eighties, I expanded my interests to include paper making and taught a course on the process during the summer sessions.  Getting back to “Conflict,” the print that's in your collection, as a graduate student I was becoming acquainted with the various techniques associated with the intaglio process. I was learning to utilize the aquatint method to create large area tonalities within the print composition and to contrast those areas with a more meticulous incorporation of line etch and drypoint. Hence, there is a subtle tension or "conflict" between the ragged organic forms and the drawn lines in the different areas of the print. The dichotomy of organic and geometric or "mechanical" shapes and marks has always played a part in many of my more abstract or nonobjective art pieces. This is especially true in instances where I felt the medium lent itself to that type of visual expression. In the print "Conflict", the ragged edges were produced by manipulating the ground (the protective layer used to prevent the acid from etching the metal plate) with a brush. The line work was produced with a scribe (a special steel needle) to expose the linear marks through the ground allowing the acid to etch the line. The random marks were produced by allowing the acid to etch thru the thin areas of the  ground thus creating what is called "false biting" or an unintended etch. This "false biting" is often considered unwanted or accidental. Artists like me considered these accidental marks as an enhancement to the composition rather than unintentional mistakes. The aquatint areas are created by dusting a resin onto the plate and melting the particles thru heat which fuses the particles to the plate. When submitted to acid, the plate will be etched everywhere but where the particles are fused. The longer the plate sets in the acid the deeper those areas become and the darker those areas will be when the plate is inked. The grayer areas means that those aquatinted areas weren't etched as long. This information will help give a broader view of who I am as an artist/printmaker and some insight into my work. John Haydu