"The process begins with a plate/painting which is created specially for the print process using Stabilo pencil and oil paint. When the painting is complete, I break it down into a grid that works with the imagery and corresponds to the size of heat transfer paper. Depending on its size and shape, the plate/painting can be broken up into any number of images. My works range from a single heat transfer I image to as many as fifteen images pieces together.
When the grid has been established, the plate/painting is laid flat on the laser color copier and sheets of heat transfer paper are run through the machine. This paper is coated with a special emulsion which absorbs and holds the colors via an electrically charged field.
Once the heat transfer images have been made, I trim and reassemble them into a collage, either to reproduce the image of the plate or to take on a new image.
When the heat transfer sheets have been assembled, they are turned image side down onto the paper that will become the print. The paper I use for the prints varies from somerset, rives BFK or arches to very thin Japanese rice papers. The colors and the image of the paper are factors in selecting the paper.
After "tipping" the heat transfer sheets to secure them to the paper, I place the two elements in a heat press, set ap approximately 325F., with the heat transfer sheets on top. It takes about ten minutes in the press for the emulsion to transfer onto the hand made paper. When the process is complete, I open the press and carefully peel off the backs of the heat transfer sheets keeping them within the heat of the process as much as possible. With luck, the color image has been smoothly transferred onto the paper."
Phyllis Seltzer, 1989
