Artist Reply: About 15 years ago I noticed that the Movlin Papier De Arche was not what it once was when I was buying about 5 sheets at a time and going through it a lot faster. I did a bunch of checking around and found out that there were a series of mergers throughout the business, and that the quality of all of the paper out there expected to get worse. I had a chance to buy about 100 sheets of Lanaquarelle 30 x 40 inch sheets for a little over $100 dollars. I had the money at the time so I did. Since I was buying my paper in smaller quantities and was using it up faster, I wasn't aware that the paper could deteriorate the way it has. I bought some sizing from Daniel Smith Co., and will try to add sizing to the surface in sections rather than resize the whole sheet. I am trying to cut down on process and work more on productivity, since as I am getting older, my productivity is waning. It seems that time and heat can do the same damage as multi-national corporate mergers and acquisitions, it just takes a while longer.

Artist Reply: Thanks Anneke, It is surprisingly difficult trying to get detail from an old piece of paper. The sizing has deteriorated a bit, and pigment will sometimes soak into the paper and suddenly begin to spread in random and undesirable ways!