We discussed printmaking and he asked if I would be interested in seeing his latest print and the wood blocks that he carved for it. You might be able to guess that my answer was an emphatic “yes”! The print was “Snakes” the last print he did. He showed me how he printed it and I was enthralled and amazed. When I mentioned that the print was perfect, he was quick to point to one line that did not meet up perfectly with its counterpart on the block. Each block was a third of a circle (120 degrees). They were printed by rotating the inked block 120 degrees to connect with the previously printed one. In the middle of the print was a pin hole which he used to rotate the blocks. There were three blocks, one for each color. That is nine separate printings. You would almost need a magnifying glass to see the “imperfection”. To Escher it was a glaring mistake.

I asked Escher if I could give him my print. He had to decline my offer with the explanation that he was being relocated to what I understood was some kind of an artist’s residence. He further told me that he could not take all of his possessions, let alone my print. My print is shown laying in the foreground of one of the four photographs I took in his studio.

	Escher at his writing desk.		That's my print on his desk in the foreground.

To this day I do not know why I only took four pictures and regret not having his wife take my picture with him, or more pictures around the studio, or even of his neighborhood. Memories diminish over time but it seems that his home was red brick on a tree-lined street with lots of shade. To me it was something out of Father Knows Best.

When he stated that he was sorry that he could not accept my print, he also said that he was very sorry that he could not give me one of his prints as they were not his to give-they were “treasures-of-the-state”. Don’t quote me on that term, but that seems right. I said “Oh that’s okay”. Don’t get me wrong, I would have taken one in a heartbeat had he been able to give it to me. I said “Mr. Escher you are really big in the United States”. His reply was classic. He said “Yes I am, aren’t I”. No conceit, he was merely stating a fact.