The paper thickness in the area where the wire is placed is thinner because fewer fibers lie on top of the wire. Those areas transmit more light than the rest of the sheet when illuminated from behind. The watermark is a subtle, hidden message revealed with light. When browsing antique books or documents written or printed on handmade paper, one will often detect unintended watermarks, the socalled "papermaker's tears." These marks are generated in the process of papermaking, when the deckle is removed and waterdrops accidentally fall onto virgin paper. Many of my own early handmade papers betray such "papermaker's tears." I began making paper in the early 1960s after a career as a paper engineer. I started experimenting with watermarks in 1967 after I visited an exhibition featuring the works of the Swiss painter Hans Erni. His distinctive signature "erni" was displayed on the front page of the exhibition catalogue. I thought it would make an interesting watermark. I copied the signature, glued it onto a 0.8-millimeter-thick brass sheet, and cut it out with a jigsaw. Then I fastened it onto a papermaking mould and made 10 sheets of DIN A4 handmade paper, which I sent to Hans Erni together with a cover letter. It took a while until I received a response. At the end of October 1967 the postman delivered a letter containing an ink drawing on a sheet of the watermarked paper, signed, dated, and dedicated to me by Hans Erni together with a friendly letter of thanks. Thus motivated, I carried on making more handmade papers with individual watermarks of at least fifty different artists. Joan Miró, Marc Chagall, Jasper Johns, Horst Antes, and Meret Oppenheim were amongst the recipients. Many of these artists rewarded me in return with a piece of art. left: Author's light-and-shade watermark of self-portrait and signature, 1977, 30 x 21 centimeters (11.8 x 8.3 inches), 100-percent beech-wood pulp. All photos by and courtesy of the author. right: Light-and-shade watermark screen of author's self-portrait. Screen is made of laid phosphorus bronze wire; produced in 1976 by Radece Paper Mill, Slovenia. winter 2013 - 25 The first artist to use watermarks as a form of artistic expression was the internationally known German artist Horst Antes. He asked me to collaborate with him to create watermarks from drawings he did for his project Agamemnon 3. A collection of 16 different watermarked sheets was compiled and displayed in a specially designed cardboard box in an edition of 100. In 1971, Meret Oppenheim asked me to translate eleven of her drawings representing cloud images into watermarked sheets. The result of this collaboration was the Wolken Collection, which we produced in an edition of 25. In 1974 Meret Oppenheim asked me to do another project. Meine Fahne was a group of 100 sheets of watermarked paper plus 17 artist proofs showing a flag on a flagpole with an irregular hole in the middle of the flag. Each sheet displayed a flag with a differently shaped hole. Meine Fahne was sold to the Japanese art publisher Akira Moriguchi. Since watermarks are the trademarks of hand papermakers, I also wanted a watermark of my own. In 1972 my artist friend Karl Schmid from Gockhausen, Switzerland created the design for my first watermark measuring 5.1 x 4.8 centimeters. Henceforth I have included this watermark, representing three overlapping paper sheets, in all my handmade papers and many of my artworks. A gilded version of the watermark can ben found on the cover of the special edition of my monograph Fred Siegenthaler: Das Werk—The Works. In 1976 I designed and created a watermark showing three interwoven faces in profile and my signature "Fred" for a limited edition of 20. For my third and last watermark I ordered, in 1977, a light-and-shade watermark screen from the now-closed Yugoslavian Radece Paper Mill. It measures 30 x 21 centimeters, and shows my portrait at the age of 42 along with my signature. A sample of this watermark is also included in the special edition of Fred Siegenthaler: Das Werk—The Works. I have always been fascinated by watermarks, accidental and intentional ones. I developed my own methods of creating watermarks and have passed on this knowledge to hundreds of students so that they can make their own identifiable, idiosyncratic paper.
