Mick Mather: The Man Behind Eraser Carver's Quarterly by John Held, Jr. It began innocently enough. In 1989 Syracuse, New York, resident Mick Mather saw an advertisement for a new magazine about to be published called Eraser Carver's Quarterly. He had been involved in the medium since the start of the decade, and eagerly sent in a subscription to Terry Owens of Waterloo, Iowa, who was heading up the new publication. Owens, to Mather's disappointment, sent back the check, unable to continue publication. In October 1989, Mather wrote and questioned her about assuming the editorship of the magazine. Owens gave Mather her blessing to use the name of the planned publication and a list of forty-eight subscribers. The first issue of Mather's Eraser Carver's Quarterly came out in February 1990. Out of respect for her initial conception of the magazine, Mather sent Owens the first issue and vowed to send her one of every issued published. To date, Owens has amassed a sizable collection, for true to its name, Eraser Carver's Quarterly, has appeared four times a year since its inception. In February 1996, Mather published his twenty-fifth issue. Each issue of ECQ features a variety of tips, hints, how-to, and personal reminiscences of interest to the beginning, experienced, and professional carver. The work of about twenty carvers are featured in each of the four issues appearing February, May, August, and November. Eraser Carver's Quarterly has become the leading exponent of this fast-growing artform. R. Seth Friedman, editor of the influential zine guide, Factsheet Five, has stated that, "It always brings sunshine to my day when the ECQ arrives in my mail box. Filled with carving tips and examples of carved erasers."1 Mather's success was swift. After five issues he had two-hundred subscribers. The publication answered a need in this facet of the growing rubber stamp community. Rubberstampmadness, the undisputed publishing leader in the field, could only address eraser carving concerns on a limited basis. More and more rubber stamp enthusiasts were turning to these less expensive do-it-yourself stamps as a way of expressing their own creativity, in a field that was fast becoming more craft oriented. Rubberstampmadness stressed embossing, inks, fabric stamping, and other techniques. Eraser Carver's Quarterly stressed the art of rubber stamping without the expense of amassing a large arsenal of store-bought rubber stamp images. Mather became interested in carving through the pages of Rubberstampmadness in its early years, when the magazine was still under the editorship of Lowry Thompson. He began by carving linoleum blocks, but after some two hundred attempts in this medium, switched to rubber after a special issue on the subject in Rubberstampmadness in 1983. Since then, Mather has carved some five hundred images of his own in various shaped erasers he has acquired over the years. Mather was first led to rubber stamps and eraser carving through his interest in mail art. He first became aware of the medium in 1977 when he was reviewing records for OP, the forerunner of Sound Choice and Option music magazines, both specializing in audio reviews. Mick was a rock 'n roll musician in the seventies, having a special interest in the blues and roots rock. Somewhere in the pages of OP there was a notice for a mail art project. Interested, Mather wrote for further information. His earliest mail art correspondents were Carlo Pittore and Bern Porter, who were engaged in a small personal network called Art Com Net, along with Edgar Alan Bushmiller and others. He took the pseudonym 4-U-2-Post and began issuing a magazine bearing the same title. In this he was influenced by Carlo Pittore's ME! magazine, an important publication in the early eighties, serving as a transition from mail art to networking; building communities beyond the postal system and through such means as zines, personal contacts and mail art congresses. 4-U-2-Post stressed collage as a layout format, and this has continued in Eraser Carver's Quarterly. Laying out the magazine has always been Mather's favorite part of being an editor. This harks back to his layout work at a regional newspaper. Beginning with twelve pages, ECQ grew to sixteen pages with issue #21 in February 1995. Copy is composed on a typewriter and reduced 15%. Mather has plans to begin designing the magazine by computer and to make the periodical available on a web site. From eraser carving to web sites. It seems like a big jump in technology. Mather traces the beginning of eraser carving from the 1850s when postmasters would carve the cork caps of wine bottles to make cancellation stamps. Later these were replaced by rubber stamps. Woodblock carving goes back to at least the 1400s, appearing about the same time as the printing press. Carving is an age old human activity. And yet, it is experiencing a revival these days. Bill Gaglione, Director of The Stamp Art Gallery, has compiled an anthology of stamp carvers from over thirty countries. This revival is apparent from the increased demands on Mick Mather's time. In December 1995, Mick was able to leave his job of fourteen years in retail sales, to pursue a new career in publishing, exhibiting, and demonstrating eraser carving. Mather became interested in more formal printmaking activities in 1992, when he discovered the work of M. C. Escher. An admiration of Escher's complex prints led to his own attempts at carving larger erasers and printing them in limited editions of ten to twenty copies. These have been exhibited at Oneonta College's Tenth Annual Mini-Print show in October 1995, and more recently at the 12 Rooms Minus 4 Gallery in Syracuse. In addition to Mick's April 1996 workshop at Stamp Francisco, he is presenting eraser carving workshops at the Erie Canal Museum in Auburn, New York, and the North Syracuse Art Guild, later in the year. Some of Mather's favorite eraser carvers are Stephen Sloan, Larry Angelo, Julie Hagan Bloch, and newcomer Elke Fried of Denmark. He maintains a fairly extensive archive of mail art from 1983 to 1990, when he was editing 4-U-2-Post and corresponding with a broad spectrum of artists. In addition to his sizable collection of eraser carving art, he maintains separate collection of artistamps, zines, and artists' books and publications. His contact with the international mail art scene is more limited these days, confined to foreign subscribers of Eraser Carver's Quarterly, such as Ainslee Walker of Make Your Mark rubber stamp company in York, England, Michael Leigh of A-1 Waste of London, and English author on the medium, George Thomson. Both Mather's art and life are moving in exciting new directions these days. Eraser Carver's Quarterly will naturally change when Mick trades in his typewriter for the computer. Some will, no doubt, miss the low tech look and his excellent paste-up skills, however, the new possibilities of the computer and link to a web site offer exciting new opportunities. Mick is also making the move into a more mainstream art now that he is beginning to rely more heavily on his creative interests after leaving his career in retail sales. His position as the publisher of the medium's most important periodical has gained Mick an overview of eraser carving few other practitioners can match. His entry into the world of mainstream art portends an increased acceptance of eraser carving beyond the immediate rubber stamp community. Back to Writings |