Beauty is something that I also was very concerned since childhood.

Always was pondering about beauty and what it really is.

And I realized its something that I cannot measure, but is something that I always felt inclined to manifest in one way or another.

And paper is one of the ways to me, is very important to do it in paper.

You might think Orcas Island was named for the black and white whale that pass through every summer, but the saddlebag shaped landmass got its name in 1791 when a Spanish explorer named it after a Mexican viceroy whose long string of names included Horcasitas.

Some 50 years later, a British naval officer shortened that to Orcas.

I've arrived on shore to visit printmaker Eduardo Fausti, who was born and raised almost 7000 miles south at the foot of the Andes mountains in Argentina.

And while Fausti says his move to the San Juan Islands was something of a fluke, he feels fully at home among the trees, silence, and birdsong, which he translates into abstract artworks.

- This is the Coho Preserve.

Its special because it's like my secret garden, in a way.

I love the sounds, as you can hear right now, birds and the creeks.

So when we're here and you stop and listen, what are you listening to?

Mostly just the real sounds of the natural world.

It just brings me inside to state of peace in a way.

And I start feeling like I'm just kind of one with the environment.

I feel like I am just one more manifestation of this incredible world.

From sea level, we climb up to Faustis home in the Orcas Highlands.

Set back in the woods is the simple studio Fausti built to house his printing paraphernalia, including a 1,500 pound press that required special floor reinforcement.

He chose the setting and the large, clerestory windows to soak up light year round.

All the better for making his abstract monotypes, in which he aims to capture the sound and color of the island.

- This was, for me, something that I developed in the island, because I felt that I wanted to manifest and express all my discoveries and explorations.

They're all kind of different in a way, and they're very colorful.

And I think, what they show is just the energy of the island and the diversity of sights and sounds.

- And the series is called Reflections on Sounds?

- Reflections on Sounds, precisely because, at the beginning when I came to the island, it was, a little feeling of loneliness.

It was challenging for me.

I was so used to being surrounded by so many people living for so many years in big urban environments.

But with time, instead of encountering doubts in the forest, I started encountering muses, so to speak, in a poetic way, I kind of feel privileged to be in the island in such a place and acknowledge that before me, there were people who really took care of the island too.

- So that is mono-type, not mono-print?

- Exactly.

In a sense, theyre paintings, because on the plexiglass you actually painting and it doesnt have absolutely no marks.

Theres no indentation, theres nothing.

So everything is just right there on the surface of the Plexiglas.

And once you go through the press, you make a copy.

And it's just that unique copy.

Fausti went to schoo for architecture in Argentina.

And although he changed course due to the political turmoil in his country, architectural shapes make their way into some of his works.

Similarly, a course of calligraphy study in China shows up in the thoughtful swooshes of his paintbrush.

- So I often look through because, always looks a little different.

- Oh, wow.

You really see the colors more.

- Right.

And the composition.

Fausti says monotypes allow for the best expression of his immersive island experience.

His plan is to create 100 distinct images.

Oh wow.

In a downstairs room of his home, Fausti works on mezzotints.

Developed in the mid 1600s, this meticulous printing proces requires the artist to burnish or rough up a copper plate, then carve into it using a technique called intaglio.

By using this tool, which is a serrated tool called “rocker,” I start moving the plates in different angles until I cover it like about, 12 different angles.

And, when I finished that, I turned the plate around and I do the same thing.

So in total, I do like about 24 passes.

Mezzotints allow for extremely rich darks in printing, which works perfectly with Fausti's interest in capturing celestial bodies, stars, and the night skies on paper.

- And so with something like this,that is a lot of repetitive movement, what is your brain doing while you're - are you thinking about anything?

Are you in a different state of mind?

- It's very time consuming, and at the same time, it's kind of meditative to do it.

I kind of feel more in tune and peaceful when I do it.

And right now I'm working on this tiny mezzotint.

It's very much like the view that I have from the window here.

At night, a crescent moon and the outline of the Douglas fir, and other cypress and other trees.

This whole subject of the stars and the moons, and even Galileo, kind of began here in Orcas while I started watching the night skies.

They represent to me a variety of the sights and sounds of the island.

And at the same time, they have a lot of energy because there's a lot of energy in the island.

Everything is just moving and very much alive.

Shortly before moving here,Fausti had never even heard of the San Juan Islands.

Now he's immersed and all ears to the sounds and silence of Orcas Island.

Art by Northwest was made possible in part with the support of Visit Bellingham, Whatcom County.