In 1994, Ed Blair commissioned the production of two fine-art prints designed from original printing blocks from The Outsider. The Outsider was a literary magazine published in New Orleans between 1960-1969 by Loujon Press. Contributing authors include a who’s who of the beat generation, with names such as William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Langston Hughes, Diane de Prima, and LeRoi Jones (known as Amiri Baraka), among others, appearing in the pages. With Gypsy Lou Webb’s assistance, Frances Swigart printed the pieces using blocks that Blair had “retrieved from a damp French Quarter attic.” 

Frances recalls, “The old plates from the newsletter were brought to me in a box. I was asked if I could do anything with them to print a piece that could be framed. Of course, I said yes.  I put the blocks together inking them in different colors and printed a pair of large pieces adding multi-color patches of chine collé. I wanted Gypsy Lou to write notes on it as if she were editing for her publication. She agreed and the photo above shows us collaborating. It’s a great memory.”

The set of two 30x22 vertical prints honored the Thirtieth Anniversary of the Loujon Press. Made from the press’s original printing blocks, an edition of 100 copies was hand-printed by Frances. The prints were hand rolled with black and terra cotta colored inks and chine collé with five variously colored Japanese papers. They were collected and exhibited nationally. William S. Burroughs, who lived in Algiers during the late 1940s, was one of the first to order a set of prints.