I have been a full-time photojournalist at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel since 2008. In 2019, after my evening editing shifts, I explored the abandoned basement of the former Journal Sentinel building, where the printing press once operated. Though removed in 2014, ink remained—wet, messy, and unexpectedly beautiful. I captured its striking patterns, seeing not decay but art and history. These images, taken five years before I began painting, reflect a creative energy that eventually found expression on canvas. The ink-stained wall is gone; the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel building was sold in 2020 for $8 million and redeveloped into student housing.