MARCH 11, 2015
Printmaking Today exhibit now open
Meet the artists at their reception on March 14
“Printmaking TODAY” is an informative exhibition designed to update an understanding of current fine art printmaking practices. Become fluent in Monotypes VS Monoprints, Viscosity Etching and Digital Montage Prints. Seven artists will discuss their various techniques at their Reception on March 14, 4 – 6:30 p.m. at the HOLLAND Gallery of Fine Art located at Foothills Community Foundation, 34250 N. 60th St. Scottsdale, 85266 (Next to the YMCA at 60th St. and Carefree Highway.) The exhibit runs from February 28 through March 27.
The seven artists:
Ann Otis is a story teller at heart and is experienced in many printmaking processes. Her accomplished plate techniques include etching, engraving, intaglio, line bite, soft ground, dry point, aquatint, sugar lift, Xerox transfers and Solar etching which employs exposure to the sun to develop a plate.
Her color printing techniques include color viscosity [an oily ink repels a less oily ink], a la poupee in which color is added to small areas on an already inked plate, multiple color plates, stencils, chine collé and coloring the print by hand after it is pulled from the press. In silk screen monotypes the ink is painted onto a fabric surface and squeegeed onto the receiving paper.
“I conduct extensive proofing until I’m satisfied with the concluding artist’s proof.” The final step includes setting a limit for the number of prints in the edition, printing it and then destroying the original plate.
Judy Bruce uses monotypes as a basis for her evocative art work. She began working with monotypes several years ago after a workshop with Christine Sandifur. Although she had a college minor in printmaking, monotype was new to her.
Monotypes are another way to indulge her love of painting by adding inks to the Plexiglas plate with rollers, brushes, sticks and fingers. She may use a small press in her studio but for larger pieces she may ‘butt’ press. She loves the “scribble” aspect of the monotype and the thrill that “pulling” a print always provides. The resulting texture and color can only be achieved by putting inks under pressure and the thrill of the unexpected provides inspiration for her embellished finished prints. “I love the freedom to work into the “scribble” finding the ravaged face or vulnerable person hiding within.” Soft pastel, India ink, pencil and sometimes collage are added to the monotype. The embellished monotypes are unique works of fine art.
Katalin Ehling has been working with wax for almost 45 years, specifically batik in the Indonesian tradition. However, the ancient process is very tedious and requires long term patience. She missed the improvisation which comes with other mediums, the ability to use her drawing and graphic skills and incorporate them in more playful and abstract images.
She has discovered a new method of working with wax. Encaustic monotype is a contemporary medium combining the ancient art of encaustic painting with the general concept of monotypes. She paints with wax paint sticks on a hot metal plate surface. The wax remains fluid until the paper is laid over the image and lifted off. This process combines the artistic freedom and innovation of monotype with richness and luminosity of encaustic painting. “The end results are always a surprise, and the monotypes have an immediacy which the batiks do not.”
Pamela Fingerhut is primarily a studio photographer whose work may include projects where she photomontages many layers. She may begin her work by creating as many as 50 large digital photographs and portions of photographs using professional techniques. These are then combined in Photoshop using multiple layers and masks to achieve effects that can’t be achieved from a single photograph.
The printing of her work is either done on an Epson Stylus Pro 3880 or, for extremely large prints 30” x 40”; she works side by side with a professional printer in NYC as they collaborate to get the perfect coloration and tonality for the image. Each print is printed on archival paper with archival inks to preserve the work. Finally, each project contains limited editions of 10 large and 10 smaller prints. After 10 has been printed and stored, the file is deleted from her computer insuring that the edition is limited and therefore fine art rather than mass produced work.
Marty Gibson’s love of painting led to her unique method of Collagraph printing. The one-eighth inch fiberboard plate is built up using materials collaged (pasted) to the surface. Frequent materials are– textured paper, fabric, straw, corn silk, and sandpaper. Plates are further textured with acrylic gesso and gels. She then brushes inks onto the plate before running through her etching press.
The prints are never the same even though they may be printed from the same plate. Because the plates are never cleaned they accumulate layers of subtle color. They are fragile to the pressure of the press and altered with each run. “I love the subtle texture and painter look of this process.” They are Monoprints which indicates there is a repeatable matrix or plate and are designated E.V. for “Edition Variable” as true editioning is impossible.
The Collagraphs with Marginalia are prints adhered to a larger sheet with small drawings, collaged items, linoprints or other notations added.
Hank Keneally describes his prints as “Archival Pigment Ink Prints" to distinguish them from giclee prints. Although the printing technology is the same (i.e. archival inks applied by a high end professional grade printer), a giclee print is a reproduction of an original painting. In his process he combines several computer files which may include his own photographs, scans of his drawings, or his own computer illustrations. All three may be combined to make a final print. He creates limited edition prints and manipulates the materials aesthetically in a traditional printmaking manner. Archival Pigment Ink Prints are now part of the Museum Of Modern Art collection in New York City as well as many important Museums around the world. “All my Archival Pigment Ink Prints are printed in a Limited Edition. The edition is: 5 Artist Proofs and 50 prints.”
Christine Sandifur’s monoprints begin with an original image using oil based inks on a Plexiglas plate passed through an etching press. Further layers use carved blocks that are inked and pressed onto the 100% rag paper by hand. These blocks are used alone and in combination to create texture and pattern. The characteristic of this method of printmaking is that no two prints are alike. There is, however, a repeatable matrix, or plate, which allows each print to be similar. The method used combines 4 to 5 layers that take several months to finish, as the drying time increases with each layer. Making an edition is not the desired outcome. “As I work I’m looking for an interconnection of colors and shapes which result in a look that is very different from what a single block will produce. I enjoy surprise and try to push the materials a little further each time.”
