Printmaking Update!

As I promised, here is the finished result. It was great fun playing with this method and I think the result is quite effective. I am eager to try incorporating this technique into some of my paintings on canvas.

I based this print on a painting I did a year or so ago. It was one of three very large works featuring women from different cultures. The Flamenco dancer would be interesting to do too and I could add drawings around her based on photographs I took during a trip to Spain in 2006. So many exciting things to try!

A Little Diversion Into Simple Printmaking

So my printing press has arrived and now sits ready for action in my studio. I'm waiting for the inks to arrive from the UK. I also have lots of new canvas's ready for painting on but I have been eager to get started on the printmaking. I happened upon an article about making simple prints using styrofoam as a printing plate so I thought I would give that a try using the one tin of ink that I already have. Because I am a vegetarian I don't buy meat and so I don't have a ready supply of styrofoam containers so I went out and bought some disposable plates and cut the centers out of them. This gave me small 4inch squares to use. The idea is that you draw into the styrofoam with a pencil or pen, ink it up and then press it firmly onto paper. Where the lines are impressed the ink doesn't print and the original colour of the paper shows through. Very simple to do and in fact children do it at pre school. The only ink I have is gold so I had great fun printing with this on different coloured paper but I loved it on black. Then I got very excited about the possibilities and had to rush off to the art store to buy some decent black watercolour/printing paper.

By making a picture using many of the small plates you have more options.I made several prints of a multi plate print based on a painting I did a while back. The first one, pictured above, was a bit messy as the registration of the plates wasn't very good so with the next one I was more careful, however, it was too perfect and lacked the more print quality that I was after. I also ran one through the press under very gentle pressure using the plate I had already printed from but that still had some ink on it. This gave a very soft print that I thought I could use as part of a collage however I decided to paint part of it to see how that would turn look. You will have to check back for my next post to see how that has turned out.

Heaven Blue Rose Gallery and "Art at Peachtree" Show

This was a very artsy weekend for me. Prior to my trip to Toronto I submitted some work to the Heaven Blue Rose Contemporary Gallery in Roswell. This is the first gallery I have applied to since moving to Atlanta and they will now be showing my printmaking and collage works. I spent several hours up at the gallery on Friday sorting out the details and organizing the framing of several pieces including the wacky print in my last post. I am always horrified by the cost of framing but the frame on this print will be great and really enhance the whole look.

I also exhibited at the "Art at Peachtree Show" an event put on by the Peachtree Presbyterian Church and the Atlantic Artists Center and sold one of my pieces there.

My life has been interesting with all the moves we have done however it is a problem for my art career. I just start to get my work known and build up a clientele and then we move. It will be the same this time too as we are only in Atlanta for a three year period and then we will move to Toronto.