I'm OFF!!!

Off I go...so long farthee well printfreaks.

Woodblock Printmaking

Here is a cool little video on woodblock printmaking!!!

Lorg Printmakers

Galway is one of the most exciting and beautiful cities in all of Ireland. I am happy to find out that they have started a new printshop there. Next week, I'm leaving for Ireland again, and hope to go "printmaking spotting". I don't have very much time there before I head to Greece. I'm excited for Greece. I'm not sure what to expect. I have never been there and feel like it is more foreign than the rest of Europe mostly because they have a different alphabet. It will be an adventure. I'm excited to take in the surroundings and start printing again. My goal is to make 20 prints which isn't a lot since they will be monotypes, but I'm also taking an etched plate to experiment more with viscosity printing. I'm experimenting with the idea of creating black and white "Mandy world" images and chine colle(ing) viscosity prints onto them. It's not a traditional approach to printmaking, but I want to see what might come about. I feel like my blog has been suffering this past year, and hope when I get back to get more involved in it. I'm not sure why these past months have been so terrible, but i guess I have been putting most of my energy into other things which are more important, but a guilt settles into my stomach whenever I come back and dust off my precious blog. I'm not sure if I have regular readers, but I apologize to you, and will get back into the swing of things if possible while I'm in Greece, if not, then when I get back. I'm hoping I can get my digital camera to work in Greece, so that I can do daily reports.

If you have not already heard Lorg printmakers are looking for supplies for their printshop, so if you have extra stuff send it over there!!!


Lorg Printmakers

Lorg printmakers (formerly Connaught Association of Printmakers) came together in order to create a twenty-four hour access print workshop in Galway, Ireland. For the last six years, printmakers in Galway were fortunate enough to be have limited access to G.M.I.T. printmaking facilities through the membership of a print club, which allowed a capacity of fifteen artists. However, due to increase in demand, they needed to extend this facility.

Lorg printmakers aim to provide: A professional 24-hour open access print workshop. Both emerging & established artists with the opportunity to make & establish their work. Training classes to allow printmakers to advance their artistic careers by expanding their knowledge of all printmaking processes while also introducing artists working in other mediums to printmaking. Employment specifically linked to art, printmaking, and art administration. In addition, to promote: Encouragement and support for the development of a stronger printmaking community in Galway and to promote Galway as a major centre for the visual arts both nationally and internationally through residencies, workshops and touring exhibitions. Inter relations with other studios and collaboration with various art organisations. Awareness and appreciation of printmaking through workshops, community based projects, schools programmes and regular exhibitions. An environmentally friendly studio where the emphasis is on green products and materials.

Since May 2004, membership has grown in excess of 70 members. As part of their membership, members receive a quarterly newsletter, regular e-mail and text alerts as well as the opportunity to exhibit in Lorg member shows.

Recently Lorg were approved for funding from the Arts Council, while also receiving much support from artists, councillors and business people, not just in Galway but also throughout Ireland.

email: lorgprintmakers@gmail.com

Cannonball Press

There is a really interesting article on Artblog about a printshop called Cannonball Press in Brooklyn, New York.

The philosophy of Mike Houston and Martin Mazorra of Cannonball Press: "Inclusiveness and cooperation always get you further than elitism and exclusionism. By this age, I better have figured that one out. We think it's ridiculous that art is so costly. We understand fully why it is, but still think it's ridiculous. Printmaking has the capacity to be the people's medium—the democratic art. We believe in this strongly and are just thrilled that so many different people are able to afford what we make."

It's inspiring to know that printshops like this exist in America. While I was in Europe I saw many of these types of printshops opening up. As the contemporary art world moves forward in the direction of becoming inaccessiblee to the common people, it's inspiring to know that artists are thinking differently and are putting their values first.

Wabi sabi

I have found the perfect word for the core of all the art that I create: Wabi Sabi. I thought that there was no connection between my artworks, but this simple yet complex idea lies beneath all of my work. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete". This is how Rothko and Kathe Kollwitz work makes me feel. Even though the two artists are completely different, they both evoke this feeling for me. Now that I have found a word that best describes my aesthetics, I want to explore this term more, and see what I can make.

Wabi Sabi: According to Leonard Koren: "if an object or expression can bring about, within us, a sense of serene melancholy and a spiritual longing, then that object could be said to be wabi-sabi." Richard R. Powell summarizes by saying "It (wabi-sabi) nurtures all that is authentic by acknowledging three simple realities: nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect."