Printmaking Bootcamp

Part of what was so crazy about "Printingmaking Funhouse" was that at Sunday night "orientation" we just started printing these big sheets of Japanese paper and other stuff without knowing how it would come together or without knowing quite what we were doing. It was kind of like getting off the bus at boot camp all new and disoriented and the drill instructor saying, "Drop and give me 50" and then shaving your head completely bald.

(woodblocks furnished by K. Borcherding)

Kate would say "Pick out two small-patterned 6 x 6 wood blocks and one large-pattern....use low contrast color combinations and fill up a whole 22 x 30 sheet," and we would. Never really knowing how all of it was going to come together in the end. It was like one big huge trust-fall exercise.

The next day she'd say, "Pick out some of the photocopies you brought along and make paper plate lithographic prints with them." I got this:

Then we etched some pieces of plexi glass the way she showed us and printed and watercolored some of them.

My area of the studio wall looked like this by the end of day Wednesday. I still had no earthly idea how I would pull it all together into one cohesive piece.

But it did come together. More than once. Here are a couple of samples of the end results.

Watercolored dry point etching mounted on litho print (4 x 5)

Watercolored dry point etching, litho printed image in cut out mounted on woodblock printed paper (4 x 4)

Dry point etching printed on vintage apple cider label mounted on wood block printed papers (6 x 6)

Dry point etching printed on cookbook page, litho of bird painting, mounted on wood block printed papers (6 x 6)

Dry point etching printed on vintage postcard, litho printed hat mounted on wood block printed papers embellished with holey paper (6 x 6)

And to think I took this class because I thought there would be one of those fun house mirrors in the studio that would make me look impossibly tall and thin......this was way better.