Thursday, April 29, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Printsy Interview - Kelly O'Keefe
Blog: http://crumbsbutter.blogspot.com/
Etsy: kelokeefe.etsy.com
Brief bio:
Born in Plattsburg, New York in 1969, I moved to Northern California in 1976. and have called Berkeley home since 2002. I have a BA in English and Sociology from U.C. Davis. I have been cutting and pasting paper and words since my journalism days in high school and college. I discovered screen printing in 2008 and am thrilled by the possibilities of the medium.
My fondness for screen printing stems from being able to readily see the hand of the artist in the end result. Each print is unique with it’s variation in image placement, ink color and background. The story told by the piece can be altered by making small adjustments during the printmaking process. Ink splatters and image over lays only add to the quirkiness of the piece.
How did you get started in printmaking?
I took a screen printing class at Richmond Arts Center and was so taken with the process that I became instantly obsessed with screen printing. My teacher, Thilde Weems, has provided endless support, instruction and encouragement.
Describe where you work:
I have a micro-studio in my house where I print along with a darkroom for my exposure unit. It is a cramped space but I love being able to work at home whenever the urge strikes. I make a huge mess-- the wash out sink is in the laundry room so that room looks like a crime scene with drips and splatters on every surface.
What is your favorite printmaking process?
Old fashioned screen printing using a photo emulsion process and printing on paper.
What's your creative process?
I start with a rough sketch or a blocky collage of the image and refine the layers from there as I decide which portion can stand alone in the print.
I don't work digitally so it is pens, paper and rubylith!
What is your favorite part of the process?
I love the moment, post-burning, where the emulsion is being rinsed out of the screen and the image starts to peek out from the screen. The printing possibilities are just surfacing and all is new and fresh!
What is your least favorite part of the process?
I hate when I go one step too far- meaning that I keep adding layers to a print when I should leave it alone!
What are your inspirations (other artists, people, places, events, etc.)?
I am turned on by old junk, wrecked stuff and all matter of garbage. I usually hit on a composition and then make choices based on the possible overlaps of images within the composition. So much of my printing process is trial and error and then an "Aha" moment hits and I fall in love with the artwork.
How has your work changed and evolved since you started?
I seem to be slipping from an old-timey vibe into a more "street" or tough spirit. We'll see how it goes. Folks don't seem to respond as readily to the more mod stuff but I'm loving it!
How do you get past creative slumps?
I don't dwell on the down periods because they always lift and I am off and running again! Usually a little day trip somewhere cures the dry spell. I live in Berkeley so there is always something great happening that puts the spark back in my head.
How do you promote your work?
I use the internet, my blog and local venues for my promotional stuff. My New Year's resolution is to do more in that department.
Any other comments or advice for others who want to try making hand-pulled prints?
Jump in--the water's fine!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Who's Printsy This Week
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Printsy Interview - Cassie Bouton
Etsy: thehouseofbouton.etsy.comBlog: thehouseofbouton.blogspot.com
Brief Bio
I was formally trained as a Printmaker, I earned my BFA from the University of Southern Maine. I live and work in Portland, Maine.
I assist my husband with his contracting business, so when I am not laying tile or installing kitchens, I am in my home studio, making art!
How did you get started in printmaking?
High school art class.
Describe where you work.
I work in my small home studio/office. I utilize all my wall and ceiling space with drying lines. I built a custom work table out of a counter top and 2 microwave carts.
What's your favourite printmaking process?
Intaglio. Alas it is not a process one can do easily at home.
What's your creative process for any given print? (eg. sketch first? Pre-planned or free-form?)
I pre-plan all my designs, eventually carbon transferring them to the matrix when I am satisfied with it.
What do you enjoy most about printmaking?
I like the accessibility, the idea that fine art can be made available to everyone. I like anything that transcends class, I think I might be a socialist.
What's your least favorite part of the process?
Running out of ink, because it is so expensive!
What are your inspirations (other artists, people, places, events, etc.)?
I have a soft spot for Andy Warhol. Anything antique or kitchen related. My Mom is an artist, my Dad sold antiques and my Great Aunt was the first 'Betty Crocker'. When you look at my work this all makes perfect sense.
How has your work changed and evolved since you started?
My work changed a lot through college, it was all about finding my voice and my niche. Since I graduated it has become much more authentic.
How do you get past creative slumps?
My high school art teacher always told me "The key to creativity is continuity." I have never found anything to be as true.
How do you promote your work?
Blog, ETSY, Facebook, business Cards, through my day job. I am going to start approaching galleries and shop owners soon.
Any other comments or advice for others who want to try making hand-pulled prints?
You can do it! I use a rolling pin!
Friday, April 16, 2010
Who's Printsy This Week
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Printsy Interview - Molly Bowman
Etsy: printsbymrb.etsy.comFlickr: flickr.com/photos/printsbymrb
Brief Bio
I am a research assistant on a public health career path but spend most of my free time covered in block-printing ink. I spent a few perilous years in New York City trying to "realize" my love for art by settling for a publishing job that really just involved photoshopping celebrities. Last summer, I quit my job, packed my belongings into my car, and moved clear across the country to Portland, OR. Here I am finding a slower pace of life, a wonderful artistic community, and the understanding that art is a personal process, not a commercial one.
How did you get started in printmaking?
I started loving printmaking at age 3, when my father carefully dissected Mary Azarian's "Farmer's Alphabet," a beautiful book of rural woodcuts, and taped them all over the walls of my room. Like many American children, I was trusted with my first linocutting tools in elementary school art class. I remember it vividly: the activity we did while the teacher stood by with a first aid kit, warning us repeatedly to cut our little rubber block by motioning the blades away from ourselves, and finally kicking Tommy out of class for threatening to deface Rachie’s American Girl Doll. I remember gleefully lifting my paper from the block, and becoming crestfallen as I realized that the letters I had carved so perfectly were printed backwards. A few attempts later, I had figured out the reversal process couldn't stop printing.
While trying to survive the bustle of NYC after years of printing abandonment, I decided to give it another shot. I bought some plastic carving tools, a couple of blocks, and discovered that it was just as rewarding as I remembered it.Describe where you work.
I work all over my tiny apartment. I have a designated printing table in a small nook, but it's often overflowing with supplies and prep for art fairs. I print on the coffee table, the kitchen counter, the dining table, the floor, the desk, and sometimes actually on my printing table. Really whichever 2'x2' space is free and flat.
What's your favourite printmaking process?
I can't resist linocutting - it is such a smooth, cognitive process. I often find that I marry whatever I've been listening to - radio stories, song lyrics, etc., with a particular part of a carving. For instance, I recently carved an anatomical heart, and can still hear the NPR Talk of the Nation discussion I was listening to as I carved the pulmonary arteries. I have plans to build up the courage to venture into woodcutting, but so far am so satisfied with linocutting that I can't seem to make the switch.
What's your creative process for any given print? (eg. sketch first? Pre-planned or free-form?)After my sad experience in grade school where I forgot to reverse the letters in my carving, I developed a technique to make sure that all my prints are printed as originally envisioned: I sketch in pencil on tracing paper, then press the tracing paper - graphite down - on linoleum and bare down with a pencil to transfer the drawing to the block. My carving is based on the transferred pencil marks (with some liberties taken). My prints are usually hand-pressed (as in, with my fingers) - though I have a baren (a pressing tool) in an attempt to reduce wrist strain, I just love the feel of the block under the paper and usually the baren stays in a drawer.
What do you enjoy most about printmaking?
I love it all, but I think my favorite part is inking a block for the first time. I absolutely adore the tacky sound a brayer makes rolling in ink (I've been known to roll it back and forth much longer than necessary). When the brayer rolls across the ridges of the linoleum for the first time, I get giddy to see what used to be a flat drawing realized in three dimensions.
What's your least favorite part of the process?I wish that I could keep calm while carving. When I carve too quickly, I inevitably slip and take off a piece that then takes forever to glue back into place and recarve. Carving is such an exciting process that I can't help but get a little over-zealous. Kind of like when you have something wonderful to drink, can't contain your excitement, and spill some on your shirt.
What are your inspirations (other artists, people, places, events, etc.)?
As a kid, I was stunned and inspired by the printed political posters made Bread & Puppet-style artists. Their simple sylvan designs were screen printed onto linen in vibrant colors with few well chosen words expressing disgust with politicians, hope for change, and love for the simple pleasures. Mary Azarian, a woodcutter from Vermont, has been formative for me with her intricate, hand-colored images that reflect much of my rural childhood. Sabra Field, also a woodcutter from Vermont, has reminded me that simplicity is key in communicating sweeping emotions. And lastly, despite my recent move to the Northwest, I can't help but draw continued inspiration from the "clean dirt" feel of rural Vermont, where I was born and raised.
How has your work changed and evolved since you started?It hasn't been long since I decided to embrace the term "printmaker," but I have recently noticed a sense of confidence in my designs that wasn't necessarily there before. At first, I relied a lot on the unexpected elements of printmaking to make my carvings interesting - maybe I had pressed the paper with different weights which lent a mottled effect, or I forgot to carve some areas deeply enough and the resulting print had a darker feel than I had planned. Now I have a better idea of what works and what doesn't, and most of my prints are quite purposeful.
How do you get past creative slumps?
I am guilty of long slumps. Eventually, though, I'll start feeling anxious that I haven't printed lately, and begin to reconsider my surroundings. I'll try to see everything as a carving - the trees and dogs in a park, my kitchen, a lamp. I enjoy working in series, so if I find one possible carving, I'll often be able to extrapolate that to other similar carvings in content or style.
How do you promote your work?Most of my promotion is online - the usual social networking sites and Etsy, primarily. I've attempted a blog but put it aside due to lack of inspiration - I felt inspiration was better spent carving. I'm working up the courage to contact local commercial establishments to carry my more marketable products - greeting cards, for instance. And lastly, I'm working on a set of prints that could be sewn into a children's book. I'm hoping that venturing into publishing might expand my scope a bit.
Any other comments or advice for others who want to try making hand-pulled prints?
Any artist who has ever felt a pull to work with his or her hands will feel completely at home with some carving tools and a block. The tactile elements of block printing are wonderful, and the serial nature of the work allows an immense satisfaction. Just make sure to have plenty of band-aids handy!
Friday, April 9, 2010
Who's Printsy This Week
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