Printmaking Treasury!

Printmaking Treasury!

Treasury!

Printmaking Treasury!

Printmaking Treasury!

Interview with Kari McDonald – The Paper Button Press

Biography

I am a recent graduate of a BFA in Printmaking from Northern Illinois University. I live with my husband (and no dog yet) in Rockford, IL where I've been born and raised. "Natives" tend to hate Rockford and want out as soon as they graduate high school. But they usually come back within a year or two. We are the most critical of our own city, but I've learned to give it more chances. I'll be here awhile, if not forever. The downtown area is where I want to contribute more of my artistic abilities. Who knows? Maybe my husband and I will open a gallery/studio down there! That would be awesome. For now, find me at local shows in the downtown area and surrounding communities.

Why do you like to print?

I don’t like to print, I LOVE to print! I am very detailed oriented and love all the processes involved to get that gorgeous etching or layered woodblock print. Printmaking is very physical and feeds my inner artist more so than any other medium I have tried. The community within printmaking and all the collaborative efforts make it even more awesome.

What is your favorite print medium and why?

My favorite medium is woodblock printing. The intense manual labor makes it that much more therapeutic and rewarding. I also really enjoy copper plate etchings because of the line quality and all the possible textures I can create with the process.

How long have you been printing and how has your work evolved?

I have been printing since high school with a little introduction from my soon-to-be father-in-law at the time. He earned his M.F.A in Printmaking from Northern Illinois University, which is even more ironic. Since then I fell in love with it and it was always in the back of my mind to pursue. Psychology, Nursing, and Art Education got in the way, but then I knew I just had to follow what I absolutely loved. And finally, 5 ½ years after that introduction to printmaking with my father-in-law, I was an official Printmaker.

Previous themes include spirituality and physical properties of the soul. I'm looking forward to working with new themes.

What inspires you?

Deeper meanings and purpose within each person inspire my work. I am a spiritual person, but I do not necessarily expect my audience to be of the same spirituality. My prints cause any person to question their inner thoughts, feelings, and bring about a spiritual evaluation. I want my audience to discuss the difficult issues in their lives and to discuss the difficult questions of life and death. I know, heavy right?

How do your promote your work?

Social Media. That seems to be all people are talking about nowadays. I’d have to agree with them. But there is still a disconnect with older generations that most likely have the money to buy real artwork. So, you just have to keep doing art shows. Join art guilds and arts councils. Get on their websites with bios and pictures.

Are you working on any particular projects now?  

I am currently working on my Collage-a-day-project while I figure out a basement printmaking studio (which I hope to be totally non-toxic and mostly “sustainable”). Check out my progress on my blog !

Tell us one random fact about yourself 

I am married to my sister’s husband’s brother. And yes, that’s legal!

Thanks for reading and remember there are 5 sides of a spatula to keep clean, not including the handle!

Kari's Etsy Shop and Facebook Page

Printsy Interview - Kirsten Francis

Website: www.kirstenfrancis.com
Etsy: kirstenfrancis.etsy.com
Blog: kirstenfrancisart.blogspot.com

Brief Bio
I spent my childhood in New England, Mexico City and Toronto, as well as many summers in Denmark with my mother’s family. After graduating from college with a non-art related degree, I discovered printmaking at my local community college in San Diego. I was so taken with the process that I returned to school to get a degree in printmaking.


Since then, I have been making and selling my artwork full-time (or trying to, now that I've got kids). That struggle to balance artmaking and one's 'wild side' with keeping house and home together is the driving theme behind my work. That is combined with images from my childhood, the garden outside my door and myths and fairy tales (I read way too many of those as a kid) to create narrative and fabulist artwork that's really just about my everyday life.

How did you get started in printmaking?
The art class I was signed up for had a terrible instructor. In desperation, I crashed a printmaking class held at the same time. I didn't even know what printmaking was.

Describe where you work.
I work in my home studio, which I am constantly rearranging to make it more efficient. I've got an etching press, a workbench, a dry table for paper and mat cutting and a desk where I draw and sketch.


What's your favourite printmaking process?
Reductive woodblock.

What's your creative process for any given print? (eg. sketch first? Pre-planned or free-form?)
I think, I drink coffee, procrastinate, clean the house, think and then sit down to sketch. It never works out how I envisioned it would. There is much erasing and redrawing. When I feel like I've got a decent drawing, I cut a piece of plywood to match the dimensions of the drawing. I redraw using a grid with pencil onto the plywood and then I seal it using a light coat of spray varnish. Then I carve and print, carve and print, carve and print (repeat about 8 times).


What do you enjoy most about printmaking?
That it's so hard, and long and fairly torturous. I feel like I've really earned a good result. Then there is the 'kiss of the press'. Lovely.

What's your least favorite part of the process?
That I have to explain the process over and over again. I appreciate people's curiosity but sometimes I feel that it's only the technique that justifies the artwork in their eyes. Do painters get asked about their technique so often?

What are your inspirations (other artists, people, places, events, etc.)?
Fairy tales, mythology, literature, poems, gardening, quiltmaking, my kids, animals, Aztec imagery, Kollwitz, Kahlo, Hockney, Domino magazine and other ephemera (not necessarily in that order).


How has your work changed and evolved since you started?
Technically I've improved, my color have gotten brighter and I've got more of a sense of humor about my work.

How do you get past creative slumps?
Oh geez, I'll let you know after I get through this one.

How do you promote your work?
I used to do art festivals and send out postcards and do email blasts. Now I am transitioning to the web with Etsy and a blog. I'm trying to get the hang of it.


Any other comments or advice for others who want to try making hand-pulled prints?
If you don't have access to a printmaking studio, relief printmaking is the way to go. Start small (i.e. do a card sized piece) and you'll be surprised at how quickly it goes. It can be a lot of fun (obviously, if I'm still doing it myself)!

Printsy Interview - Stacey Bradley

WEBSITE: www.perlaanne.com
BLOG: www.perlaanne.blogspot.com
ETSY: www.perlaanne.etsy.com

BRIEF BIO: Studied printmaking at Dallas School of Art and Design, as well as various independent art studios in New Olreans and Mississippi. I originated my hand block printing company in 1997 under the name Me and C, when I began creating custom cards inspired by my then three-year-old daughter, Cierah. After I developed an obsession with bolder design elements around 2003 and renamed the company Perla Anne, in honor of my mother. She was a constant force behind any and all of my creative pursuits! I now live in Charleston, SC and run Perla Anne from home.

HOW DID I GET STARTED IN PRINTMAKING: Printmaking was introduced to me by my high school art teacher, and I've been obsessed ever since!

DESCRIBE WHERE YOU WORK: I work daily from my sunny home studio, which is perfect for me as I am constantly mastering the art of balancing Perla Anne with life at home!


WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE PRINTMAKING PROCESS: Always has been wood and linocut carving, due to it's tactile nature. I love the process of using my hands the entire time.

WHAT'S YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS FOR ANY GIVEN PRINT: Mostly pre sketched. All the images have to be carved in reverse and this helps me to be certain that my words and designs are facing the correct way when printed! That being said, I do love to occasionally
just begin carving without an image already drawn onto the block, just to get that beautiful element of surprise!


WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT PRINTMAKING: I truly love the timeless art of printmaking, and the involvement from beginning to end. Drawing then carving the design, rolling the ink, pressing the back of the paper to transfer the reversed image, then finally pulling up the paper to get the surprise you can only get from hand printing! Each piece unique and different.

WHAT'S YOUR LEAST FAVORITE PART OF THE PROCESS: The clean up! I make an enormous mess even if I'm just doing one print run!

WHAT ARE YOUR INSPIRATIONS: It changes, but mostly the simple life that surrounds me. My amazing family, nature of course and it's endless wonders.


HOW HAS YOUR WORK CHANGED AND EVOLVED SINCE YOU STARTED: When the business began I was enchanted with busy design and color. These days I find myself in love with the simplicity of design and black ink on white paper.

HOW DO YOU GET PAST CREATIVE SLUMPS: I enjoy the time away from my studio as much as my time in it, but I tend to find inspiration everywhere...it's the time to act on it that I'm lacking!!


HOW DO YOU PROMOTE YOUR WORK: This is where I fail miserably. My sites are grossly outdated. I don't enjoy the promotion side of things, and I hope daily that somehow it takes care of itself. Word or mouth, blog mentions...etc.

Printsy Interview - Jeff Phegley

Etsy: thenaptowner.etsy.com
Website: www.jeffphegley.com
Blog: thenaptowner.blogspot.com

Brief Bio:
I grew up in central Indiana and attended college at Ball State University where I received a BFA in Graphic Design and a Masters in Painting.

How did you get started in printmaking?
I took printmaking courses throughout college and was hooked at the start. I was introduced to German Expressionist prints early in my academic career and I still cannot get enough of the work...absolutely powerful.

Describe where you work.
I work in my home studio. I like to be surrounded by my tools and be able to work on my artwork at any convenient moment. I print on a Dick Blick press which I love! It is very empowering to own your own press and have the opportunity to print whenever you want!

What's your favorite printmaking process?
I really enjoy intaglio. There are so many techniques that can be utilized to create the final print. I enjoy charting a course on how I want my prints to look in the final stage and then implementing the steps to make it happen. It can be a very time consuming medium but is very much worth the effort in the end.

What's your creative process for any given print? (eg. sketch first? Pre-planned or free-form?)
I usually begin by writing down ideas that are inspired by a number of stimuli (books, nature, people watching, tv, radio). I then develop my ideas in sketches to work out compositions and subject matter. I also sketch in pen and ink to practice my mark making which I then transfer to the copper plate. An attractive quality to printmaking is in the creation of multiples, so I like to create series of works to further explore the multiple and cover my ideas from different angles.

What do you enjoy most about printmaking?
Pulling the first print off the press is very exciting. Even though a plate has been worked over for several hours and you have a pretty good idea of what you may get, there are always surprises revealed once the plate is inked and printed. It is really a magical moment.

What's your least favorite part of the process?
The process of printing an edition of several impressions can be monotonous and time consuming. I am usually at my wits end after cleaning, inking, wiping and printing five impressions of the same image. At this point I walk away, rest and approach the edition with fresh eyes because focus is needed to create a consistent edition.

What are your inspirations (other artists, people, places, events, etc.)?
Observation of urban and rural nature, people, video, radio and reading books always provide inspiration. Visiting museums and reading about other artist's work and methods of production is also great for fueling the creative fire.

How has your work changed and evolved since you started?
The quality of idea forming through observation and more playful execution of techniques has increased over the years which has really elevated my work to a more challenging place for me and hopefully the viewer.

How do you get past creative slumps?
I recognize them and enjoy them. I try to avoid being frustrated and understand that the well will once again fill up. I find these to be great times to look at other artists work, or just take a break and not think about art-making at all.

How do you promote your work?
I just recently started selling my work on Etsy! I have a website which features my finished works and a blog that I update with sketches and works in progress. I enter competitions once or twice a year and have gallery shows about once every couple of years.

Any other comments or advice for others who want to try making hand-pulled prints?
Printmaking can be accomplished with limited means. There are several books out there that illustrate great printmaking techniques that can be accomplished with a few household tools. There is no excuse for not printing! The best thing about prints are the multiples that you can trade for other artist's works!

If you could curate a museum show of a printmaker who would you exhibit?
I would love to curate a comprehensive exhibition of Goya's prints. The show would include various states of specific prints (if they exist) and original plates, tools and a reproduction of a press that he may have used. Oh yes, and there would be printmaking demonstrations throughout the duration of the exhibition.

What printastic museum would you recommend other printmakers to visit?
THE REMBRANDT HOUSE MUSEUM
They have the MOST comprehensive collection of Rembrandt prints. The house, which Rembrandt owned for many years, has been restored to reflect how Rembrandt lived in it in the 17th century. It is a remarkable experience.
The Rembrandt House Museum
Jodenbreestraat 4
1011 NK Amsterdam
The Netherlands

Printsy Interview - Sally Flynn

Website: www.sallyflynn.com.au
Blog: caffeinatedprints.blogspot.com
Etsy: www.flightindustries.etsy.com
Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/flightindustries/

Brief Bio:
Sally Flynn is an artist who splits her time concentrating on her practice in printmaking and working full time at a regional Art Gallery. After studying Fine Art at the University of Tasmania, majoring in painting, she completed her honours year in printmaking. Highlights of her practice include two residencies, solo exhibitions and running workshops for artists.

Starting her career as an arts-worker in Western Sydney and then Tasmania with qualifications in Community and Youth Work, Sally then completed her Graduate Diploma in Museum Studies at the University of QLD to move into arts management. She has worked as the Gallery Assistant at Artisan (peak body for craft and design in QLD), managing the popular Ivory 24-7 window project space. Her knowledge within the visual arts includes experience in the operations of an art gallery, curating exhibitions and working with artists. She is passionate about assisting artists in their careers, so much so this often comes before her own practice. She has her own website and posts regularly to her blog.

How did you get started in printmaking?
I was making paintings and drawings in my honours year at Uni Tasmania and my lecturer said - whoa there Nelly those look like etchings - get yourself to a printmaking class. I found etchings too fussy, but loved relief prints, especially in the form of woodcuts and lino cuts. I also like embossing. This was all about 5 years ago, and you can't stop me.


Describe where you work:
I like printing better than painting because I can do a lot of the prep at home (in front of the telly). When I accrue enough time at work I'll take a free day and book a session at the community print studio. I recently did a residency where I was able to print 24/7 - lovely!

What's your favourite printmaking process?
Oh yeah, shot my mouth off already - its relief embossing.


What's your creative process for any given print? (eg. sketch first?Pre-planned or free-form?)
I like to do little thumbnail sketches. With my background in painting this was always enough to get me started. I'm finding with printmaking I need to do a lot more planning. From the thumbnail sketch I move onto plotting out on the wood or lino. I use smelly marker pens, or if I'm feeling fancy I will go with a chinagraph pencil. I like to adjust things after I print too. I'm not too proud to dig in with my carving tools to get things 'just right'.

What do you enjoy most about printmaking?
I love all the planning that goes on. When you make an artwork you really feel liked you have worked! I also am enjoying the resurgence of this craft with the whole handmade revolution.

What's your least favorite part of the process?
I'm still no good at reversing the image in my mind - so many times I have printed and thought, oh - that's not how I thought it would look. I really don't like the messy stinky inks. I also get frustrated that there is little room for spontaneity during the press stage. Oh the blankets I have ruined!


What are your inspirations (other artists, people, places, events, etc.)?
Right now its screenprints - Little Friends, and posters, etc. But children's books, illustration, pattern, fabric prints, all have their place. Sometimes my partner and I make up silly stories, and I think - I would like to do a print about that.

How has your work changed and evolved since you started?
When I started I was really into creating images that were part of my research thesis on mental illness and artmaking. Now I want to learn more about the technique. I read people blog's to see how they do things. Lately I've been musing over various approaches to text.


How do you get past creative slumps?
I keep a journal or sorts, or rather a few. I write notes as much as I draw thumbnails. Flipping through this can take me back to the moment of inspiration, and will spark it off again. But when I'm in a deeper slump, its other people that inspire me - blogs, exhibitions, movies, etc.

How do you promote your work?
I've just started to take this seriously. I have a website that is still a baby. The best method of my promotion has been my blog. I also have an Etsy store. I had a stand at a market earlier this year, and I really enjoyed meeting my 'clients' face to face. That's something I am really going to pursue.

Any other comments or advice for others who want to try making hand-pulled prints?
The delight in making prints is not reserved for special people; anyone from children to adults can make this art! Find a class, enroll and enjoy!

Printsy Interview - Diana Moll

Blog: theqipapapers.blogspot.com
Etsy: www.qipapers.etsy.com

Brief Bio
I've been interested in art since I was small. this alarmed my parents, who really didn't know what to make of it since they were science oriented and so were my brothers. I looked at school as an opportunity to draw, not necessarily a place to learn math. A few times I got in trouble for drawing.


When I first went to college I thought I would be a pre-vet major since I spent much of my life with animals, but in less than a year I dropped out and went backpacking in Europe with a friend for 6 months. On my return I tried to get into the Art Department, you had to petition, and I didn't get in. Now I can see why, but then I was devastated.

I started doing an Independent Major in Illustration and took full year of letterpress printing and started getting hooked on printing. A Life Drawing class got me drawing a bit better and my petition for the Art Major was accepted. I spent lots of time in the Lithography studio inhaling fumes and making prints of toads and lizards. After graduation I did some graphic design and illustration along with various odd jobs. I bottled wine, was an assistant to a composer, DJ'd in a club, worked for years in record stores (when there were records LOL), that sort of thing. I wish Etsy had been around!


Graphics started getting more and computer oriented and I didn't like working on the computer so I went back to school and drew my way through a Masters of Traditional Chinese Medicine degree from Five Branches Institute. Along the way I got married and had a son, got divorced, got involved in Marital Arts (Tai Chi and Ba Gua). A few years ago the alternative medicine business started to get thin so I started teaching art at my son's school. I got hired at the now defunct Santa Cruz Waldorf High School and I started doing more art work because teaching can be very stimulating that way. So here I am, my son is off to college, I have two rabbits, an insomniac boyfriend, and lots of prints that want to be created........


How did you get started in printmaking?
I semi-concentrated in printmaking in college, mostly lithography and letter press. I loved it, but got really burnt out with the chemicals and it just wasn't the sort of thing you could do without a proper studio. That was decades ago. Last year the High School I worked for asked me if I'd teach a relief printing class this year. I hadn't printed in such a long time, then I saw Moku Hanga taught by April Vollmer being offered as a weekend course at the Community College and figured it would be interesting and good way to get back into it. I really liked her work, so I signed up. I fell in love with the Moku Hanga, no really, it was the same feeling.

Describe where you work.
I have a desk in the corner of the bedroom, there's no window, but I have a full spectrum light. Moku Hanga is very adaptable to small spaces!


What's your favourite printmaking process?
I like them all equally for different reasons. By the time I'm satiated with one it's time for the next and it feels like a fresh start. The variety of activities offered by Moku Hanga quite agrees with my need for change.

What's your creative process for any given print? (eg. sketch first? Pre-planned or free-form?)
The initial stimulus can be different. Like for 2 From Nottingham that was a commission and I did a sketch or two then looked at a lot of pictures of my subjects and revised my drawing a few times. For Toad's Eye View I wanted to do a print that used gold leaf and my new tool designed to make circles. In general things start as little sketches, then I'll see different aspects or things I want to try during the day while I'll doing other things.


What do you enjoy most about printmaking?
Seeing lots of fresh prints lined up is so exhilarating. Also printing the block that starts to pull everything together. It can be surprising which one this is, it's not always the key line, sometimes it's a color.

What's your least favorite part of the process?
Clean-up, I work in a small space and every time I start the next step I have to clean and straighten everything, just to have enough room to work.


How has your work changed and evolved since you started?
I've gotten more complex, trying to get some different sorts of textures. Of course I've actually only been doing this sort of printing for less than a year.....

How do you get past creative slumps?
Work in the garden, play with the rabbits. Get some rest, have acupuncture, get the energy back up and harmonized. It's all about Qi and balance.


How do you promote your work?
My Blog, donations, local crafts fair (well one so far and that was a disaster LOL).

Any other comments or advice for others who want to try making hand-pulled prints?
Go make some prints, spread some art. In this age of the digital it is so important to have some things made with hands.

Printsy Interview - Vanessa Kale

Website: www.vanessakale.com
Etsy: www.vanessakale.etsy.com
Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/20904650@N08/

Brief Bio
I was born in the Pacific Northwest but lived in several different places as a child, finally ending up in California. I went on to get a degree in Art Studio from UC Davis. I live in Altadena, California with my husband, Simon, and our son, Nigel.

How did you get started in printmaking?
I must have been about 9 or 10 years old when I created my first print during a summer art class. It was a linoleum carving of cherries inspired by the neighbor’s cherry tree.


Describe where you work.
I work out of my home. I have one closet in the house that is just filled with all of my art and printmaking supplies. I often print on the dining room table or the floor and typically dry my prints where ever they will fit(the floor, the clothesline if it’s sunny).

What's your favourite printmaking process?
My favorite process is carving linoleum or wood for a relief print. There is something sculptural about the process of carving. I like to see how my original drawing translates into the carving and then onto the print. I love that the final print is not the same as the drawing. And the carved wood or linoleum is so beautiful too.


What's your creative process for any given print? (eg. sketch first? Pre-planned or free-form?)
Often I take photos, then make drawings from the photos. Lately after the first test print, I sometimes scan the print in and play with color possibilities in photoshop before making my next prints (this saves on clean up time).

What do you enjoy most about printmaking?
I enjoy the way that I am never in complete control of the final product. And I don’t really know what it will look like until the end.


What's your least favorite part of the process?
Clean up after printing is a drag…especially if I have used lots of different colors.

What are your inspirations (other artists, people, places, events, etc.)?
I find the artwork of Gustave Baumann to be inspirational. There are so many colors in some of his prints, they are beautiful. I love the artwork of many contemporaries as well. I save all the McClains catalogs just for the prints they include in them. I am inspired by nature mostly, plants and flowers in my garden and in the surrounding mountains.

How has your work changed and evolved since you started?
I have more toys now then I did when I was younger. I started with one Speedball carving tool, now I have all kinds of tools. I also do different kinds of prints now. I have been experimenting with printing on fabric.


How do you get past creative slumps?
I go outside, take a walk and take my camera.


How do you promote your work?
I don’t promote it as much as I should. At the moment I mostly promote amongst friends. Every year I send out holiday cards that I have printed. I have a link to my Etsy site on facebook.

Any other comments or advice for others who want to try making hand-pulled prints?
The absolute best place to order supplies for hand printing is McClain's. I just cannot say enough good things about these people. They are helpful on the phone if you don’t know what to buy or are totally new to printing. And they have useful links and images of artist's work on their site.

Printsy Interview - Jennifer Zalewski

Name - Jennifer Zalewski

Website: jenniferzalewski.com
Etsy: jenniferzalewski.etsy.com
Blog: trailhounds.blogspot.com
Flickr: flickr.com/photos/jen_zalew
(I’m on Facebook too, just search under Jennifer Zalewski).

Brief Bio
I guess in brief: I am an art and dog fiend, animal rights- and environmental- activist, recluse, and overall nerd. More than once I have been called a “feminazi” which I take as a compliment. :o) My two ex-racing greyhounds and I live in the Finger Lakes region of Central NY- close to wine country and Lake Ontario.

How did you get started in printmaking?
I took a Stone Lithography course in college (we also did a bit of linocutting) and I despised it. It was my most-hated art course throughout my four years of undergraduate work-the chemicals, the inking, those confounding huge, complicated presses- ick. I was a total grump about it. I do remember buying a block of linoleum while living in NYC after college- I wanted to carve an owl linocut for a Christmas card- but don’t remember what became of it. I think I started carving it and gave up because the linoleum was very hard (battleship) and I had some cheap Speedball tools.
Fast forward to 2005 or so, after settling back in Central NY, where I grew up… I randomly picked up another block of linoleum to experiment with…. and just kind of eased back into Printmaking that way. I did mostly one-color linocutting at first, but took a color woodcut class in November 2007 at The Ink Shop in Ithaca and have been doing reduction woodcuts ever since.

Describe where you work.
I bought my first home in 2004, and two rooms have been converted into art studios… The first room I renovated when I bought my house was the living room- it became my main art studio where I do all my sketching, carving, paper cutting, etc. I have a bureau that holds most of my art supplies, and some furniture/dog beds for Lucy and Clifford, who keep me company while I work.


When I bought my Dick Blick 906 press in January 2008, I converted my upstairs library room into a press room. This is now where I do all my printing and store my paper. It has a clothesline to dry my prints and a little bookshelf for my inks, brayers, vegetable oil (for clean-up), etc.

What's your favorite printmaking process?
Relief printmaking (woodcuts, linocuts). I’ve ordered some Pronto plates and Z*Acryl plates to try Polyester Plate Lithography, though… we’ll see how that goes! I’m excited for them to arrive.


What's your creative process for any given print? (eg. sketch first? Pre-planned or free-form?)
I always sketch first (usually on vellum), then transfer my drawing to a block by turning the sketch on its back and rubbing it with a pencil. I’m really finicky about my sketches though, and they usually take longer to do than the actual carving and printing parts of the process. If a sketch gives me the slightest doubt or bad juju, then I won’t use it.


What do you enjoy most about printmaking?
I love the surprise of pulling a piece of paper off a block and seeing how it came out, especially with reduction prints. That last color reduction, pulled off the block- it is really exciting! Of course, it can be very depressing too, if it doesn’t come out the way I’ve pictured in my head. And I love that I can use color with my woodcuts in a “limited” fashion- I am SO bad with my color palette- I used to get lectured about it in college all the time. With oils, oil pastel, gouche, colored pencil… I would go hog wild and have palettes of like, 20-100 colors. With reduction woodcuts, I can only have a few tubes of ink to use and a few reductions to use them in, so I need to be thoughtful.
What's your least favorite part of the process?
Does the “marketing” aspect count? I hate trimming the finished pieces, signing everything, the packaging, scanning it, putting it up on the internet, doing festivals… I wish someone else could do that for me! I also hate cutting paper. How in the world do you cut paper straight, especially if it is a Japanese or Nepali paper with deckled edges? I can’t figure this out for the life of me.

What are your inspirations (other artists, people, places, events, etc.)?
My dogs. Nature. The environment. These are my major inspirations.
My favorite artist is John James Audubon. I love the way he depicted his birds and animals- they have such life (even though he drew them from carcasses) and are so stylistic, despite being tightly-rendered fauna studies. They just blow my mind!

How has your work changed and evolved since you started?
Since starting with printmaking I have definitely “loosened up” a bit. I’m happy about that! I don’t like working tight and photo-realistically, but for some reason I naturally gravitate that way with non-printmaking media.
How do you get past creative slumps?
Good question…. I’m wallowing in one right now! I tend to become emotionally and mentally overwhelmed very easily when I have deadlines (for shows, “self-imposed deadlines,” art-related deadlines, non-art related deadlines, any sort of deadline, any sort of pressure) and go into rapid shut-down mode. I really need to get over this… it’s one of my weak points.

How do you promote your work?
Mostly through my blog and website. I do attend a few greyhound festivals where I sell my greyhound-related art, but it is very uncomfortable for me, even though everyone I’ve met has been so nice and supportive. I’d rather promote my art from behind a computer than “in-person,” out in public.. it’s so nerve-wracking. This is something else I need to get over, LOL.

Any other comments or advice for others who want to try making hand-pulled prints?
My best advice would be to take a class at a local print shop or join an online forum like Baren or the Printmaking section of Wetcanvas.com… you can learn so much from other printmakers! They are such valuable sources, whether you are new to printmaking or not. And buy the best tools, ink and paper you can… I really love Graphic Chemical oil-based inks and Flexcut tools, myself. If you start out with the cheap stuff, you’ll become frustrated fast.

Thank you for the opportunity to interview, Amie & Printsy!