Printmaking Treasury!

Interview with Kelly Tankersley of 88 Editions

Check out Kelly's Etsy Shop and Blog

Biography  

I received my BFA in printmaking and photography from the University of Texas at Austin. Like many artists with degrees I went on to work in the art world instead of actively making art. I have been a Corporate Art Consultant,  gallery manager and grant writer for a museum. It wasn’t until years later and after a work friend taught me how to make handmade paper that it all came together for me. As a gardener and nature lover, I can’t tell you how satisfying it is to take raw plant materials and cook them, beat them, mold them, press them—then whalla—beautiful artist’s-made paper.

Just about a year and half ago, a group I’m in Women Print Makers of Austin, obtained a studio with two etching presses! Finally an easy way to marry my three loves of paper, photography and etching.

Why printing? 

Printing appeals to me because of the “Happy Accidents” that can happen. I like a process between me and the finished piece. I’m much more excited about results that surprise me a little instead of forces what’s in my head to materialize. Not sure how to explain it any better, but I’m not too interested in a straight sketch or photo—I like machines or processes to get into the mix and shake things up a bit.

What is your favorite print medium and why?

Etching—inking the plate, the indention the plate makes on paper, all of it.

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

I have only been printing since December 2009 when I gained access to the WPA studio.

What or Who influences your work? 

Andy Goldsworthy’s earth art, Joseph Stella’s mystical paintings, Duane Michals’ narrative photo stories, and Pat Steir’s gorgeous paintings, to name a few of course!

How do your promote your work?

I just started promoting my work last November.  I wanted to make sure I had enough depth and breath and just enough work! So far it’s been in a few local exhibits, tons of time spent making Etsy treasuries (I can’t stop!), and I just started my blog. Said I never would, but it is 2011.

Any good printing tips or funny printing stories (or both??)

Play! The series of birds you see was a labor of love and planned out from designing the papers and getting the plate quality just right, etc…  After I finished that huge project I spent an entire week while I was on vacation just playing with odd papers, processes, mixing plates up. For example, the pieces Night Voyage under the Moon and Moonrise: Charmed Meadow, were not planned—they were total experiments. I told my husband I was just going to go into the studio and “free fall” which to me meant allow myself to play around with no direction or goals in mind. I highly recommend it.

Interview - The Mourning Press: A Partnership in Printmaking

Mourning Press Etsy Shop

Mourning Press Website

Brief Bio

Faye: David and I formed The Mourning Press after several years of printmaking together. During that time we learned much about each other’s studio practice and the ways in which we both involve narrative within our work. Inspired by this understanding, and our shared love of all things macabre, we chose to work under one name, and produce an ongoing series of gothic prints. This artistic partnership has proved invaluable, allowing us to share knowledge and ideas, while we each focus on our own aesthetic voice.   

David: We also live and work in the same area of North London, and take advantage of this by frequently meeting up to flick through each other’s sketch books and discuss new projects. It is as a result of these critiques that some of our best work has come to fruition. We challenge each other in a very creative and important way.

Why printing? 

Faye: For me, the printing process has become as important as the initial drawing. It is while the plate is in the acid that an element of chance is introduced to my work and I enjoy only being able to see the final image when the paper is pulled from the press. In terms of my studio practice, etching has developed from a way to reproduce my work into a way of creating it.

David: I have had an interest in the printed image since childhood. There is something hypnotic about reproducing the same drawing again and again with only slight variation. Printing has not only changed the direction of my work, but has allowed me to share my ideas with a wider audience. It has been the single biggest influence on my life as an artist.

What is your favourite print medium and why?

Faye: Although in the past I have used both monoprinting and stone lithography, it is the etching process that most suits the way I work. It affords me the right amount of control, while still allowing experimentation right up to the moment each impression is made. It is also with the heavy application of aquatint that I am able to achieve the depth of tone that is the focus of all my current work.

David: My intention is to produce images where the lines leap forward from the paper on which they are printed. To this end I have found that screenprinting is the most suitable process, enabling me to consistently reproduce large, rich areas of black as well as fine detail. In this way, I can also print images that are almost entirely devoid of any warmth and emotion. In contrast to the aims of most artists, I focus on representing a statuesque world, which stands in complete silence. 

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

Faye: I first began printmaking whilst studying Fine Art at University in 2006. With all the available facilities it was a perfect time to get lost in experimentation, and to expose myself to the possibilities of using chemical processes in art. It was at this point that my work began to include darker imagery and more macabre subjects. The visual content of my work and the way in which it was produced began to develop in parallel.

David: I learned to screenprint in 2004, but it was another three years before I first started producing prints of my drawings. It can be a very frustrating and difficult process, and initially this was a significant setback. It took a long time to develop the skills required to get the most from screenprinting, and even now it is the one part of creating artwork that fills me with excitement and dread in equal measure.    

What or who influences your work?

Faye: I gather ideas from a diverse range of influences, most notably the symbolist movement. I was introduced to the work of Odilon Redon at a time when my own understanding of printmaking was at an early stage. His work, along with that of Goya and, later, Paula Rego, pushed me forward and helped me realise the potential of the techniques I was now beginning to use in the studio. I cannot stress enough the importance of referencing other artists when defining one’s personal artistic voice.  

David: I was lucky enough to be introduced to art nouveau and the psychedelic movement whilst still at school. I later became interested in how closely the two were related and this has really been the key to my exploration of art. I focus heavily on the links between artists and the periods within which they worked. I also find it useful to study books which detail traditional drafting techniques.

How do your promote your work?

Faye: David and I always promote our work together as The Mourning Press. As well as making use of social networking sites and Etsy, we also try and exhibit our work around London. After a successful group show last September, we are working on a follow up in May and hope to expand our audience and that of our co-exhibitors.

David: Promoting our work is one of the most difficult aspects of what we do. It can be very hit and miss, but we seem to be getting results. In the near future we hope to have someone handling that side for us.

 

Any good printing tips or funny printing stories (or both??)

Faye: Remember what it is about your work that you enjoy and be prepared to put in the hours. Accept criticism in all its forms; you can decide later which bits will push your work forward. 

David: Printmaking can be productive and fun, but it can also be infuriating. There are times when you should pack up your inks and try again the following day. There are also times when you should put on some loud music and work through the night. Heading home for a re-think does not mean you have failed.

New Member Interview - Roxanne Button

Biography

I’m Canadian, from Newfoundland, and I’ve been living in Upstate New York for 8 years.  I’m a full-time architect, and a weekend printmaker.  I think I became a printmaker by accident, or maybe it was meant to be.  I was living in Vancouver about 15 years ago, and happened to walk by the Dundarave Print Workshop on Granville Island one day, on my way to the farmers’ market.  There was a sign in the window about an Intaglio class, and I decided on a whim to sign up.  It wasn’t a particularly smart decision given that I was unemployed and pretty much broke at the time, but there was something that drew me in there.  I fell in love with printmaking.   I took 3 classes at Dundarave that year in relief and intaglio.  When I moved back to the east coast (Nova Scotia), I took a few more classes and open studios at the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design.  It’s been years since I’ve studied printmaking, but I think that once you learn the techniques, you just have to keep working on it to improve.  There’s only so much that can be taught.

Why Printing?

I’ve tried watercolours and I desperately wanted to be good at it, but I just didn’t have a good feel for it.  Printmaking felt like a natural extension of my studies and work in architecture, for some reason.  I can’t really explain how or why I made that leap in my mind!  I feel an intuitive connection to printmaking.  I think it satisfies a need to do something creative with my hands, since I spend my days working at a computer.  I hardly ever draw anymore in my architectural practice.  Everything is digital.  What I love most about printing is that there are so many different ways to create an image, and the same idea can be expressed in with completely different results simply by using a different technique.  It’s something that you never stop learning about.

What is your favorite printmaking medium and why?

Relief, specifically linocuts, and I absolutely love embossing – it’s my favourite technique.  I’ve tried reduction prints but haven’t done a successful one yet.  I really admire printmakers who are good at that.  Embossing has a three-dimensional quality, almost sculptural, so maybe it appeals to the architect side of me.  It’s also a lot easier to clean up afterwards!

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

I started taking lessons about 15 years ago, but I remember doing my first ever linocut in ninth grade art class.  Maybe it was a latent thing; it just took 20 years for it to surface again!  I think my work has improved since my first classes in Vancouver – at least, I hope it has!  But I’ve also gotten more impatient.  The more I try to rush something, the more likely I will mess it up.  I need to learn to slow down and enjoy the process again, not just the ‘aha!’ moment when you pull back the press blankets and see how it turned out.  I think that buying my own press last year has been the most important step in improving my work.  Embossing is nearly impossible to do without one, and that’s what I really want to develop right now.

What or who influences your work?     

I’ve been looking for other printers who do embossing, and I’ve found a few including John Ruszel  who has done some amazing stuff with typewriter parts. My training as an architect definitely influences my artwork.  Not being professionally trained in art or art history, I can’t point to a specific artist or a period that influences me.  But as an architect, I love the Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods the most, and the more I learn about that, the more I see a correlation with what I’m drawn to in my artwork.  Art Deco design in particular is very much about relief – I like to explore that in my embossed prints.

How do you promote your work?

I’ve had a shop on Etsy for over a year, and that’s done pretty well.  I have a Facebook page and a Twitter account but I really haven’t figured out how to use social media as a business tool yet.  I also do a few shows in the Western New York area each year.  I joined the Buffalo Indie Market last year and that has helped me to promote my work locally. And I’ve taken a deep breath and brought my work to a few local shops.  That’s tougher than presenting an architectural design to a client.  Printmaking feels so much more personal to me.

Any printing tips or stories to share?

Well, like most printmakers, I’ve forgotten that the final image will be the mirror of what I carve into a plate!  I did that with one of my first intaglio plates.  Only I know because I have the original photo, so I guess it’s an inside joke!

Embossing is a really simple thing to do; you just experiment with different types of blades and making different types of mark, playing around with depth of the cut.  I have a box full of unsuccessful blocks where the blade has slipped or I carved out the wrong piece.  With embossing, you have to think in the opposite way as you would for an inked print:  think of the final image in 3-D, and carve out the parts that you want to stand out.  That’s why inking a block that was intended for embossing rarely works out well, although I think my rose print is successful with both techniques.  You really have to change the way that you imagine the piece if you want to create an embossing.                                             

I remember someone commenting to me about 12 years ago in a class that it was just like an architect to do a print of a building.  I ignored it and kept doing buildings!  After all, that’s what I know.  In fact, I’m working on a series of Buffalo architectural landmarks, and I’m thinking of doing them as hand-tinted linocuts.   I do a lot of flowers and plants because they are great subjects for embossing, and because I love to garden.  I think it’s important to find subjects or themes that you really connect with, and to keep working on your own style and technique.  Roxanne's Website Here     Roxanne's Etsy Site