Sunday, August 11, 2013

A day of printmaking

I'm sure we would not do some things if they were not locked into the diary and committed to. Today Fiona and I joined about 7 other printmakers in a jelly block printmaking play day.  There really was not time for it in our schedule but in the end it was a great day with fellow artists.

©2013 Barry Smith - Ink cleaning clothes - yum
Kim, Sonja and Nancy from our printmaking group hosted the day in Sonja's studio; and were the 'tutors' for the day. Kim began the day with a demo of the process.

©2013 Barry Smith - Jelly plate with a sprinkle of leaves
©2013 Barry Smith - Kim creates magic
Play days give all of us the chance to share skills and knowledge without being too precious about the results. Having said that, because people are reasonably competent printmakers everyone just dives in and creates a storm - testing the new medium and inks on different papers using different techniques. As you can see there was a lot of fun going on.

©2013 Barry Smith - Fiona into it with a few of my prints in the foreground
©2013 Barry Smith - A table full of creativity
©2013 Barry Smith - We all fell back on favourite themes - Fiona with words and me with trees and mountains
©2013 Barry Smith - Bit of an aberration - Barry does sunflowers
I liked the ability to create layered mountains without having to use toxic or labour intensive etching process. The downside is that you can only pull off a limited number of prints with variations.

©2013 Barry Smith - Mountain layers in blue
©2013 Barry Smith - Mountain layers in grey-blue
I'm not sure how this new technique will be incorporated into my work; but it will come in handy for producing printers for the Maleny Printmakers exhibition in November.

11 comments:

  1. Your mountains are so dreamy. I love this technique. Thought I might try making a plate from gelatin:)
    You both seem to have had the best day!
    Sue x
    I look at both yours and Fiona's blog every time you post.
    You make a good team
    Have a great Suday!

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    1. Hi Z glad you enjoy checking f n my stuff out. I think you would enjoy the layering approach. B

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  2. Such fun, must get back to doing some more.

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    1. P - hi n the good news is that it is not all that messy. B

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  3. Your mountains fit so well into this technique. Your print day looks like great fun.

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    1. R - I always find it entertaining that I tend to go back to similar themes and sciences - but guess that can't be all bad. B

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  4. Greetings from Dubai at 35 degrees! I just bought a Gelli plate and can hardly wait to use it.

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    1. sounds like your having fun Jo! Enjoy your warm 35 degrees. Cheers, Kim

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  5. Hi J - glad you are winging your way; you could do a little printing whilst you are away. B

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  6. Wow B, by the looks of the table, a whole lot of fun was had! Awesome results, too. K

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  7. I love your prints of mountains Barry. Very peaceful and rich.

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Comments are welcomed - it is good to connect with fellow travellers.