Friday, July 01, 2005

the Studio



Over 4 years ago I googled non toxic printmaking
and lo and behold, up popped Zea Mays Printmaking.
At the time I first searched those words, it was under the encouragement of my first printmaking teacher, Tom Lewis. At that time I wasn't ready to leap from, a classroom to open studio,left to my own devices. But I knew someday...someday I would journey there and find exactly what I needed to continue to grow in printmaking.
Now I travel once a week, it truly is a sweet ride, okay it does take about an hour, but in that hour I can focus my head on what I might be doing, that day in the studio,I can also just chill, to get ready to print.
At the studio people are truly nice, caring and quick to share any information, they know , there is also a camaraderie between us, which makes it a wonderful place to create and learn.
I truly enjoy everything about it,the mixing of the ink,tearing paper, preparing the copper plates. I'm an etcher, love the weight of the copper,the surface of it, how little lines, sometimes scratches show up, that add to the character of the print itself, and sometimes not....but those can be burnished out quickly enough.
In 2006 we will create a portfolio of solarplates, a process that's really new to me, but looks equally exciting, now just to figure out my image,do I want to print itaglio, or relief...Decisions, decisions,decisions.

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