Prints, Puppies and Discovery

2010, Haverhill, mixed media printmaking, relief prints / /

It was a fine day on the farm today. I worked on cleaning perenials for the winter. This drawing of Kip has been evolving over the last few weeks. It is fun to work on it as the moment moves – or as she moves. I do like these colors. I played with the idea of self-portraits and simple printing plates. I did a very quick sketch. I cropped the image to fit on to the plate, and then transferred the image to a styrofoam plate. I think this will be a great process from the class that I will be teaching at the Newburyport Art Association this winter. It is fast, flexible and satisfying. For this process less is more and gesture drawing work wonderfully. You can experiment with colored papers, multiple ink colors, masking certain areas and it is so fast and easy that you could make several plates from one drawing depending on how you crop it. I am hopeful that the kids with like it as much as I do. I have tried printing these plates as intaglio plates and have varied results. I think that I will try this with the presses at New Hampshire Institute of Art next friday. http://www.linda-germain.com/

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Puppy Love – soft block relief print with an eraser

2010, relief prints / /

Today I played with the image of the puppy and came up with a small eraser sized stamp that I am happy with. I experimented with rice paper, sulphite paper and book pages. I like the book pages the best. I used Daniel Smith water soluble relief ink.
I realized that I am looking for a printmaking process that is compatible with loose scribble like drawings. I think that Pronto plates may be my best bet so far. So I am going to play with some pronto plates and see what happens. Only thing is I have to use oil based inks for that process and my can of litho ink is very soupy. I learned this week that for me it is best to create an image that is mostly shapes for a block print. Also that I do not like to struggle in the creation of a line or image. Carving linoleum is a struggle for me and there is always the fear of removing too much. One goal I have is to figure out what printmaking process is best for what kind of image.

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Printmaking Class @ New Hampshire Institute of Art

2010 / /

I am taking a printmaking classs with Elizabeth Cameron at NHIA in Manchester, NH. The set up is wonderful and the people are great. They have lots of presses an materials available to use. My original thought was that I would work independently on a series using the presses. But what I found was that I have adapted so well to working without a press that retraining on the presses would be beneficial. With the gelatin prints that I usually do the results are quick, the planning, preparation and clean up is minimal compared to working with a press.

So I did this linoleum block yesterday during class and had to force myself to be patient. I like the block ok – but not in love with it. I worked up the image from a few one minute gesture drawings that I did at the Wednesday Night Drawing Class @ Newburyport Art Association.

So am going to play around with some soft blocks this week and see what I come up with. I used a photo and photoshop to come up with block. I carved it out of an oversized eraser.

www.linda-germain.com

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Series of Monotype Prints – Paper Doll Dresses

2010, combined techniques, Haverhill, mixed media printmaking / /


I am getting ready for a workshop on Composing the Print at the Artists’ Playground in Newburyport, MA. So I am working with a new piece of gelatin and I made some fun stencils of a paper doll dress. I modified the basic stencil with stitching, salt, wire mesh, and thread. It was fun to work up this series of small gelatin prints.
Check out the video of the small dresses.

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Finding a Line of Inquiry

2010, combined techniques, mixed media printmaking / /

Back from my workshop with Tim Hawkesworth and trying to apply what I learned. One idea he introduced was finding a line of inquiry and working that with compassionate commitment. I may have a line of inquiry for the moment or the night but it does not seem to be “the” line of inquiry. But that is good enough for now. He also suggested finding what I like in my work and move from there, instead of focusing on what is wrong or what I don’t like. I am also going to study and look for artists I like and learn from them. www.linda-germain.com

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