Best on a Letterpress: Type, Texture, Trash, and Take-Aways.
Crane Giamo, Marnie Powers-Torrey and Amy Thompson. Book Arts Studio, 4th Floor, Marriott Library.

When using a letterpress, a variety of relief techniques and other distinct modalities are possible. During this hands-on demonstration, a keepsake is produced from a pressure printing matrix, metal type, mounted found objects, and a die-cutting and scoring matrix. Presenters demonstrate the use of presses manufactured between 1846 and the 1960’s, including a Columbian hand press, a Chandler & Price clamshell, and Vandercook cylinder presses.

The full demonstration takes 1-2 hours, depending on the number of participants. We are also open to amending the activities if time and press constraints are an issue. If the full demonstration is accepted, each participant will walk away with a simple, folded form printed in multiple colors.

Reuse, Recycle, Reduce.
Lindi Shi and Lilla Szekely. Printshop. Rm 252, Art Building.

We believe that adopting the philosophy of ​‘Reuse, Recycle, Reduce’​ into our printmaking practices will not only help our environment and our budget but will also stimulate great creativity and raise environmental awareness. We will print collagraphs on recycled paper while facilitating a discussion on creative ways with which we can reduce our environmental impact during printing processes.

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), reduction and reuse are the most effective ways you can save natural resources, protect the environment and save money*. During our demonstration, our goal is to stimulate creativity and environmental awareness in our viewers through promoting the creative reuse and recycling of printmaking materials that would normally have been discarded as waste.
All three ‘RE’s will be touched upon by:

Reuse - We will show how collagraph plates can be made by using plastic and paper objects found in recycling bins and the “etched” lines by adding natural materials to them such as sand. Another way we can experiment with collagraphs is to use found textiles. We practice crochet, off-loom weaving, hand knitting, and other weaving techniques. All of our collagraph plates will be safe to run through intaglio presses.

Recycle - For printing, we will use recycled paper that we have made ourselves. We will also have samples handy of several different kinds of recycled handmade papers.

Reduce - While we create our prints we will discuss how we can reduce the output of waste during our printmaking processes by reusing our plates, paper, ink, and other materials. We will show examples of artworks created by our alumni, colleagues, and faculty where the environmental impact was reduced during its processes and discuss how this was achieved. We will let the discussion move towards the larger topic of climate change and hope it will be educational and fun for everyone attending.

It is impossible to be a citizen of the world and not witness the havoc human progress—with all its plastics, chemicals, and material needs—has wrought on the land. How do we keep our wonder when we know we are part of the destruction? This dichotomy generates a desire to unpack, process and re-examine our artistic methods. Recycled artworks can create a new use for discarded materials, raise awareness, and educate and benefit the community in the art of creative reuse. Together, we can look for connections between our urban, plastic, fast-growing world and our environment.

*​https://www.epa.gov/recycle/reducing-and-reusing-basics#benefits

Silkscreen Monoprints.
Christa Carleton. Printshop. Rm 252, Art Building.

The advantage of Silkscreen monoprints is that you can lay down multiple colors on the same screen. The disadvantage is that the materials print nicely about once. Draw or paint on the squeegee side of the screen and let those materials dry. Set up to print and flood the screen with transparent base ink. After waiting the appropriate amount of time you can use a squeegee and print the monoprint. This process is basically the same for any material used on the mesh. Complications arise in how the drawing materials or paints are applied to the screen. Troubleshooting is also required when it’s time to clean the screen because the non-traditional materials tend to get stuck in the mesh.

The majority of this demonstration will be to explain the finicky sides of this process and to go over troubleshooting. I will also insight idea generation among participants of how this technique can be incorporated into their current practices and hopefully some people will get to try making their own silkscreen monoprints during the demonstration.

Takin it to the Next Dimension: Letterpress for Sculptural Forms.
Crane Giamo and Marnie Powers-Torrey. Book Arts Studio, 4th Floor, Marriott Library.

This session introduces participants to letterpress printing on freshly made paper for the purpose of sculptural applications. Presenters demonstrate techniques for pulling sheets of overbeaten abaca, printing on the damp paper with a flatbed/cylinder letterpress, and immediately manipulating the printed sheet around armatures to create a 3D object. 1-2 hours.

Viscosity Printing Using Borco Board as Your Matrix.
Candace Garlock. Printshop. Rm 252, Art Building.

Viscosity printmaking is a method of printing colors simultaneously using only one matrix. Candace Garlock will guide participants through the process of viscosity printing using borco board as a matrix. Candace has been experimenting and developing this process since 2010. The plate is designed like a relief print, but the negative space is carved with deliberate texturing. The plate is then inked up and wiped with intaglio ink, followed by the rolling out of three different viscosities of colored relief ink. Each layer repels the layer below allowing for four different colors to be printed at one time.

Introducing viscosity methods using a relief process allows for beginners to have experience learning intaglio and relief at the same time. This unique way of creating prints is also experimental in nature and participants will enjoy the magic that happens when the different viscosities change the color ratio with each ghost print.