CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY PRINTMAKING
10T H BIEN N I A L
International Miniature Print Exhibition 2015 EXHIBITION CATALOG
Our mission is to support, preserve, and advance the art of original prints. The Center for Contemporary Printmaking is a nonprofit workshop and gallery recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization.
Mathews Park 299 West Avenue Norwalk, CT 06850 203.899.7999 info@contemprints.org www.contemprints.org
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9th Biennial International Miniature Print Exhibition June 7 – August 30, 2015
TABLE OF CONTENTS 4 Acknowledgements 5
Juror’s statement & Bio
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List of Accepted Artists
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Glossary of Printmaking Terms
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About CCP
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Center for Contemporary Printmaking presents to you the 10th Biennial International Miniature Print Exhibition that was juried by Lyle Williams, Curator of Prints and Drawings at the McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas. The jurying process was fascinating for me as I experienced Lyle’s keen sensitivity and decisiveness in culling together works of art for the exhibition. Lyle’s precise and discerning vision was palpable as I noted that he, within an afternoon, set out a literally very small exhibition. He selected 108 miniature prints from over 688 submissions from 18 states and 15 countries. The works of art are from 57 artists.
A juror usually imposes a signature style on the exhibition that refers to his or her own tastes and preferences. For Lyle, however, this selection process was carried out effortlessly as he drew upon his nearly thirty-year career as a curator of prints and drawings. We met in the early 1990s while Lyle was a Museum Fellow in the Department of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs at Yale University Art Gallery, working under the care of Richard Field, Curator of Prints and Drawings. We became travel companions on our long commutes back home to New York City from New Haven. On these trips, he shared with me his admiration for the works of Rembrandt, the Dutch painter and engraver. In 1992, Lyle became the first dedicated print curator at the McNay Art Museum. Lyle remarked, “The same rules that Rembrandt followed nearly 400 years ago apply today. It is the same copper plate, acid resist ground, the same etching needle, the same ink. Printmaking imposes a discipline on the artist. The selections that I made for the International Miniature Print Exhibition wed technical achievement with interesting content.”
I am honored to have Lyle Williams as this year’s Juror for the 10th Biennial International Miniature Print Exhibition. Lyle, we are grateful to you for sharing your vision, impeccable taste and vast knowledge of printmaking with us.
Thank you to our Purchase Award Sponsors and to the CCP staff for another successful Miniature Print Exhibition.
—LAURA G. EINSTEIN, Executive Director, Center for Contemporary Printmaking
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JUROR’S STATEMENT Serving as a juror is always a humbling experience. Judging the prints in the Center for Contemporary Printmaking’s Miniature Print Exhibition was certainly no exception. Walking into the Center’s second floor studio and seeing literally hundreds of prints and knowing that I had to choose what I considered the best was daunting as I am keenly aware of the work that goes into creating prints, small or otherwise. It always concerns me as a juror that the artists have committed so much time to create their prints but I have just an afternoon to make my selection. That is the nature of a juried show, however, so the best thing I can do is to explain how and why I chose the prints I did.
Linda Adato, New York Preferred Seating Etching and aquatint Honorable Mention
Printmakers can sometimes get caught up in the minutia, the technicalities of their art while losing sight of meaning. Conversely, an artist can have a great idea to express in print but lack the required craftsmanship. The best, most successful prints in my opinion are those that combine technical accomplishment with compelling subject matter. And, with the case of these small-scale prints, I found that I was most attracted to those objects that had simple, unpretentious subjects: café chairs, an orange button, a sled, a small bird. Linda Adato’s Preferred Seating is a beautiful object lesson in composition. By cutting off part of one of the chairs, the artist tricks the viewer into imagining a much larger composition than exists in her etching. Moira McTague’s choice of paper and a cleanly wiped plate makes her Delicate Balance seem like a painting on
Moira McTague, England Delicate Balance Etching and aquatint 3rd prize, Laura Adasko Lenzner Purchase Award
porcelain with its brilliant color and delicacy seen against a shimmering white background. The balance is between what the artist drew on the plate and what she decided to leave blank.
I also have a soft spot for prints that somehow reference the history of print-
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making. Gervasio Robles’ four wonderfully drawn etchings of wildlife are titled North, South, East, and West. This continues a long tradition of printmakers organizing a print suite around a set of things: the four cardinal directions, the five senses, or the seven deadly sins. Lynn Shaler’s view of a tranquil library is not only an incredible technical achievement (how did she get all those tiny blocks of aquatint onto the plate?) but also a subtle reminder of the centuries-old interdependence of prints and Gervasio Robles, South Africa East Etching 2nd Prize
books as well as the quiet contemplation both require to appreciate fully and meaningfully.
Working on such a small scale is a paradoxically huge challenge and one thing that greatly impressed me was the number of artists who were able to create convincing, abstract compositions in miniature. Roxanne Faber Savage’s Firm & Green is a great example. Not content to merely work on a small scale, the artist actually created the smallest diptychs I have ever seen, printing two small plates next to each other. The amazing thing Lynn Shaler, France Le Temps Suspendu Etching and aquatint 1st Prize
about the work, however, is that if blown up to a large scale it would still be a strong composition.
Congratulations to everyone who submitted work. You all made my job very difficult. My thanks to Laura Einstein, Executive Director of the Center for Contemporary Printmaking, as well as to the Center’s board and staff for making my visit to Norwalk so gratifying. Roxanne Faber Savage, Connecticut Firm & Green Drypoint Honorable Mention, Jerry’s Artarama Purchase Award
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—LYLE WILLIAMS, Curator of Prints and Drawings at the McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas
LYLE WILLIAMS Lyle W. Williams researched his master’s thesis at various print rooms in Paris, Amsterdam, and The Hague before becoming a museum fellow in the Department of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs at the Yale University Art Gallery in 1990. In 1992, he became the first dedicated print curator at the McNay Art Museum. He has published numerous catalogues on topics ranging from sixteenth-century ornament prints to minimalist and conceptualist prints and drawings. In 2007, he was the co-author of Mexico and Modern Printmaking: A Revolution in the Graphic Arts 1920-1950, which was co-published by the McNay Art Museum and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Most recently, he was the author of Estampas de la Raza: Contemporary Prints from the Romo Collection, a comprehensive study of the contributions of Latino and Chicano artists to the development of post-1960 American printmaking. This catalogue won the International Fine Print Dealers Association’s 2013 Book Award.
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10 T H B I E N N I A L I N T E R N A T I O N A L M I N I A T U R E P R I N T E X H I B I T I O N ACCEPTED ARTISTS (All art is pictured actual size)
Christine S. Aaron) New York Marsh II, 2014 Monotype 1x4 $75
Linda Adato New York Sorry I’m Late, 2015 Etching and aquatint, ed. 2/50 2x2 $85 Honorable Mention Legion Paper Purchase Award
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Christine S. Aaron New York Tumult, 2014 Monotype 1x4 $75
Linda Adato New York Taking Turns, 2015 Etching and aquatint, ed. 2/50 2 x 1 7/8 $85 Honorable Mention
Linda Adato New York Preferred Seating, 2015 Etching and aquatint, ed. 2/50 2 x 1 7/8 $85 Honorable Mention
Aysin Akay Turkey Untitled 4, 2015 Etching and aquatint, ed. 2/20 1 7/8 x 1 7/8 $70
Michael Arike New York New York Winter, 2015 Aquatint, ed. 1/50 2 x 1 3/4 $95
Aysin Akay Turkey Untitled 1, 2015 Linoleum cut, ed. 2/6 3 1/8 x 1 3/16 $50
Betty Ball Connecticut Tractor Path I, 2015 Monotype 1 3/4 x 2 1/4 $100
Betty Ball Connecticut Inlet Afternoon, 2015 Monotype 1 3/4 x 2 1/4 $100
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Larry Basky Wisconsin Enter 2002, 2015 Serigraph, ed. 19/40 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 $90 Speedball Purchase Award
Larry Basky Wisconsin Blue Reflections, 2015 Serigraph, ed. 4/15 2 3/8 x 1 1/2 $90 Speedball Purchase Award
Sandra Cardillo (245) Massachusetts Venice Reflections 1, 2015 Photopolymer intaglio, Variable edition 3/5 3 7/8 x 1 $60 Honorable Mention
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Pilar Bordes Mexico TAP, 2015 Etching and aquatint, ed. 1/20 2 1/8 x 1 5/8 $100
Sandra Cardillo (245) Massachusetts Venice Reflections 2, 2015 Photopolymer intaglio, Variable edition 2/5 3 7/8 x 1 $60 Honorable Mention
Sandra Cardillo (245) Massachusetts Venice Reflections 3, 2015 Photopolymer intaglio, Variable edition 3/5 3 7/8 x 1 $60 Honorable Mention
Cesar I Cedeno Mexico Vasar V, 2015 Etching, ed. 1/20 3 5/8 x 7/8 $80
Anne Cushman Ohio Moonlit, 2015 Intaglio with hand coloring, ed. 1/10 1 7/8 x 1 7/8 $95
Paul DeRuvo Connecticut One Morning, 2015 Mezzotint and aquatint, AP 2x2 $100
James T. Dormer Colorado Run, 2015 Lithograph, AP 2x2 $145
Anne Cushman Ohio Skylight, 2015 Intaglio with hand coloring, ed. 1/10 1 7/8 x 1 7/8 $95
James T. Dormer Colorado Sleep, 2015 Lithograph, AP 2x2 $145
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Carol Dunn Connecticut Late Light, 2015 Photopolymer intaglio, Variable edition 3/75 1 3/4 x 2 1/4 $70
Elaine Erne Pennsylvania Come Out and Play, 2014 Silk aquatint, ed. 2/10 2 x 1 7/8 $100
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Carol Dunn Connecticut Sunflower, 2009 Photopolymer intaglio, Variable edition 13/150 2 1/4 x 1 5/8 $70
Elaine Erne Pennsylvania Hello‌, 2014 Silk aquatint, ed. 2/10 2 x 1 7/8 $100
Makiko Elliott Connecticut Little Bunny, 2015 Aquatint and drypoint, AP 2x2 $30
Roxanne Faber Savage Connecticut Specimen, 2015 Drypoint 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 $100 Honorable Mention
Roxanne Faber Savage Connecticut Aconite, 2015 Drypoint 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 $100 Honorable Mention
Roxanne Faber Savage Connecticut Firm & Green, 2015 Drypoint 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 $100 Honorable Mention Jerry’s Artarama Purchase Award
Verónica García Mexico Infinity, 2015 Etching, ed. 1/20 1x4 $80 Alanna Fagan Connecticut Self, 2015 Drypoint, AP 2 x 1 7/8 $200
Verónica García Mexico Counterflow, 2015 Etching with chine collé, ed. 1/20 1 7/16 x 2 5/8 $80
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Graciela Garcia Bringas Mexico RA I, 2015 Linoleum cut, ed. 1/10 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 $80 McClain’s Purchase Award
Mirka Hokkanen Texas To His Dog Every Man is Napoleon, 2009 Etching with hand coloring, ed. 1/30 1 5/8 x 1 1/2 $45
Graciela Garcia Bringas Mexico RA II, 2015 Linoleum cut, ed. 1/10 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 $80
Graciela Garcia Bringas Mexico RA III, 2015 Linoleum cut, ed. 1/10 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 $80
Eeva Huotari Finland Hidden, 2015 Etching and aquatint, ed. 1/50 1 x 3 7/8 $30
Eeva Huotari Finland On The Top, 2015 Etching and aquatint, ed. 1/50 3 7/8 x 1 $30 Linda Sue Akers Purchase Award
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Elli Katsara Greece Blue Sea, 2014 Collagraph 1 1/4 x 2 3/4 $90
Ina Kaur Florida Circle 2, 2015 Etching, AP 2x2 $85
Rafael Kenji Brazil Campos de Marney-Sur-Seine, 2014 Etching and engraving with chine collé, ed. 2/12 2 x 1 7/8 $90 Honorable Mention Renaissance Graphics Arts Purchase Award
Ina Kaur Florida Circle 2, 2015 Etching, AP 2x2 $85
Rafael Kenji Brazil Cigarra, 2014 Etching and engraving with chine collé, ed. 1/12 2 x 1 7/8 $90 Honorable Mention
Ina Kaur Florida Circle 2, 2015 Etching, AP 2x2 $85
Rafael Kenji Brazil Besouro de Sáo Francisco Xavier, 2014 Etching and engraving with chine collé, ed. 1/12 1 7/8 x 1 7/8 $90 Honorable Mention
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Agnieszka Lamirowska Poland Sny, 2015 Etching 2x2 $100
Helen Lavery Ireland Untitled (Red), 2015 Lithograph, Variable edition 1/5 2 x 1 7/8 $85
Suzie MacKenzie England Chain Home I, 2015 Collagraph, ed. 1/5 2 1/2 x 1 5/8 $50
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Suzie MacKenzie England Chain Home 3, 2015 Collagraph, ed. 1/5 1 5/8 x 2 1/2 $50
Mia Matlock Nebraska Home, 2015 Intaglio and relief 2x2 $50
Jilly McAteer Ireland Untitled (Fish), 2015 Etching and aquatint, ed. 1/22 1 3/4 x 2 1/8 $70
Margaret McLoughlin Ireland Bog Cotton I, 2015 Drypoint, ed. 1/40 2 1/2 x 1 1/2 $90
Moira McTague England Delicate Balance, 2014 Etching and aquatint, ed. 2/40 2x2 $70 3rd prize Laura Adasko Lenzner Purchase Award
Jilly McAteer Ireland Untitled (Slide), 2015 Etching and aquatint, ed. 1/22 2x2 $70
Margaret McLoughlin Ireland Bog Cotton II, 2015 Drypoint, ed. 1/40 2 3/8 x 1 1/2 $90
Moira McTague England Redwing and Rowan Berries, 2014 Etching and aquatint, ed. 10/40 2x2 $70
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Jonathan D. Metzger Virginia In The Woods, 2013 Etching, ed. 5/10 2 x 1 1/2 $45
Barbara Minton New York Prodigious, 2015 Etching and aquatint, ed. 2/40 2x2 $125
Jonathan D. Metzger Virginia Statue, 2013 Etching, ed. 10/10 2 x 1 1/2 $45
Barbara Neu Maryland Debris, 2015 Etching and aquatint, ed. 1/6 4 3/4 x 1/2 $75
Kaoru Noma Japan Think Staring, 2015 Mezzotint, AP 1 13/16 x 1 7/8 $40
Kaoru Noma Japan Have a Breather, 2015 Mezzotint, AP 4x1 $40 18
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Marian L. O’Connell Rhode Island At The Beach, 2015 Photopolymer intaglio, ed. 2/7 2 11/16 x 1 7/16 $85
Marian L. O’Connell Rhode Island Winter Creek, 2015 Photopolymer intaglio, ed. 2/5 2 x 1 7/8 $70
Marian L. O’Connell Rhode Island Sled, 2015 Photopolymer intaglio, ed. 2/5 2 1/4 x 1 5/8 $80 Honorable Mention Legion Paper Purchase Award
Elisabeth Ödmann Sweden Lonely House, 2015 Drypoint, ed. 1/25 1 5/8 x 1 7/8 $55
Elisabeth Ödmann Sweden The Lift, 2015 Drypoint, ed. 1/25 1 5/8 x 1 7/8 $55
Pia Öste-Alexander New York Blue Guitar, 2014 White line woodcut 2 3/8 x 1 3/8 $80 Pia Öste-Alexander New York Japanese Letters, 2014 White line woodcut 2 1/4 x 1 3/8 $90 2 0 1 5 E X H I B I T I O N C ATA L O G
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Merle Perlmutter New York Haley’s First, 2009 Intaglio, ed. 39/200 2x2 $125
Merle Perlmutter New York Duet, 2014 Intaglio, ed. 37/200 2x2 $125
Merle Perlmutter New York Down & Out, 2014 Intaglio, ed. 7/150 2x2 $125
DeAnn Prosia Connecticut Bird Brain, 2015 Etching, ed. 2/20 2 x 1 7/8 $60
DeAnn Prosia) Connecticut Friendly Feline, 2015 Etching, ed. 2/20 2x2 $60
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Paula Pohli Ireland At Home, 2015 Linoleum cut, ed. 2/15 2 3/4 x 1 1/2 $65
Julianne Ricksecker California Late Winter, 2015 Etching and aquatint, ed. 1/25 1 7/8 x 1 7/8 $90
Kurt Ries Germany Dream, 2014 Etching with hand coloring, ed. 16/97 3 1/4 x 1 1/8 $60
Gervasio Robles South Africa South, 2014 Engraving, ed. 1/10 2 3/4 x 1 3/8 $25 2nd Prize
Gervasio Robles South Africa North, 2015 Mezzotint and drypoint, ed. 1/10 2 1/2 x 1 1/2 $25 2nd Prize
Kurt Ries Germany Magic Bird, 2014 Etching with hand coloring, ed. 32/97 3 1/4 x 1 1/8 $40 Honorable Mention Greystone Purchase Award
Gervasio Robles South Africa East, 2015 Etching, ed. 2/10 2 1/2 x 1 1/2 $25 2nd Prize
Gervasio Robles South Africa West, 2015 Etching and aquatint, ed. 2/10 2 1/2 x 1 1/2 $25 2nd Prize
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Lynn Shaler France Le Temps Suspendu, 2013 Etching and aquatint, ed. 46/100 1 5/8 x 2 1/4 $475 1st Prize
Lynn Shaler France L’Horloge, 1982 Etching with hand coloring, ed. 47/50 2x2 $450
Katrin Smith Canada Blaze, 2015 Etching monoprint, Variable edition 1/10 3 7/8 x 1 $50
Katrin Smith Canada Bold, 2015 Etching and aquatint monoprint, Variable edition 1/10 1 7/8 x 2 $50
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Lynn Shaler France Keys In Motion, 1982 Etching and aquatint, ed. 32/35 2 x 1 5/8 $400
Alicja Snoch-Pawlowska Poland Materia Mystica 7M, 2015 Screenprint, ed. 4/30 2x2 $30 Honorable Mention
Alicja Snoch-Pawlowska Poland Materia Mystica 8M, 2015 Screenprint, ed. 5/30 2x2 $30 Honorable Mention
Alicja Snoch-Pawlowska Poland Materia Mystica 9M, 2015 Screenprint, ed. 5/30 2x2 $30 Honorable Mention
Valerie Syposz Canada Sweet Tooth, 2015 Lithograph, ed. 2/12 2 x 1 7/8 $85
Marina Terauds Michigan Bee, 2015 Etching with hand coloring, AP I 5/8 x 1/2 $60
Ann Tanksley New York Pain, 2014 Photopolymer intaglio with chine collĂŠ, AP 2x2 $50
Marina Terauds Michigan Fly, 2015 Etching with hand coloring, AP I 1 x 5/8 $60 George Washington Cawman III Purchase Award
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Marija Tomaz Poland Rise, 2015 Intaglio, ed. 3/16 2 x 1 7/8 $50
Rachele Unter New Jersey OBI (Orange Button I), 2013 Etching with chine collé and thread, Variable edition AP 2x2 $75 Honorable Mention
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Emily Trueblood New York City Steam 2, 2015 Linoleum cut, AP 2 1/2 x 1 5/8 $125
Rachele Unter New Jersey OTI (Orange Thimble I), 2013 Etching with chine collé, Variable edition AP 2x2 $75 Honorable Mention
Emily Trueblood New York Snowy Tower 3, 2015 Linoleum cut, AP 2 1/2 x 1 5/8 $125
Rachele Unter New Jersey OPI (Orange Pin I), 2013 Etching with chine collé, Variable edition AP 1 7/8 x 1 7/8 $75 Honorable Mention
Jan Vanderburg New Mexico Denali, 2014 Linoleum cut, ed. 9/29 2x2 $120
Jan Vanderburg New Mexico Sandias, 2013 Linoleum cut, ed. 16/19 2x2 $120
Kay Watanabe Australia Curve, 2015 Drypoint, ed. 1/8 2 x 1 7/8 $120
Bev Ward Connecticut Nov. 28, 2015 Aquatint, AP 2x2 $30
Sandy Webster North Carolina White Line Fish, 2015 White line woodcut 2x2 $75
Sandy Webster North Carolina White Line Bird, 2015 White line woodcut 2x2 $75
Sandy Webster North Carolina White Line Fox, 2015 White line woodcut 2x2 $75 McClain’s Purchase Award 2 0 1 5 E X H I B I T I O N C ATA L O G
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G L O S S A RY O F P R I N T M A K I N G T E R M S A N D T E C H N I Q U E S WHAT IS A HAND MADE PRINT? A hand-made print is created by the artist who prepares the plate from which the print is printed using a variety of methods depending on the type of print involved. It is not a finished piece of artwork that is copied and printed by mechanical means. A digital print is made on a computer using the computer to create a piece of artwork. Many purchasers of art work buy what they think is a hand-made print when what they really buy is a photocopy of a watercolor or oil painting frequently numbered and signed by the artist. Sometimes the signature is a printed one and is valueless as such. Most prints are printed on dampened paper. The paper is soaked from fifteen minutes to several hours. When ready to print the artist dries the paper between blotters or towels until any wet areas are blotted away. This softens the sizing and makes the paper more receptive to the ink and in the case of intaglio or embossing allows the paper to be actually pressed into the plate. These papers are heavy rag papers like Arches or BFK. Light Japanese rice papers are not dampened usually. While oil based ink is necessary for lithographs other prints can be done with either oil or water based ink. Water based ink will dry quickly which gives the artist less time to ink the plate, especially in a monotype or any plate using several colors. However the finished print will dry within a day. Oil based ink can be worked with for several hours before printing but the finished print will take several days to dry completely. In any case the plate must be cleaned thoroughly before storing as dried ink will distort future prints.
INTAGLIO: The image is cut into the material. Intaglio methods include: ETCHING: A copper or zinc plate, well polished, is coated on all surfaces with an acid resistant ground (a type of varnish). A sharp tool is used to scratch through the ground in the manner of a pen and ink drawing. The plate is then immersed in the acid bath (usually diluted nitric acid) and watched while the acid eats the metal wherever the scratched lines have been made. If some areas are meant to be lighter than others the plate is removed, rinsed and dried and the area painted with an acid-resistant coating, called “stopping-out varnish�, and the plate is returned to the acid as soon as the varnish is dry. This can be done several times, as the deepest lines will hold the most ink. The plate is then rinsed, dried and the varnish removed. Etching ink is then pressed onto the plated until all areas are covered. Then the ink is wiped off the plate with tarlatan - a stiff gauze fabric, which while cleaning the plate leaves the ink in the etched lines. Wiping the plate is an art in itself; too much wiping creates a pale print and too little a dark muddy print. Further polishing of light areas can be done with a page from an old phone book or unprinted newsprint. The plate is then placed on the bed of the press and the dampened paper over it. The paper picks up the ink from the acid bitten crevices and the finished product is an etching. DRYPOINT ETCHING: The bare plate is scratched with a sharp tool straight into the plate, which can be copper, zinc or plastic. This is hard work as even a plastic plate is hard to scratch very deeply. Today electric tools are often used to aid in the incising of lines. In doing this a burr is formed which gives a slightly different quality to the finished print. As the burr wears off in printing the prints will vary a little. The plate is inked and printed in the same way as an etching. SOFT GROUND ETCHING: The varnish ground is softened with Vaseline and then mesh, fabric, string, etc. can be put on the plate and run through the press, creating an impression of the items in the ground. The ground can also be marked with a pencil, toothpicks, etc. The plate is placed into an acid bath like an etching and stopping out varnish can be used. The plate is cleaned, inked and printed as is an etching and the result is a soft ground etching. The resulting images are softer rather than the linear crispness of an etching. AQUATINT ETCHING: Powdered rosin is sifted evenly onto a clean polished metal plate and is then heated on a hot plate to melt the varnish enough so that it adheres to the plate. Too much heat and it will melt the particles into each other. The plate is put in the acid bath and removed each time that stop-out varnish is needed to create the image from light to dark areas. There is no line drawing, just wash areas, somewhat like a watercolor painting. The edges of the areas are burnished by rubbing with a metal tool to blend them. The cleaning, inking, wiping and printing are the same as an etching.
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COLOR and COLORED ETCHINGS: A color etching has the color inked into the plate with colored etching inks. It can be done by applying each color separately to the plate and carefully wiping or with a separate plate for each color requiring very careful registration for printing each plate on to one piece of prepared paper. Either method is time consuming and requires endless patience. A colored etching is an etching printed in the usual way that later has color added to it with paint or perhaps pastel. It’s a quick and easy way to color an etching but is not an integral part of the print. ENGRAVING: An engraving tool is used to cut a line into a plate. The cut is very cleanly made without any burr and without the slight roughness of acid biting. It is difficult and nerve-wracking work that requires precision and patience and the tools must be constantly sharpened. The deeper cuts are darker as they hold more ink and as the tools are apt to slip many an error has to be burnished out (rubbed with a metal tool) before proceeding. MEZZOTINT: Special expensive tools are used in “rocking” across the plate vertically, horizontally, and both diagonals. When the surface is completely scored, which may take a day or so, and then the design image is carefully burnished erasing the scored surface. The plate is inked, wiped and printed as in an etching. The result is a rich velvety black with soft edges to the light image areas. PHOTOGRAVURE: A general term for any metal plate process in which an image has been transferred to a metal surface by photographic means. A corrosive bath is used to incise the image into the plate before inking and printing. Photo-etching is a term alternatively used. Any of the above ways of making an etching can be used in combinations to achieve very unique and interesting handmade intaglio prints.
SOLARPLATE: is a simple approach and safer alternative to traditional etching and relief printing. Since Dan Welden’s development of the process in the 1970s, printmakers, painters, photographers, and art teachers interested in multiple impressions have utilized printmaking with Solarplates. Solar plates are steel-backed, light sensitive, photopolymer printmaking plates. After exposing with U. V. light, the plate is developed with water. Solar Plate may be exposed using sunlight, but an exposure system and vacuum frame gives more consistent results.Both positives and negatives can be utilized; intaglio and relief printing techniques can be applied.
RELIEF PRINTS: The design remains on the surface and the unnecessary parts are cut away. Relief prints include: WOOD CUTS: A piece of wood is carved with wood carving tools (gouges) and the remaining surface is inked with an ink roller (brayer). Often the grain of the wood is incorporated into the pattern. It can be printed on a press or by hand rubbing with a baren or wooden spoon, etc. More than one color can be used, but more often a separate wood block is used for each color. Either oil based or water based ink can be used and a variety of different papers. WOOD ENGRAVING: The wood used has no grain as the blocks are made with the grain on the vertical. The end of the block is carved and fine detail can be achieved. Separate blocks are usually used for more than one color. REDUCTION WOOD ENGRAVING: All the colors of a design are left on the block and the whole block is inked in the lightest color. More than the required number of prints a are made of that first color. Then the part of the block that bears only the first color is cut away and the next color is printed. This is repeated for each color cutting the color away after each set of prints. Precise registration is very important. In the end the block is destroyed and if fifty prints were made to begin with, perhaps thirty-five or forty might be successfully carry all the colors in registration.. LINOLEUM and SOFT PLASTIC: These plates are carved with special tools and are softer and easier to work with and have no grain. More than one color can be inked on one block or separate blocks can be carved for each color. The printing can be done with a press or by rubbing. Various papers can be used. COLLOGRAPH: Similar to a relief print, but instead of carving into the plate, the image is built up on the surface of the plate. The base plate can be cardboard, plastic, metal, wood or anything available. Then the design is made up of cut out paper, card stock, fabric, string, netting, lace, feathers, drizzled and dried glue, etc. When everything is glued down and dried the whole plate is sprayed with spray paint or varnish so that the plate can later be cleaned. Then the plate is inked with one or more colors, either water base or oil, and printed as a woodcut. The plate can be inked in various ways many times and cleaned for storage.
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EMBOSSING: A plate with a raised design somewhat like a collograph is printed on heavy prepared paper using no ink. Displayed with good lighting the embossed design can be very effective. LETTERPRESS: A relief technique for printing movable type (though blocks with images may also be used). Metal, wood, or polymer forms of a standard height are set in place in the bed of a press. Since ink is transferred from the surface of the blocks by the application of pressure, letterpress prints are recognizable for their embossed printed forms. LITHOGRAPHY: Since oil and water do not mix, if the plate is kept wet and the design has been done in oil, the wet plate can be inked in oil ink and printed on prepared paper. The oil base ink adheres only to the design area and is rejected by the wet areas and is printed on a special press. Lithography encompasses: STONE LITHOGRAPH: Lithograph translates to “Stone print” and all were originally done on specially prepared stones. The stones are heavy and expensive. The design is drawn on a stone with a grease crayon or painted with a grease base ink (called tusche). When finished it is treated and cleaned and in appearance looks like a blank stone once again. However the design is there and while the stone is kept wet the ink is applied with a brayer. The oil base ink adheres only to the design area and is printed on a lithography press. Separate stones are used for separate colors. ZINC PLATE LITHOGRAPHY: A specially treated zinc plate is used much as a stone, but is cheaper and easier to handle. The fine shading achieved on a stone is not quite as attainable on zinc. PAPER LITHOGRAPHY: A paper printed from a copy machine has an oil base toner (computer ink is water based and will not work). Since wet paper is fragile the paper is sprayed with water and flattened onto a plastic plate. In order to keep the paper wet it is coated with liquid gum Arabic. A small amount is spread on the wet paper and allowed to rest about five or ten minutes. Then more water is sprayed on the paper and the ink is applied. Ordinary oil paint works well as the ink must be soft since the wet paper is fragile. A few drops of linseed oil helps. Paint that is too stiff will tear the paper and if too soft will result in a pale print. The color is applied with a brayer and washed off. This step is repeated two or three times and then excess water is gently blotted off and the plate is ready to print on prepared dampened paper. An etching press works well. Any color or combination of colors can be used, but only applied with a brayer on very wet paper. The photocopied print can be constructed from anything - pen and ink drawing, a photo, cut outs, feathers, just about anything you can copy. The size is limited by the copy machine paper. POLYESTER PLATE LITHOGRAPHY: (PRONTO plate printing), a new and nontoxic form of lithographic printing was developed by George Roberts while he was Professor of Printmaking at Boise State University. Polyester Plate Printing started as a low cost yet professional form of commercial offset lithography. The medium is capable of reproducing the full spectrum of lithographic marks such as: hand drawn brush strokes, ink wash, texture, crayon and pencil marks, and is equally well suited for digital imaging. Plates can be also imaged directly with a laser printer or a photocopier. The process is more straightforward than conventional lithography as the plate does not require chemical processing in the form of etching with acid. CHINE COLLÉ: The process of adhering one piece of paper to another by using a liquid adhesive and running them together through the printing press. Chine is French for “China,” which refers to the thin Asian paper originally used with this technique, and collé means “glued.”
SCREEN PRINTING: In essence this comprises a hand-cut or photographic stencil with the silk mesh of the screen holding the stencils parts in place. A piece of silk mesh fabric is stretched onto a wooden frame. The frame is hinged on one side to a base. A drawing is placed under the silk and any part of the silk that is not the color to be printed is stopped out with a glue or lacquer or a photo process can also be used. The bare silk that is not painted out will allow the ink to be squeezed through the silk. After the prepared screen is dry the paper to be printed is put in place. If more than one color will be used in the print the placement of the paper is critical. The paint is placed on one end of the screen and dragged across the silk with a rubber squeegee. The frame is lifted enough to remove the paper and replace it with the next piece and the paint is dragged back again and so on until the full number of prints are made. The printing is very fast - a minute or so per print. The set up of the image on the screen takes a good bit of careful planning. The screen is then cleaned of the paint and the stencil removed and the stencil for the next color is put on the screen. Many different colors can be combined on one print and the stencil can be done in a painterly way or a crisp cut out stencil or with photography. Either water base or oil base paint can be used.
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MONOTYPES: a one of a kind print. A second print, called a “ghost” can be made but will look very much lighter. MONOTYPE: A plastic plate has ink applied to it with brush, sponge, brayer, etc. Any color or design can be used. Feathers, lace, string, etc. can be placed on the plate; ink on the plate can be manipulated with fingers, Q-tips, brushes, etc. Thick paint will slide off in printing and too thin paint will dry out and not print. The plate is placed on an etching press and the dampened paper on top. After the print is made a second print can be made from the same plate, but they will look very different. Before cleaning the plate the design can be manipulated with added paint, etc., but the result is still a one of a kind impression. The CLAYPRINT MONOPRINT is an innovative process created by Mitch Lyons in the 1960’s and continually developed by him even today. The “plate” for the print is a leather hard slab of stoneware clay. The media is white slip mixed with house paint colorants and ceramic stains to produce a rainbow of colors. The colored clays in the form of slip, moist clay, and powdered chalks are applied to the slab using a full range of painterly, printmaking, and ceramic techniques. Once the image on the slab is complete, a slightly dampened sheet of Reemay interfacing canvas is carefully laid on the slab, and light pressure is applied by hand to lift a thin layer of colored clay from the surface. The colored clays bond to the interfacing to produce an archival monoprint. STENCILS: Cut out pieces of card stock can be inked, arranged on prepared paper and printed either on a press or by hand. The CLICHÉ VERRE Process is a cross between art and photography. It Is a method created using photography equipment but can be done on pieces of art, not just photographs. The method consists of etching, painting or drawing on a transparent surface, such as glass, thin paper or film and printing the resulting image on a light sensitive paper in a photographic darkroom. This process originated in France in the early 19th century. Contemporary cliché verre artists also utilize scanners and editing software to produce the images on acetate or as digital prints.
WHAT ARE THE INSCRIPTIONS ON THE BOTTOM OF THE PRINT? Traditionally, signifying inscriptions are written in pencil at the bottom of a print. Reading from left to right, the inscriptions indicate the edition number, the title of the artwork, and the artist’s name (and sometimes the date), e.g. 2/30 Untitled #1 A. Smith, 2012 Artist’s Proof (A.P.) A print reserved for the artist and not included in the numbered edition. An artist’s proof can be identified by the inscription “A.P.” found in the lower left-hand margin instead of a number. Printer’s proofs are reserved for the printer and are inscribed “P.P.” Bon à Tirer (B.A.T.) A print that is not included in the edition, but which indicates the standard a printer tried to duplicate for the edition. A print which is bon à tirer (translated from French as “ready to pull”) can be identified by the inscription “B.A.T.” found in the lower left-hand margin. What is an Edition? A set of identical prints made from the same matrix (or set of matrices). Often a number of other prints – artist’s proofs, printer’s proofs, bon à tirer, and hors commerce (“not for trade”) prints – are made at the same time but are not considered to be part of the numbered edition. Each print in a limited edition is usually numbered in the lower left-hand margin. The form of this inscription is as follows: number in the edition/size of the edition (i.e. 15/50). To guarantee a limited edition, the artist or printer can “strike” or cancel the plate by incising an X on the printing face after completion.
ATTRIBUTION The majority of the descriptions above are attributed to Elizabeth MacDonald, with additional material by CCP.
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About CCP The Center for Contemporary Printmaking is a nonprofit multimedia studio and gallery dedicated to the art of the print. At CCP artists can work independently, collaborate with master printers, or enroll in workshops conducted by nationally recognized artists. We provide studios, equipment, and technical expertise. Exhibitions of original prints are held regularly in the gallery, and diverse educational programs are offered for experienced and emerging artists. THE EXHIBITION PROGRAM AT CCP Each year, the Center for Contemporary Printmaking (CCP) hosts a series of exhibitions in the Grace Ross Shanley Gallery, including works by established professional artist/printmakers, the Biennial Footprint International Print Exhibition (on even numbered years), the Biennial International Miniature Print Exhibition (on odd numbered years), and an Annual Members’ Exhibition. We wish to acknowledge and thank the following foundations and organizations for their help and support in enabling the Center to service the local community: Fairfield County’s Community Foundation Lone Pine Foundation The Bershaw Family Foundation Wescustogo Foundation
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