Arist's Proof A/P by Joe McCarthy

Published to accompany Graphic Studio Dublin’s exhibition Artist’s Proof

Chester Beatty Library

at Chester Beatty Library, 15th January – 19th April 2009

Dublin Castle Dublin 2

This exhibition is available as a touring show.

Ireland

Contact jackie@graphicstudiodublin.com

Tel: +353 (0)1 407 0750 Fax: +353 (0)1 407 0760

Published by Graphic Studio Dublin

E-mail: info@cbl.ie Web: www.cbl.ie

Distillery House Distillery Court

Supported by the Arts Council

537 North Circular Road Dublin 1 Ireland Tel: +353 (0)1 817 0942 Fax: +353 (0)1 817 0942 E-mail: info@graphicstudiodublin.com Web: www.graphicstudiodublin.com

All prints © The Artist & Graphic Studio Dublin, 2008 Dimensions are in centimetres and refer to image size (h x w)

Cover image

Papersize for all prints is 47 x 32 (h x w)

Spinning Wind (detail) Takahiko Hayashi

CBL images © Chester Beatty Library Artist Drawing From a Model, Rembrant © Rembrandhuis, Amsterdam

Inside front Surface

Edited by Brian Lalor, Osgar O’Neill, Robert Russell, Jackie Ryan and Dr. Michael Ryan Catalogue and Exhibition Design by Joe McCarthy Exhibition Framed by Dalkey Arts Ltd. Printed by Hudson Killeen Ltd.

Stephen Lawlor

Contents Page

Foreword – Jackie Ryan, Chief Executive Officer, Graphic Studio Dublin

and Dr. Michael Ryan, Director, Chester Beatty Library Acknowledgements

vii

Graphic Studio Dublin – Colm Toibin

Infernal and Other Methods – Brian Lalor

Chester Beatty Library Historical Note

Graphic Studio Dublin Historical Note

Limited Edition Boxed Set

Education Programme

List of Participating Artists

Catalogue

Artists’ Biographies

Glossary – Robert Russell, Studio Director, Graphic Studio Dublin

iii

Foreword

Artist’s Proof is the third collaboration between

and the group of engravers known as the ‘Little Masters’. Chester Beatty’s collection

Graphic Studio Dublin and the Chester Beatty

remainder mounted in albums. This figure does not include the hundreds of prints

Library, following the highly successful exhibitions

volumes.

Holy Show (2002) and Gardens of Earthly Delight

Graphic Studio Dublin was established in 1960 by a group of artists who wanted

(2005). The collaboration has been of great

worldwide, examples of which are evident throughout the Chester Beatty Library’s

benefit in linking the Chester Beatty Library’s

which now has 68 members, and occupies a stunning 7,000 square foot studio

historic collections of prints (many of which were

central Dublin gallery, Graphic Studio Gallery in Temple Bar, Dublin 2.

at the heart of Sir Alfred Chester Beatty’s art

No museum’s collection should be seen in isolation of the contemporary practices that

collection), to a thriving contemporary fine art

Beatty Library staff are acutely aware of this, and endeavour to push boundaries of

print facility, Graphic Studio Dublin. Sir Alfred

asking the artist to respond to the collections within Chester Beatty Library, and this

Chester Beatty was one of the earliest patrons of

brief was to research, explore, illustrate and document the processes that are part of

Graphic Studio Dublin.

within historic prints be uncovered, many of which stand in isolation as finished pieces

Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a print cabinet was an essential element of a gentleman’s library. This usually consisted of portfolios of prints or print albums arranged either by subject matter or, more often, by artist or engraver. The European print collection formed by Sir Alfred Chester Beatty was in this tradition. He

grew to nearly 35,000 prints, approximately 5,000 of which are loose sheets and the that are found in the illustrated books or prints separately mounted in extra-illustrated

to create fine art prints in a tradition that mirrored the skills of their predecessors collections. Their vision grew to form the largest collective fine art print studio in Ireland, premises at Distillery House, North Circular Road, Dublin 1, as well as exhibiting at its

continue the traditions housed within its archives and permanent displays. The Chester understanding about fine art printmaking. The previous two collaborations were about third project pushes a step further. Instead of using the collection as inspiration, the the art of making a fine art print. Only then can some of the hidden processes that lie of art, without sketches, studies or proofs. Late twentieth century art criticism looked at ideas behind the creation of art with regard to the superiority of process versus product. In previous centuries, art historians focused on the finality of a finished artwork, with scant regard to the creative process. Drawings, studies and sketches were often lost or destroyed.

started to collect prints around 1910 and he was particularly interested in the works of northern European artists, especially the engravings and woodcuts of Albrecht Dürer

The world growth of media, new technology and the formulation of national and international art collecting policies led to the wider documentation of the creative process, in Ireland more specifically in the latter two decades of the twentieth century. In extreme cases the finished artwork or ‘product’ became almost irrelevant – if the process opened enough dialogue and pushed the boundaries of perceived artistic practice. The art of printmaking has straddled both these trends, holding faith in the creative process in pursuit of the final print. Artist’s Proof is a brave illustration to the world, that the process behind the fine art print is never easy and can often turn the creative concept on its head. The pursuit of the finished print can unveil mysterious possibilities for an artist open, creative and hardworking enough to take those steps. This exhibition, co-produced by Graphic Studio Dublin and the Chester Beatty Library, is an invitation to enter the magic that this process unfolds. Fifteen Graphic Studio Dublin artists and nine invited artists were asked to document the process of making a fine art print for this exhibition, including keeping working proofs. The proofs exhibited are the tangible demonstration of the creative methodology of the printmaker. Mostly relegated to the bin, or to the artist’s portfolio with notes and recipes for the next venture forth, here the viewer is invited to engage in that process. In Graphic Studio Dublin’s almost 50 years in existence, technical excellence and art historical values have always been core. To that end the viewer is invited to enjoy the finished ‘product’, the limited edition print which emerged from the many artist’s proofs. Jackie Ryan

Dr. Michael Ryan

CEO, Graphic Studio Dublin

Director, Chester Beatty Library

Previous 400m Above Sauce Creek (detail) Niall Naessens Across A Visit to the Chester Beatty Library (detail) David Lilburn

Acknowledgements

The Chester Beatty Library and Graphic Studio Dublin wish to thank … Exhibition concept and curation: Brian Lalor The artists: Norman Ackroyd RA, Gerard Cox, Gráinne Cuffe, Cliona Doyle, Niamh Flanagan, Takahiko Hayashi, Desmond Kenny, Arno Kramer, Brian Lalor, Jennifer Lane, Stephen Lawlor, Elaine Leader, Christopher Le Brun RA, Sharon Lee, David Lilburn, James McCreary, Mary Modeen, Niall Naessens, Lars Nyberg, Ruth O’Donnell, Tom Phelan, Barbara Rae RA, Robert Russell, Katherine Van Uytrecht. Our sincere thanks also to Brian Lalor and Colm Tóibín who contributed essays to this catalogue, and also to following companies, institutions and persons for their invaluable assistance in organising this exhibition: Chester Beatty Library:

Graphic Studio Dublin:

Graphic Studio Gallery:

Progress Software

Jessica Baldwin

Ian Bewick

Paula Kennedy

John O’Sullivan

Antonella Barbati

Gerard Cox

Niamh Mac Gowan

Livia Henderson

Justyna Chmielewska

Mory Cunningham

Catherine O’Riordan

Mary Dowling

Cliona Doyle

Vera Greif

Niamh Flanagan

Companies & Institutions:

Hannah Champion

Charles Horton

Martin Gale RHA

The Arts Council

Niamh Clancy

June Lattimore

Nickie Hayden

Chester Beatty Library

Caroline Donohue

Dr. Shane McCausland

Brian Lalor

G. Ryder & Co. Ltd.

Orla Gowen

Derval O’Carroll

Pamela Leonard

Graphic Studio Dublin

Clare Henderson

Dr. Michael Ryan

Sharon Lee

Graphic Studio Gallery

Alison Lawlor

Paula Shalloo

Osgar O’Neill

Limerick Printmakers

Richard Lawlor

Jenny Siung

Geraldine O’Reilly

Progress Software

Sharon Lee

Lorna Tracey

John O’Sullivan

Peacock Visual Arts

Joe McCarthy

Sinéad Ward

Robert Russell

Steendrukkerij Aad Hekker

Susannah O’Reilly

Individuals:

Jackie Ryan

Michael Timmins

Adrienne Symes

Master Printers:

Donald Teskey RHA

Aad Hekker for Arno Kramer

Katherine Van Uytrecht

Robert Russell for Christopher Le Brun

Colm Tóibín

Michael Waight for Barbara Rae vii

Graphic Studio Dublin Colm Toibin

Graphic Studio Dublin began its life in a part of Dublin which is rich in literary and

Nearby, in those same few years that Banville was writing about, Thomas Kinsella

artistic associations. Many writers saw those few streets in the Georgian city between

composed his poem Baggot Street Deserta:

Baggot Street, Merrion Square and the Grand Canal and beyond into Pembroke Road

“The window is wide

as filled with rich memories and great ghosts and odd glimpses into a half-imagined

On a crawling arch of stars, and the night

past. John Banville, for example, in a review of a book about the wife of the poet W.B.

Reacts faintly to the mathematic

Yeats, remembered a time in the early 1960s when he was living in Upper Mount

Passion of a cello suite

Street “in a flat in a decaying Georgian house”. The painter Anne Yeats, he wrote, the

Plotting the quiet of my attic.”

daughter of the poet, “occupied the flat below mine; in physique, Anne Yeats was her mother built to her father’s scale, and had an enchanting smile. We would often meet

Having contemplated human endurance and imaginative systems, his “fingers cold

on the stairs and stop to talk, usually about the dilapidated condition of the house and

against the sill”, the poet allowed his “quarter-inch of cigarette” to go “flaring down to

the perfidy of the property company that owned it.” One day, as Banville was coming

Baggot Street.”

up the stairs, he “saw Anne Yeats about to enter her flat, accompanied by a diminutive, elderly lady. As I passed them by, and greeted Anne, I paid scant attention to the old

Years later, Kinsella would remember a sight from the 1950s in a poem called The Last:

woman, in her wollen hat and outsize spectacles. She, however, turned to me and…

“Standing stone still on the path, with long pale chin

gave me a long, searching, cool, but not unfriendly stare.” The woman in question was

under a broad-brimmed hat, and aged eyes

W.B. Yeats’ widow George.

staring down Baggot Street across his stick. Jack Yeats. The last.”

In his novel Christine Falls, written under the pseudonym Benjamin Black, Banville evoked that street in those years: “Drifts of soundless summer rain were graying

The poet John Montague lived close by in Herbert Street. In his poem Herbert Street

the trees in Merrion Square…the broad street was deserted, with not a car in sight,

Revisited he wrote of the new ghosts in his old flat:

and if not for the rain he would have been able to see unhindered all the way to the

“A light is burning late

Peppercanister Church, which always looked to him, viewed from a distance like this

in this Georgian Dublin Street:

down the broad, shabby sweep of Upper Mount Street, to be set at a slightly skewed

someone is leading our old lives!”

angle…He eyed the tall windows, thinking of all the shadowed rooms with people in them, waking, yawning, getting up to make their breakfasts, or turning over to enjoy

In his memoir Dead as Doornails Anthony Cronin evoked the ghost of Patrick Kavanagh

another half-hour in the damp, warm stew of their beds.”

as he made this area of Dublin his home: “Kavanagh lived at this time on the first floor of a house in Pembroke Road…The end of Baggot Street that runs into it had then three tolerable pubs, one bookmaker’s shop and a bookshop. This was his querencia.

Opposite Andalucia (detail)

Here he prowled, newspapers under arm, eyes baleful behind horn-rimmed glasses… Seldom can there have been such a small area patrolled by genius.”

Barbara Rae RA

Kavanagh in his poem If You Ever Go To Dublin Town suggested that “on Pembroke

generation for proper relations to be restored between the two groups, often known as

Road look out for my ghost.”

the Provos and the Stickies.)

It is easy then to conjure up some other ghosts who walked in these streets, figures

As Dublin changed, those Georgian houses in Baggotonia, once so full of artists’

with a portfolio under their arms and a look in their eye both visionary and immensely

studios and cheap flats and deep and fruitful dreams, were converted to the

practical, figures with a dream in their heads of baths of acid and plates of copper and

headquarters of advertising companies or multi-national enterprises. Graphic Studio

images made backwards and artists’ proofs and editions of fifty.

Dublin moved to the Docklands where it was to spend twenty-two years before selling its lease and moving to a splendid building off the North Circular Road, near Croke

Graphic Studio Dublin was set up in 1960 at 18 Upper Mount Street by Patrick Hickey,

Park, where it is now housed. The Dublin of its original years was mourned in his long

Anne Yeats, Elizabeth Rivers, Leslie McWeeney and Liam Miller, whose Dolmen Press

poem The Yellow Book by Derek Mahon from his attic in Fitzwilliam Square:

was at 23 Upper Mount Street. The aim was to establish in Dublin a professional print studio; it was not for students, it was only for those with a serious vision. It helped to

“My attic window under the shining slates

fund itself by printing each year at Christmas a portfolio of four or five prints which was

where the maids slept in the days of Wilde and Yeats

presented to its benefactors. These came beautifully presented with superb lettering by

sees crane-light where McAlpine’s fusiliers,

Liam Miller who was one of the pioneers of Irish book design.

site hats and brick-dust, ruin the work of years.”

Large numbers of Irish artists used Graphic Studio Dublin and it plays a central role in

There is a funny atmosphere in a print studio. It is not like a painter’s studio where

the history and development of Irish art over the past fifty years. It also plays a part in

untidiness, work half finished, jars with water, old brushes, half-squeezed tubes of paint

Irish literature. After her death, the poet Paul Muldoon wrote one of his most moving

and old cd cases work hard against whatever natural light comes in. A print studio

and verbally exacting poems about one of the printmakers who worked there, Mary Farl

is not a place where frenzied work can take place; it is a place of waiting, trying out,

Powers. She became another ghost in these streets, one of the artists who “marched

watching, of moving slowly with great precision, of letting things take their course in

from Mount Street to the Merrion Square arena”. In the poem, which is called Incantata,

their own time. It is one of the few places left where people gather to work without

Muldoon conjured up his friend the printmaker:

recourse to computers, where what is digitized and stored in software and hardware are no use to anyone. If Rembrandt were to walk in here, into the ground floor of

“I saw you again tonight, in your jump-suit, thin as a rake,

Graphic Studio Dublin off the North Circular Road on an ordinary afternoon, he would

your hand moving in such a deliberate arc

be surprised by electricity perhaps but not by much else, not by many of the age-old

as you ground a lithographic stone

systems which are still used to make prints as they were in his time.

that your hand and the stone blurred to one and your face blurred into the face of your mother, Betty Wahl,

He would watch them finding a copper plate and then heating the plate with a candle

who took your failing, ink-stained hand

and covering it with wax and then the artist etching onto the plate, using the stylus,

in her failing ink-stained hand

imagining everything backwards, every line and touch and smudge and cross-hatch.

and together you ground down that stone by sheer force of will.”

And then putting the plate in a bath of acid which would attack the copper. And using a feather to disturb any bubbles that might form in the acid. And where the artist has

Muldoon describes Mary Farl Powers as she “showed the great new acid bath/ in

made the mark on the wax, the mark would remain and be revealed as the acid did its

the Graphic Studio, and again undid your portfolio/ to lay out your latest works” and

work.

alluded also to “the Black Church clique and the Graphic Studio claque,” a reference to the split which occurred in 1979 between two groups of Dublin printmakers. (It took a

For writers who work in longhand using ink, as I do, there is something wonderful about curling a letter a little more than is necessary, or letting the last word in a sentence have a certain flourish. Or even watching the ink dry or looking at the different textures of patterns ink makes on paper. I have come to Graphic Studio Dublin with the last page of a recently completed novel. I watch the wax being spread and rolled on the copper plate as it is prepared for me to write this page out so some prints can be made of it. The wax is soft, so every mark I make will appear. I am left alone. I must move slowly, carefully. I know if I think too much I will make a mistake, but if I am careless I will leave a big smudge or some lines at the side that we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need. This is lovely slow work, especially since I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to work backwards as what comes from the copper can be traced onto paper from which the final print can be made. Making a beautiful capital letter, or letting a word have an aura of stillness and security in how it is written out, or ending a line early, or letting a letter curl upwards at the end, all of this has a satisfaction around it, with words being given their full due, their body as much as their soul on display here. Robert Russell, Studio Director, Graphic Studio Dublin, smoking hard ground with tapers.

When it is done, the process is slow. I can have a long lunch while the acid does its work, and then go and look at what the artists upstairs are doing, study each stage in

He would watch artists working in woodcut, where the grain of the wood would make its way onto the paper. Artists using Japanese systems and western systems, thinking backwards, using wet or soft paper. No one looking for uniformity, no one trying to make a set of identical prints; instead, as proofs are made and new layers are added, everyone looking for the perfection of a hand-made object. He would watch artists add layer after layer to make a print, working like surgeons, with patience, skill, precision, and working also with pure imagination.

the prints they are making, before going down again to watch the print itself emerging like new life in its first proof. The last page of a new book. Slowly then in the new building new prints are being made by the artists who work there, and by invited artists. And slowly, too, in place of the Georgian city around Baggot Street, which once belonged to artists, a new set of streets where people with vision and flair and patience and seriousness can walk with portfolios under their arms is emerging. The North Circular Road awaits its poets.

There are moments in this process which are like magic, when you have made the print and pull back the blankets on the press and look beneath to see what has emerged, to check if the colours are right, or the lines are etched deeply enough. But most of the day is spent slowly preparing the ground for magic, saying little, making no mistakes and working in collaboration to achieve certain effects.

Acknowledgement is due to John Banville, The New York Review of Books and Picador; Thomas Kinsella and Carcanet Press; John Montague and Gallery Press; Anthony Cronin and Lilliput Press; Derek Mahon and Gallery Press; Paul Muldoon and Faber & Faber.

Infernal and Other Methods Brian Lalor

“If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is: infinite. This I shall do by printing in the infernal method, by corrosives, which in Hell are salutary and medicinal, melting apparent surfaces away, and displaying the infinite which was hid.”

William Blake (1)

The visionary poet and artist William Blake was among the pioneers of experimentation in printmaking. He developed original techniques to answer the needs of his personal artistic quest. Blake was much more a man of our time than of his own, and he would have risen to the challenge of the theme of this exhibition with a sense of certainty that through the methodology of printmaking truths would be revealed. This exhibition is exploratory in that printmaking processes are presented to the viewer as a sequence of phased engagements between the artists and their intention, modulated through their chosen chemical or physical processes. Present-day printmaking embraces a vastly wider range of media than those available in Blake’s time, yet the elements of all printmaking remain constant, the state-by-state building up and blending of processes to achieve a goal, often tentative in its incompleteness – or so the artist of today would feel. When is a print finished? This is a question to which there is no precise answer but we might empathise with Rembrandt’s dictum “a work is finished when an artist realises his intentions”. Slightly more tangible is the question, “When is a print begun?” The first mark on the matrix represents a beginning although there may have been many preparatory drawings and trials. Two singular examples (2) of unfinished engravings from the fifteenth/sixteenth centuries present diametrically opposed information concerning artists and their individual points of departure. In Mantegna’s Virgin and Child in a Grotto (c. 1475), the engraver has worked from the centre of the plate outwards, delineating in complex detail the figures and their surroundings, leaving the background in outline. In contrast, Dürer in his Fall of Man (c. 1504), has laid in an intensely worked background while the figures of Adam and Eve are represented by the most ephemeral Artist Drawing From a Model (1639), Rembrandt, etching, drypoint and burin. Rembrandhuis, Amsterdam.

of suggestion.

David Lilburn, preparatory pen sketches for A Visit to the Chester Beatty Library

Later than both of these prints is Rembrandt’s unfinished etching with drypoint and

lithography while other media in decreasing frequency are; two using woodcut and one

burin, Artist Drawing From a Model (1639). (3) Here Rembrandt has used the plate to

each, mezzotint and photo-intaglio. The latter pair represents a contrast in a follower of

render some areas, the background to the scene, in richly hatched deep tones while

the eighteenth century’s most celebrated print medium, mezzotint, with the twentieth

other elements, the artist and the model, are represented as elusively as Dürer’s figures.

century’s most innovative, lens-based media.

Prints of Rembrandt’s unfinished plate were circulating within the artist’s lifetime so we can infer that he relished the brilliant unfinished aspects of the image and that

For sheer virtuosity of experimentation the etchers present work of great interest, with

contemporary collectors appreciated the mastery that the print demonstrated. The

a demonstration of the breath of this medium as it is teased and manipulated by a

impetus for Artist’s Proof derived from a lecture that I gave at the Chester Beatty

practiced and accomplished group of printmakers. Etching, as intaglio printmaking,

Library in 2006 in which I considered the various states of Rembrandt’s etching, The

implies that the lines and tones are indented beneath the surface of a plate, using

Flight into Egypt by Night (1651). From this evolved the idea of examining present-day

corrosive fluids to create the marks. The ink is held by the indentations and transferred

printmaking practice, by highlighting the working methods of individual print artists.

under pressure to the paper.

In Artist’s Proof, the approach of the participants is as various as that of artists of the

In the work of David Lilburn and Robert Russell, false starts are presented beside

past, some arriving at a conclusion in a minimum of states, others hovering over the

the final image. Here the intellectual process is made visible by the manner in which

image as it goes through multiple states until a point of resolution has been reached.

the artists have rejected their first (and subsequent) thoughts in favour of some later

Fifteen of the twenty-four participants have worked in variants of the medium favoured

and more satisfying approach. Niamh Flanagan also records a similar and difficult

by Rembrandt, etching. The dominance of etching is a measure of its prominence

search for the desired image, a battle with the concept. To Takahiko Hayashi the

as a medium among the artists of Graphic Studio Dublin. Three artists have pursued

process resembles a theatrical performance, to Stephen Lawlor—following nearly forty states—a desire to ‘create an image which carries its own ambiguity’. 5

As the dominant technical group, the etchers present an encyclopaedic overview of this

Niall Naessens and Ruth O’Donnell, in distinctively different styles, bring their print through

medium, with each artist adding subtle variants of the technique, or combining it with

many monochrome states to a conclusion in full colour. The contrast in the texture of

related approaches. Norman Ackroyd works in pure aquatint, a tonal variant of etching

their line in the early states is derived from Naessens using an etching needle drawn into

(more often combined with etched lines). With successive building up of the aquatint

a hard ground, while O’Donnell’s method is in soft-ground drawn through tissue paper,

and burnishing out of areas, he allows the image to be created from tones alone. More

giving a softer and more tentative line. Tom Phelan also used contrasts in hard and soft

traditionally, Gráinne Cuffe and Cliona Doyle have followed the approach of an initial

grounds to vary the texture of his printing, adding a rollup to provide a background tone,

drawn line that in later states is enhanced by the addition of the tonal aquatint, Doyle

as well as written comments on the progress of the image. Finally in the etching group,

also adds gold leaf. The change in printing from the initial black line to colour absorbs

Robert Russell’s print is the result of four distinct beginnings. The chosen version is

the linear element into the tonal and the former quite magically disappears. Flanagan

enhanced by cross-hatching, drypoint and plate tone, the most direct and time-honoured

combines the linear and tonal with a further etching variant, spit bite, allowing for the

of all etching approaches. Barbara Rae also uses etching with rollups to create a highly

manipulation of more arbitrary forms in the aquatint.

layered effect where the colours blend luminously on the surface of the plate.

Hayashi uses a very deeply etched line, one of the most historic of print approaches,

Lithography, the second most represented medium, begins from the alternate

to create a print surface that has a strongly tactile quality, enhancing it with chine

planographic principle, the opposite of intaglio, that the image is created on the surface of

collée and drypoint. He also has added an extra plate to the base of his image, an old

a smooth stone or metal plate. The quality of line and tone in lithography differ completely

Rembrandt trick of changing the shape to create a better balance. Desmond Kenny

to that of etching, being more related to marks produced by pencil, crayon or washes,

uses an etched line and aquatint followed by colour experimentation to define his

the tones are similarly fluid. Three artists have used lithography, Arno Kramer, Sharon

final state where modulations of colour become the area where the definitive image

Lee, and Katherine Van Uytrecht. Kramer establishes his image in free drawing over

is revealed. Brian Lalor develops the image from finely to deeply bitten lines with the

two stones, adding images in tusche, exploiting the fluidity of the medium. Lee imposes

subsequent addition of aquatint, burnishing and drypoint. Lawlor exploits the use of

a form upon a subtext, while in intermediate states experiments with variations to the

the pure etched mark on the plate to build up a textured and variegated surface, later

orientation of the form as well as to the subtext, while Van Uytrecht plays with disparate

adding aquatint and colour. Elaine Leader uses quite lightly etched lines, followed by

elements, adding and taking away background and motifs until the final image is realised.

aquatint to create a delicate harmony of line and tone while Christopher Le Brun again

Woodcut, the oldest of all printmaking media which exploits the relief process of the ink

uses the pure etched line, worked over in various states, with finally, a cutting down of

remaining on the surface in flat areas, is approached by Gerard Cox and Jennifer Lane

one plate. Here, two plates printed in black, provide the final image.

through the Japanese reduction method. This implies that all proofs of a single state

are printed before the blocks are cut further, then all the next state is overprinted until

Whether an artist arrives at the final proof by thirteen or by three states, the

the concluding build up of detail is reached. While Cox uses a white European printing

interrogative process is one that would have been immediately recognised by

paper that pushes the colour forward, Lane conforms to the Japanese use of semi-

printmakers of past centuries. To artists who work in print media the final proof state

translucent paper that give the colours a slightly submerged quality.

is the point at which the image is editioned, while the early states represent those lost moments in time when the work might have been stopped: they are like photographic

Two artist have used drypoint, working into the surface of the plate with an engraving

memories of images now no longer recoverable. The states represent the artist in the

tool. The character of this medium is in the softness and fuzzy outline of the marks

process of creation, poised between what went before and the ambition to reveal that

made. David Lilburn, his images developed from rough on-the-spot sketches, follows a

“which was hidden”.

number of individual approaches in drypoint, while the final two-plate image is primarily in etching with drypoint from a second plate. Lars Nyberg’s print, which begins as

NOTES

a simple exercise in pure draughtsmanship, is subsequently enhanced by a circular

(1) Blake, William, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, plate 14,1790-3.

motif, but in the final state reverts to the original concept by the burnishing out of this surround.

(2) Parshall, Peter, et al., The Unfinished Print, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2001. (3) Ornstein-Van Slooten, Eva, et al., The Rembrandt House, a catalogue of Rembrandt’s etchings, Wanders Publishers, Zwolle, 2008, Chester Beatty Library, Dublin.

James McCreary works in mezzotint where the plate surface is raised in a myriad of flecks that hold the ink. This is then scraped and burnished down to create an image.

Homage to Hamaguchi

In his four-plate print the build-up of the colours is by multiple colour-states, leading

James McCreary

to the intensity of the final image. Aquatint has been added to the mezzotint with an

From left to right

extensive written commentary on the work-in-progress, demonstrating the approach

(1) Pencil drawing with tracing overlay

of many printmakers to the process whereby ongoing evaluations of the states charts

(2) Tracing

aesthetic/technical progress. Mary Modeen combines lens-based and hand drawn

(3) Black keyplate and collage of butterfly

photo-intaglio elements, enhanced by chine collée and gold leaf. As in any more traditional approach to printmaking, the states demonstrate the logical pursuit of the artist’s vision.

(4) Black keyplate with butterfly (5) Yellow plate (6) Yellow and red plates (7) Yellow and red and blue plates (8) Final BAT Image (All four plates)

This Page Idyll (detail) - Inked up area of plate to check progress Brian Lalor Opposite Doublestream (detail) Arno Kramer

Chester Beatty Library

Situated in the heart of Dublin city centre, Chester Beatty Library’s exhibitions open a window on the artistic treasures of the great cultures and religions of the world. The library’s rich collection of manuscripts, prints, icons, miniature paintings, early printed books and objet d’art from countries across Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Europe offers visitors a visual feast—all the collecting activities of one man— Sir Alfred Chester Beatty (1875-1968). Charles Horton, Curator, CBL

Top Left Chester Beatty Library Bottom Left Chester Beatty Library atrium, shop and restaurant Main Chester Beatty Library from Dubh Linn Garden

Stephen Lawlor demonstrating etching at Graphic Studio Dublin

Graphic Studio Dublin

Graphic Studio Dublin has pioneered fine art printmaking in Ireland for almost half a century and has been at the forefront of promoting print as a major artist’s discipline. The Studio was founded in 1960 and its Gallery outlet, Graphic Studio Gallery in 1988.

art prints; to promote fine art printmaking in Ireland and abroad; to educate the public about fine art printmaking; to exhibit and sell fine art prints on behalf of our member artists. Graphic Studio Dublin’s new studio in Distillery House, North Circular Road, Dublin 1. Distillery House is a superb 7,000 square foot, four storey building, accommodating shared studio space for 68 members, and up to 20 visiting and associated artists per annum. Significant Graphic Studio Dublin activities include the Visiting Artist’s Programme, collaborative exhibitions with major public institutions, touring exhibitions abroad, scholarships for fine art print graduates and an education programme. Graphic Studio

Its mission is to provide studio facilities and technical assistance to artists to make fine

Gallery in Temple Bar, Dublin 2 represents a wide range of established and emerging artists and hosts an annual series of solo and group exhibitions. Graphic Studio Dublin collaborates with major cultural partners in Ireland and abroad, including the Chester Beatty Library, Irish Museum of Modern Art, National Museum of Ireland and the National Gallery of Ireland to showcase the highest level of fine art printmaking (by our own members, and other international artists). During the period 2009-2011 international partnerships and exhibitions include: Edinburgh Printmakers (Scotland), Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris (France), and Muzeum Dwóry Karwacjanów i Gladyszów, Gorlice, (Poland). Graphic Studio Dublin is a non-profit orginisation and has charitable status. It is approved by the Irish Revenue Commissioners for tax deductable donations under section 484a of the Taxes Consolidation Acts. For further information see: www.graphicstudiodublin.com

Second floor, Graphic Studio Dublin

Limited Edition Boxed Set

Nineteen boxed sets are available containing a complete series of the twenty-four limited edition prints from the exhibition. Each solander box is manufactured to the (1)

highest conservation standard by G. Ryder & Co, (box makers to H.M. The Queen since 1914). These superbly crafted boxes offer a substantial saving of over 30% of the total exhibition price to both private and corporate buyers. Solander box number one will enter the permanent collection of the Chester Beatty Library, the others are available to purchase for corporate collections, archives or private collectors. When you buy a boxed set of Artist’s Proof you are investing in the future of Graphic Studio Dublin. As a non-profit artists’ organisation all commission on sales is invested in the development of studio and support facilities for artists. It makes sound financial sense too, since Irish art has appreciated by over 800% since 1976 .(2) For further information or to reserve a solander boxed set of Artist’s Proof, please contact Jackie Ryan, CEO, Graphic Studio Dublin. Tel: 01-8170945 E-mail: jackie@graphicstudiodublin.com

(1) Daniel Solander 1733-1782: Daniel Solander was a Swedish botanist at the British Museum. He invented an archival box for the storage and display of his botanical specimens. The name solander has now been given to archival storage boxes used by museums and Graphic Studio Dublin for its limited edition boxed sets. (2) A Buyers Guide to Irish Art, Ashville Media Group, 2003.

Right Katherine Van Uytrecht demonstrating lithography at Graphic Studio Dublin Opposite James McCreary working on Homage to Hamaguchi at Graphic Studio Dublin

Education Programme

A full education programme has been developed around the exhibition Artist’s Proof, comprising artist’s talks, print demonstrations, a schools’ programme and international master-classes. For further information please see www.graphicstudiodublin.com and www.cbl.ie

List of Participating Artists

Norman Ackroyd RA, Gerard Cox, Gráinne Cuffe, Cliona Doyle, Niamh Flanagan, Takahiko Hayashi, Desmond Kenny, Arno Kramer, Brian Lalor, Jennifer Lane, Stephen Lawlor, Elaine Leader, Christopher Le Brun RA, Sharon Lee, David Lilburn, James McCreary, Mary Modeen, Niall Naessens, Lars Nyberg, Ruth O’Donnell, Tom Phelan, Barbara Rae RA, Robert Russell, Katherine Van Uytrecht.

Norman Ackroyd RA

Great Blasket Sound Aquatint on Somerset paper (30.5 cm x 25 cm) Great Blasket Sound is produced in classic direct sugar aquatint. A very fine but rich white rosin aquatint is laid on the plate and the drawing is executed with a variety of brushes in saturated sugar and the image lifted then etched in perchloride of iron and/or nitric acid. Each state requires either deleting by burnishing and polishing or adding to by laying another aquatint, then sugar, then acid. The final state was reached after 12-14 such interim states. Great Blasket Sound separates Great Blasket Island, the site of the most westerly village in Europe, from the Irish mainland in Co. Kerry.

Previous Excavation, (Proof 2) Elaine Leader 18

Proof 4

Proof 7

BAT

Gerard Cox

Desert Star Woodblock on Fabriano Rosaspina Bianco paper 285 gsm (33.5 cm x 18.5 cm) A trip across West Africa during Ramadan left me curious to find out more about Islam. Since attending the Understanding Islam conference in the Chester Beatty Library in 2004 I have been interested in Islamic art. This new interest led me to visit Tunisia. I collect hats and bought many in Tunisia. I like them because they are covered in brightly coloured geometric designs. Beautiful Islamic art to wear on the head. Crossing the Tunisian desert we came upon a settlement, a group of strange dwellings, ancient yet futuristic. This was not a mirage. It was a film set from a Star Wars movie. Desert Star brings these interests and memories together. The print was made using two birch ply blocks. The first was used to print the three shades of red and blue. The second block printed the grey and gold.

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Proof 6

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Grรกinne Cuffe

Dianthus I Etching on Zerkall paper (30 cm x 30 cm) This is a line and aquatint etching. Some of the aquatint is burnished. These Dianthus grow in pots at our front door. They have eight or nine different colour variations, the little white bits and the edges vary. They are eminently suitable for etching. There is a beautiful altar cloth in a Romanesque church in Montefalco, Umbria, embroidered with a multi-petalled, multi-shaded Dianthus. The flower is six foot wide. It was a shocking surprise to see it in the shady church. This etching is a bow to the makers of that altar cloth, and a curtsy to another tradition of botanical art and a general feeling of delight that I share my world with this five petalled beauty.

Proof 1

Proof 3

BAT

Cliona Doyle

Before the Storm Etching and gold leaf on Fabriano Rosaspina Avorio paper (47 cm x 32 cm) The proofing process can be a very lengthy and time consuming process. On this occasion, the colour and image needed very little adjustment, which rarely happens. Quite often, I make a dozen or more proofs in order to get the result I want. I imagined this image with silver leaf, at first, but the gold leaf was richer. In Japan, Irises are symbols of heroism. The Irises long narrow leaves resemble the blade of a sword. For many centuries it has been the custom to place Iris leaves in a boyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bath to give him a martial spirit. In China the Iris is believed to ward off evil spirits and diseases.

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Proof 2

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Niamh Flanagan

‘Such Stuff As Dreams Are Made On...’ Etching with spitbite and sugar lift on Hahnemühle paper 350 gsm (47 cm x 32 cm) Sometimes a print takes flight, and there is very little to be done about it. I want to make a print based on Dublin Castle. But every time I draw it, it seems to resist. This castle is trying to move! New drawings, new plates, getting bigger and bigger. No, this plate is too small, this castle too literal, too heavy - too weighed down. This castle wants to multiply, this castle wants to fly, unfettered into the sky. All of a sudden the castle has transformed into a fleet of papery fortresses, in a strange world where battlements and bricks grow from the ground under the half-light of a dripping dark moon. The title comes from William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, where Prospero’s pageant has “melted into air, into thin air”. I imagine these fragile paper castles could dissolve and vanish too, returning the castle to the ground, leaving no trace of the dream it has left behind.

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Proof 13

BAT 27

Takahiko Hayashi

Spinning Wind Etching with chine collée on Gampi paper (Proof 1: 29.5 cm x 19.5 cm, Proof 3 and BAT: 32.5 cm x 19.5 cm) I often compare my printing to a theatrical performance. First, my image is an original work as an author. And to make a printing plate is the same as making a scenario. Many artists finish here, but it is important for me to continue after this. I believe that Ink and Paper have personalities as Actor and Stage, respectively. They each have their own cultural background, and there is no blank paper that behaves exactly as the artist wishes. It is especially important for me to use traditional Japanese Gampi paper. I use a technique chine collée. This is a method of adhering thin pieces of coloured paper to the larger printing paper at the same time that the inked image is printed. Proof 1 Proof 2 added etching, chine collée with a Gampi paper Proof 3 added etching, drypoint, and a small plate Proof 4 changed the bottom colour BAT added chine collée to the bottom part with a indigo Gampi paper

Proof 1

Proof 3

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Desmond Kenny

She Will Do It, For Me Aquatint & spitbite on HahnemĂźhle (deodorised) paper (40 cm x 32 cm) I have being making art for the past 22 years and have exhibited widely throughout the country. I joined Graphic Studio Dublin 4 years ago. About a third of my artistic output is of the nude. This print and all my work of the nude are based on drawings from life in my studio. I like to make art which as Picasso said â&#x20AC;&#x153;has something of the armpit about itâ&#x20AC;?. An art not de-odorised by truth or beauty, but that has that visceral quality of the human presence, that lends a sense of the real to a work of art. This image was created using etching, aquatint and spit-biting. Three plates where used, the black and white master plate and two colour plates. The master plate image was transferred to the two colour plates. One plate contained the flesh colours for the nude figures. The second plate contains the colour for the background wall and mirror, and the colour for the floor. Spit biting was used on the figures to round off the shading and soften the edges. Spit biting allows the artist to work in local areas, without having to immerse the whole plate in the acid baths and thus prevent pitting on the plate. In the final edition I used the small ball burnisher on the master plate in areas to allow the colour of the second and third plates to come through on the print.

Proof 1 30

Proof 4

BAT 31

Arno Kramer

Doublestream Lithograph with tusche on BFK Rives paper 250 gsm (47 cm x 32 cm) Master printer: Aad Hekker Artist’s statement: Since 1995 I have been several times Artist-in-Residence in Ireland. I am very much inspired by Irish poetry. Once seeing a photograph of a shop with Christening dresses in the Irish Times, I introduced this image in the past in my work, alongside images of the human body - hands, feet, etc. I often combine organic, with non-organic forms, like screens and invented mathematic images. My work is layered and enigmatic. There should always be a “state of desire” in the drawing and I would like to make visible “the reconnaissance of the back of the soul, the spirit and the heart”. Master printer’s statement: People often ask me: “Don’t you make images yourself?” My answer is: “Look, this is what I make.” and I show around to all the lithographs I have printed for artists. Working with an artist, to make good and contemporary prints, is for me something like creating and printing images that are more than the sum of a drawing on a stone and a perfect technique. It is a creation on a different level. Which should also be an adventure to find out what development is.

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Proof 3

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Brian Lalor

Idyll Etching & aquatint on Fabriano Rosaspina Bianco paper 350 gsm (Proof 1 and 5: 47 cm x 32 cm, BAT: 45.5 cm 30.5 cm) Etched in ferric chloride on a single copper plate, the print went through eleven states and was proofed on cream 200gm Fabriano. The 1st State was a simple line etching: 1 to 5 were built up by successive elaborations of the etched areas with cross hatching, the primary forms more deeply etched. Plate tone was exploited from the 3rd State. From the 6th State, aquatint was added, lightly in some areas, boldly in others. In the 8th State, burnishing was used to reduce the aquatint which had become too strong. By the 9th and 10th State, drypoint was added to the lower edge of the nimbus and rouletting to soften outlines and contours. In the 11th State, the copper plate, which matched the paper size, was cut down by 1/2 cm all round in order to create a narrow paper margin for the image. The BAT was editioned on white 350gm Fabriano.

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Proof 5

BAT 35

Jennifer Lane

Pine and Blue Sky Woodblock on Japanese paper (16 cm x 16 cm) Using birch plywood, this woodblock print was made in four colours, using etching inks and transparent medium, on Japanese paper. The first colour was pale yellow, with some outline cuts on the block. Further cuts were made and the yellow was overprinted in blue, with the sun area masked out. Again, additional cuts were made in the block and the yellow/blue was overprinted with red, having masked out the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;skyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; area of the block. Finally, some of the branches were overprinted with blue/burnt sienna.

Proof 1

Proof 3

BAT

Stephen Lawlor

Surface Etching on Hahnem端hle (natural) paper 350 gsm colour no. 740 (12 cm x 14 cm) Painting has given me a different perspective on making etchings and has consciously influenced me in the making of this print. I started the image in the way I normally would but with the intention of keeping a very open mind on what direction the image would take at any stage, overriding any barriers that might arise. Etching is a medium that naturally creates caution in an artist and restricts the possibility of change. There were nearly forty proofs that led to the final version on the way to which one becomes intimately familiar with the tiny nuances of the plates. Subtle gradations in plate tone that overlap on all four plates create a sensation that can not be achieved in any other medium. My objective was to create an image which carries its own ambiguity while retaining traces of what is familiar.

Proof 4

Proof 18

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Elaine Leader

Excavation Etching on Zerkall paper (15.5 cm x 19.5 cm) I draw upon a number of sources in the construction of my prints including field guides, mapping, botanical and architectural illustration to investigate how the self orientates and navigates a world in constant flux. My work addresses themes of care, nurture and dependency. I utilise a wide variety of printmaking techniques in the construction of my images, layering multiple plates with spit bite, hardground, aquatint and roll ups. The process involves lengthy proofing to arrive at a subtle balanced tonal range.

Proof 1

Proof 2

BAT

Christopher Le Brun RA

The Palace of Art Etching on Zerkall paper 350 gsm (Proof 1 (Plate 1) and BAT: 23 cm x 24.5 cm, Proof 1 (Plate 2): 20 cm x 21.5 cm) Master printer: Robert Russell Artist’s statement: This etching is based on a drawing I made for the Victoria and Albert Museum’s 150th Anniversary album in 2007. 150 artists, designers, architects and photographers were invited to contribute a page to convey what they found most inspiring about the collection—hence the title The Palace of Art. Having worked through the idea in several watercolours I wanted to continue thinking about it in the form of a print. There are many precedents but amongst them are Sir Alfred Tennyson’s poem of the same title, and Samuel Palmer’s drawing, A Towered City or The Haunted Stream itself based on a passage from John Milton’s L’Allegro.

Master printer’s statement: Two plates of different sizes were used for this print, which created a border around the image. They were both prepared and hard ground applied. Christopher drew on both plates using an etching needle and they were etched in nitric acid and proofed. An aquatint was then applied to the smaller plate and it was etched using spit bite. Final touches were made to the drawing using a dry point needle, burnisher and scraper before the BAT was pulled.

Proof 1 (Plate 1)

Proof 1 (Plate 2)

BAT

Sharon Lee

Documentation Lithograph on Hahnem端hle paper 300 gsm with Sekishu paper 18 gsm (29 cm x 32 cm) Documentation of process is very important to me as an artist and as a printmaker. My print incorporates documentation sources from the Chester Beatty Library. The BAT is documented as follows: 7 Run, 5 colour lithograph on Hahnem端hle 300g/m2 with Sekishu 18g/m2 Executed as follows: Run 1 Transparent burnt umber on Hahnem端hle On reverse side of Sekishu: Run 2 Transparent cream flat Run 3 Green Run 4 Transparent red On front of Sekishu: Run 5 Transparent cream flat Run 6 Navy Run 7 Chine coll辿e 12cm from top, 7cm from left hand side. The trial proofs contain variations of colour, run order, paper and composition, taking advantage of the qualities and characteristics of the paper and ink films.

Proof 3

Proof 6

BAT

David Lilburn

A Visit to the Chester Beatty Library Etching and drypoint on Fabriano Rosaspina Avorio paper 285 gsm (Versions 1 & 2: 36 cm x 24 cm, BAT: 47 cm x 32 cm) Intaglio (two plates: drypoint, etching, scraper, roulette wheels, engraving) To get to the Chester Beatty Library, you first have to enter Dublin Castle. Once you pass through one of the massive stone gates you are in what was for centuries the centre of administrative power in Ireland. No longer a symbol of oppressive power, it still resonates â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;interesting timesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. It is an apt setting for the amazing treasure chest of manuscripts, prints, early printed books, scrolls and miniature paintings that are housed and displayed in the Chester Beatty Library, which contain a captivating profusion of images: (not of sex, its true) but of violence, romance, rituals and stories from some of the great cultures of Asia, Europe and North Africa.

Version 1 Proof 46

Version 2 Proof

BAT 47

James McCreary

Homage to Hamaguchi Mezzotint and aquatint on Hahnemühle (natural) paper 350 gsm (14.5 cm x 11.5 cm) My work pays tribute to one of the finest mezzotint artists of the last century, Yozo Hamaguchi (1909-2000). I first encountered Hamaguchi’s work over thirty years ago at an exhibition in Belfast, and felt an immediate affinity with the great Japanese master’s remarkable ability to fetch powerful art ‘out of almost nothing’. The apparent simplicity of Hamaguchi’s imagery, of an individuated world stripped to its essential mysterious qualities, is something which I have endeavoured to bring to this work, with the help of the still reverberating echoes of that eye-opening visit to the Ulster Museum, Belfast.

Proof 1

Proof 2

BAT

Mary Modeen

Sometimes In An Ordinary Moment… Photo-intaglio and chine collée on Hahnemühle paper (30.5 cm x 20 cm) Much of my work lies in the intersection of place, memory, identity and values. This image in its final state is intended to beckon memories of ordinary moments which hint at other times and places, at moments in the past. The ghostly overlaid/underlaid fragments, the suggestion of warmth – all combine to connect ‘otherness’ with this very ordinary time and place. The hand drawn leaves roughly imposed suggest the personal element, and finally, the inevitable failure of representation. Or perhaps it’s just a print… Proof 1:

Too grey – not enough contrast or black blacks. Back images almost lost. Need to make changes in image of new plate.

Proof 2:

Second plate: hand painted stencil deeply photo-etched, with aquatint, on steel. Chine collée with blue gold-flecked tissue. Hand wiped with French chalk.

Proof 3:

First print with both plates - first printing with photo-intaglio plate (First one too grey), and green chine collée. Then, second plate with black ink and middle leaf chine collée. Two chine collés don’t work, brown too washed out.

Proof 4:

Two plates - first photo-intaglio plate (original) printed in brownish black with yellow left-hand leaf chine collée. Unbalanced. Too drab – needs better (richer/warmer) colour.

Proof 5:

Two plates - new photo-intaglio plate with re-worked image, more contrasty, richer blacks. Printed in brown/black. Second plate, printed in blue-black with green central leaf chine collée. Punchier image, black ‘ghosted’ images reading better, but still too grim in feeling overall.

BAT:

Two plates - First is new (contrasty) photo-intaglio printed in burnt umber with black, plus a relief roll over the wiped plate in golden yellow, ruby red and transparent extender. Second plate is blue-black, with centrally positioned chine collée in blue tissue with metallic flecks.

Proof 1

Proof 2

BAT 51

Niall Naessens

400m Above Sauce Creek Etching on Zerkall paper 350 gsm (19 cm x 17.5 cm) 400m Above Sauce Creek is a three plate etching printed in five colours. The key plate is a hardground drawing that was etched in three different stages to build up the drawing. Parts of the drawing were burnished back. Eight proofing stages were made of this plate. I then made two aquatint plates. It took another eight proofing stages to modify the aquatints and to colour proof the print. Proofing is the most important tool the etcher has. Through proofing the idea matures. An etching takes on its own identity and the source drawing becomes redundant. I draw on proofs to develop the image and then work on the plates. A finished print is the sum of many interventions, corrections additions and deletions. Every modification requires a proof. Normally I tear up all working proofs, often as many as 20, before I start printing the edition.

Proof 8

Proof 14

BAT

Lars Nyberg

All the Plants Hand coloured drypoint on Somerset (soft white) paper 300 gsm (18.5 cm x 15 cm) There is always something unpredictable happening when working with drypoint, I can never be sure of the result, what the proof looks like when I lift the paper from the copper plate. The inscribed lines live their own lives in the copper â&#x20AC;&#x201C; I like that. This print is based upon botanical studies from a garden in a remote part of Gotland, a Swedish island in the Baltic Sea. Various, gentle, and for me anonymous flowers, grass and other small nice things. A group portrait of a few that I have met, a discreet gathering in a corner of our wild garden. Proof 1 A very quick sketch in the copper plate after many drawings on paper, trying to come closer to the idea, to come closer to the flowers. Proof 2 Now they (the bunch of botanical friends) and I have come closer. An oval frame can perhaps suggest a group portrait? Maybe the blue butterfly can sit and rest upon the oval? Or some flowers could climb and use the oval as a support? BAT The oval frame has gone, the insects, the flowers, stalks and all the little things on the ground, will instead create an oval by themselves. All those small detailsâ&#x20AC;Ś! When I look closely into the copper, I imagine wandering among this rich vegetal world as if a small insect. Maybe I should add more plants to the group portrait? I also know I must stop now. Yet I could continue working and wandering around in the plate for longer, it is often like that.

Proof 1

Proof 2

BAT

Ruth Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Donnell

Handle with Care Etching on Zerkall paper (20 cm x 20 cm) This composition focuses on a single object in a square, a format I have been working with for a while. The teapot in the image has a provenance and a presence in my life and work. Opening it up is designed to draw in the viewer. The image was built up, layer-by-layer, using the techniques of soft ground line, stopping out with bitumen, varying grades of aquatint, spit biting and freehand sugar-lift line on four successive plates. On each plate, the marks are multi-tasking in the interest of the narrative and emotional content, as well as functioning as compositional devices.

Proof 2

Proof 7

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Tom Phelan

Roma Drawing Etching on Zerkall paper 350 gsm (15 cm x 20 cm) Artistsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Proof, unlike other invited group shows I have been in, has no specific theme. Therefore oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s normal work practice, methods and deliberations etc. are the theme. This image is straight from my notebook. I only use either a black pen or pencil, working drawings are never in colour, as colour changes on the move! A rough colour template will be in my mind from the conception of the drawing, but the image will never be held to it or to any one method such as intaglio or relief. There are no rules, so why invent them to chain yourself to. No one really likes a martyr.

Proof 1

Proof 4

BAT

Barbara Rae RA

Andalucia Etching on Zerkall paper 450 gsm (28.5 cm x 19.7 cm) Master printer: Michael Waight Artist’s statement: I have worked in many print workshops from Santa Fe to Aberdeen. The collaborative process between printer and artist is one where the printer has to try to realise the potential of the artist’s vision and also to guide them through the technical process. I have worked with Mike Waight at Peacock Print Studio several times, working on quite complex etchings/collographs. The results have been rich and vibrant with layers of colour and texture. This print was inspired by paintings that I have been doing in Spain. I rarely do black and white prints as I am interested in what happens when colours overlap and react with one another. Master printer’s statement: Barbara worked directly onto the plate which was cut to allow for a border. We used zinc to get a fast deep etch. A degreased plate was warmed slightly allowing her to draw directly onto the surface with fluidity, using a lithographic crayon. The plate was then covered with straw-hat varnish, the crayon marks removed with white spirit and those exposed marks given to the acid for biting. A pitted mark was later added, a little like an aquatint, which was applied by using a stiff black ink rolled over its surface. If the ink is stiff enough it will have pin prick areas where the ink hasn’t coated the plate so that acid can pit its surface. The plate was then put back in the acid for a 30 second dip. The blue and red ink was wiped into the plates lower etched areas (those marks drawn by the artist) while the magenta and yellow was rolled over its surface. A problem that occurs with using some colours on zinc is called ‘grey out’, where a chemical reaction of pigment to metal makes colours dull and lifeless. This has been overcome by using a very soft roller to apply ink into the etched lines and a very hard one to remove that ink from the surface prior to relief rolling the magenta and yellow. In this way I printed the image without using a traditional scrim, or tarlatan wipe that seems to encourage ‘grey out’.

Proof 1

Proof 3

BAT

Robert Russell

This is Me Etching on Somerset (soft white) paper 300 gsm (Versions 1 & 3: 37 cm x 24 cm, BAT: 23 cm x 17.5 cm) For this exhibition I have decided to work strictly within the print medium. I have not used my usual sketches to work out content, composition, colour, size etc. and to decide the number and breakdown of plates. I have made a single plate etching and worked directly onto a plate using hard ground. The subject is a self-portrait (my first) and the first version was really a sketch to help me decide how I would approach the final print. Having etched, printed and reviewed it, I started again modifying my approach a little. I then made a third and fourth start before I was happy that I had a plate I could continue with. The fourth image was only half the size of the first three. I then continued to work on the plate using a drypoint needle, burnisher and scraper to finalise my image.

Version 1 62

BAT

Version 3 63

Katherine Van Uytrecht

Right at My Feet - and When Did You Get Here, Snail? Lithograph on Fabriano Rosaspina Avorio paper 300 gsm (47 cm x 32 cm) “Right at my feet - and when did you get here, snail?” – Kobayashi Issa. (1763-1828) How did my idea develop from my imagination and transform into a print? Sometimes it can be difficult to describe the process when at the end a result can appear as if from nowhere. The snail delicate and fragile, moves methodically from A to B, the idea moves to a drawing and from there to a plate and then to ink and paper. And here, a wander, a few diversions and a happy accident…until almost unnoticed the print arrives.

Proof 1 64

Proof 10

BAT 65

Biographies

Norman Ackroyd RA b. 1938 [UK]

Gerard Cox b. 1954

Norman Ackroyd attended the Leeds College of Art followed by the Royal College of

Gerard Cox graduated from National College of Art and Design, Dublin in 1979 and

Art in London prior to being elected Royal Academician in 1990. He currently lectures

went to Düsseldorf Art Academy for a Post Graduate Sculpture year. In 1983 he had

extensively in both the UK and USA.

his first solo exhibition Sculptures in the Project Arts Centre Gallery, Dublin and won the Guinness Peat Aviation Award for Emerging Artists. Since then he has exhibited

Painting in a range of media, but most comfortable with etching, he is one of Britain’s

sculpture in solo and group exhibitions in Ireland, England, Germany, Korea and Japan.

pioneering contemporary printmakers. Gerard was a founder member of Sculpture in Context, a major International woodland Born in Leeds, his love of landscape was nurtured on long boyhood bicycle rides in the

sculpture exhibition, based in Dublin, in 1985. He has completed public and private

Yorkshire Dales. ‘The things that stirred me, I wanted to get to the root of’ and in doing

commissions and participated in symposia in Ireland, Germany, Austria and Korea. In

so, he will take ink, plate and acid into the field. The plate can be worked on directly,

1999 Gerard began making woodblock prints. He joined Graphic Studio Dublin in 2002

the acid painted on as if a watercolour, and the ‘bite’ stopped by a quick rinse in a

and continues to produce woodblock prints for group and solo exhibitions. Recently

stream or a wipe on the wet grass, giving a freedom and immediacy through which he

Gerard began painting. In 2008 he held two solo exhibitions in Ireland and showed

produces truly captivating images.

paintings and prints in California and Poland.

His work is exhibited in major art galleries and Institutions worldwide, as well as many private commissions.

Gráinne Cuffe b. 1957 Gráinne Cuffe graduated from Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology in 1979. She joined the Black Church Print Studio and in 1984 went on to study Lithogaphy at Tamarind Institute in New Mexico. Norman Ackroyd taught her etching at Central St.Martins College of Art and Design, London 1987-1989. She also made etchings in Milan at Graphico Uno. She is a Fulbright Scholarship winner. Gráinne Cuffe was an organiser of the Gardens of Earthly Delight exhibition at the Chester Beatty Library in 2005 and had an etching in that show. She is a regular

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exhibitor at Graphic Studio Gallery and Original Print Gallery, Dublin. She has also

Handle with Care

regularly exhibited with the Royal Hibernian Academy, the Royal Academy, London and

(Twelve successive states of a four plate soft ground etching and aquatint)

the London Original Print Fair. She has shown at Kenny Gallery, Galway with Graphic

Ruth O’Donnell

Studio Dublin, summer 2008.

Cliona Doyle b. 1968

Takahiko Hayashi b. 1961 [Japan]

Cliona Doyle was born in Dublin in 1968. She studied fine art at National College of Art

Born in Gifu, Japan in 1961, received a BFA from Musashino Art University and an MFA

and Design, Dublin. She received an Honours Degree in fine art in 1991. Since then

in printmaking from the National University of Fine Arts and Music in Tokyo. He had

Cliona has been a member of Graphic Studio Dublin and has exhibited widely at home

over 130 solo shows in Japan, Germany and USA, and participated in many group

and abroad. Her work has been exhibited in the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin,

shows in many countries including one at Graphic Studio Gallery, Dublin.

Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin and the Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin. Her work is in many public and private collections. Cliona

Selected public collections include: National Museum of Art Osaka, Museum of

is a board member of Graphic Studio Dublin and she teaches etching classes and

Contemporary Art Tokyo, Osaka Contemporary Art Center, Museum of Modern

drawing workshops.

Art Shiga, Toyohashi City Museum of Art, Kurobe City Museum of Art, Musashino Art University Museum & Library, Tokyo, Opera City Art Gallery, Japan. National Art Gallery Queensland, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia, Portland Art Museum,

Niamh Flanagan b. 1979

Oregon, USA. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA, USA. The Library of Congress, Washington DC, USA, Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, Ireland.

Niamh Flanagan studied Fine Art Printmaking at the National College of Art and Design, Dublin. She graduated in 2002 with a commended 1st Class Honours and is now a member of Graphic Studio Dublin.

Desmond Kenny b. 1956

Her first solo show Dwellings of Mind and Space was held at The Printmakers Gallery,

Desmond began making art 22 years ago. He joined Graphic Studio Dublin in 2004.

Dublin in 2007. Following on from the success of this exhibition she has been invited to

He uses the term V.E. to denote a varied edition of prints. Each print can be subtly or

take part in various forthcoming exhibitions including Graphic Studio Dublin at Centre

radically different in colour, titles may change, extra figures added as he sees fit. Each

Culturel Irlandais, Paris (2009), and Collins Barracks, Dublin (2010). She has taken part

print is a new creative act and is open to many possibilities. The only definitive act is his

in residencies and exhibitions in Oslo, Poland, Slovenia, Cork, Donegal and Dublin.

signature and the edition size. This is outside normal printmaking practice where each print is identical. His printmaking runs in tandem with his painting processes, where

Awards include Arts Council Mentorship Scheme, Travel and Training Award and a

his painting is subject to constant change until sold. He has always liked the story of

grant from Culture Ireland. She currently works as Studio Assistant at Graphic Studio

Bonnard repainting sections of his paintings, hanging in the Luxembourg, while the

Dublin.

guard was distracted by a friend. This process of printmaking may not appeal to many but he cares less, making art is more important then appealing to the status quo.

Arno Kramer b. 1945 [Netherlands]

Brian Lalor b. 1941

Arno Kramer is very interested in the development of contemporary drawing. He is

Brian Lalor, artist and writer, has been variously, architect, archaeologist, lecturer and

the curator of Into Drawing: Contemporary Dutch Drawings which was presented

editor. His prints are concerned with landscape and the impact of a human presence

in the Limerick City Gallery of Art in 2005 and traveled to five European countries.

on the land. He has had twenty-two solo exhibitions in Europe, North America and the

In June 2008, he gave a lecture at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin called

Middle East, and is the author of seventeen books on travel and architecture. He is

Contemporary Drawing – Trend or Development?

currently researching the history of fine art printmaking in Ireland to celebrate Graphic Studio Dublin’s fiftieth anniversary in 2010, and illustrating with woodcuts, poems by

Kramer’s has recently exhibited at IJlwegen, Nanky de Vreeze Tekeningen en Projecten,

A.E. Housman and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Middelburg, NL (solo); Into landscape, Galway Arts Centre, Galway; Just Drawing, RC de Ruimte, IJmuiden, NL ( also curator); DOUBLESTREAM, Kunstenlab, Deventer,

Brian Lawlor joined Graphic Studio Dublin in 1991 and was Chairman 2005-2008

NL (solo); DOUBLESTREAM, De Fundatie, Heino/Wijhe, NL (solo); Teylers Museum,

during the purchase of Distillery House, and Revelation (2008). He conceived and

Haarlem, NL; Dreamland, Kunstvereniging Diepenheim, Diepenheim, NL; Cavanacor

curated Artist’s Proof (2009). His prints are in public and private collections around the

Gallery, Ballindrait, Lifford; Museum De Fundatie, Paleis aan de Blijmarkt, Zwolle, NL;

world.

TOUCHES, Green on Red Gallery, Dublin (solo); Into landscape, Macroom Town Hall Gallery; L’Homme Sucré, Stedelijk Museum, Schiedam, NL; Into landscape, Sligo Art Gallery; NOG collection, Centraal Museum, Utrecht, NL and Everywhere is Here, West Cork Arts Centre, Skibbereen (solo)

Jennifer Lane b. 1952 Jennifer Lane studied at the Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology in the early 1970’s and joined Graphic Studio Dublin shortly afterwards. She now specialises in woodblock printing and has exhibited widely, including the Bradford International Print Biennale 1984, joint exhibition with Carmel Benson in the Grafton Gallery 1986, Print Biennale in Ljubljana 1993, joint exhibition with James McCreary in Graphic Studio Gallery 1993, solo exhibition in Graphic Studio Gallery 2001. She has also exhibited on many occasions with the Royal Hibernian Academy and her images are included in many large collections, including those of the Office of Public Works, the Irish Management Institute, Bank of Ireland and other State and corporate collections.

Stephen Lawlor b. 1958

Elaine Leader b. 1970

Born in Dublin 1958, from 1980-83 he studied Visual Communication at the National

Born in Dublin, Elaine Leader graduated from the College of Marketing and Design in

College of Art and Design, Dublin. In 1984 joined Graphic Studio Dublin and started

1995 and became a member of the Black Church Print Studio in the same year.

working as a printmaker in etching and lithography. He worked over the following

Selected Exhibitions include Milestones, OPW (2007); Insideout, Graphic Studio

years with many artists and developed a wide range of skills, knowledge and technical

Gallery 2006; Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibitions, Gardens of Earthly Delight,

expertise.

Chester Beatty Library (2005); Hand Pulled Prints, San Antonio (2004); Contemporary Irish Prints, The Gallery of Graphic Art, New York (2004); Grafiska Sallskaet, Stockholm

From 1989-1991 he lectured in life drawing at Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design &

(2002), Ireland France, Cite Internationale des Arts, Paris (2001).

Technology. From 1991-1996 he lectured in printmaking at DLIADT. From 1991-2001 he established Artemis to distribute prints throughout Ireland and develop awareness

Awards include Arts Council Travel Awards (2000 & 1996); Royal Hibernian Academy

and an income for artists involved. This included exhibitions at venues including Model

Annual Print Award (1998); Arts Council Arts Flights (2001, 1997 1994); Arts Council

& Nyland Museum, Sligo, West Cork Arts Centre, Skibbereen, Yello Gallery, Kinsale,

Studio Award (1996); Arts Council Materials Grant (1996) as well as Office of Public

The Vanguard Gallery, Cork and the Kenny Gallery, Galway, among many others.

Works Per Cent for Art Scheme (2001), commission for the National Library of Ireland, Dublin.

In 1998 he joined the board of Graphic Studio Dublin and in that same year was one of the principal initiators and co-ordinators of Art Into Art at the National Gallery of Ireland.

Public and Corporate Collections include National Library of Ireland, Royal Hibernian

In 2001 he was elected Chairman of Graphic Studio Dublin and remained in that role

Academy Collection, AIB, Office of Public Works, Dublin Institute of Technology, Intel,

until 2005. In 2002 he was fully responsible for initiating and developing Holy Show

KPMG, Dublin Castle, Office of the Ombudsman, Juryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hotel Group and the Irish

in association with the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin. He is one of Irelandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading

Medical Organisation.

printmakers and his work is in collections worldwide. He has also developed a growing reputation as a painter and sculptor. Stephen is represented in Dublin by Hillsboro Fine Art and Graphic Studio Gallery in Dublin. He works and lives in Dublin.

Christopher Le Brun RA b. 1951

Sharon Lee b.1978

Christopher Mark Le Brun was born in Portsmouth in 1951.

Born in Galway in 1978. She studied Fine Art Printmaking at the National College

He studied at the Slade School of Fine Art (DFA) in London from 1970-74 and at

of Art and Design, Dublin and the Academy of Fine Arts, Ljubljana, Slovenia. She

Chelsea School of Art (MA) from 1974-75.

graduated in 2003 with a first class honours degree, receiving a Graphic Studio Dublin Graduate Award and has been a member since. In 2008 she completed the Master

Le Brun has exhibited in many significant surveys of international art, including Nuova

Printer Programme at Tamarind Institute, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Recent exhibitions

Immagine, Milan (1981), Zeitgeist, Berlin (1982), and Avant-garde in the Eighties, Los

include the Graphic Studio Dublin collaboration, Revelation at the National Gallery of

Angeles (1987). Most recently he was included in Contemporary Voices, Museum of

Ireland (2008). She is currently Studio Assistant - Lithography at Graphic Studio Dublin.

Modern Art New York (2005). He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1996 and in 2000 became the Academyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first Professor of Drawing. Le Brun is a former trustee of the Tate, the National Gallery of England, and the Dulwich Picture Gallery. He is currently a trustee of the Princeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Drawing School and a member of the Council of the Royal Academy. Le Brun is an experienced printmaker working in etching, lithography, woodcut and monotype. He has had long term collaborations with Peter Kosowicz and Simon Marsh of the former Hope Sufferance Press as well as Paragon Press and Paupers Press in London, Garner and Richard Tullis in Santa Barbara, and Michael Woolworth Publications in Paris. Notable publications include Seven Lithographs (1989), 50 Etchings (1990), Four Riders (1993), Wagner (1994), Motif Light (1998), Paris Lithographs (2000), Fifty Etchings (2005). He is married to the painter Charlotte Verity. They have three children. He lives and works in London and Suffolk.

David Lilburn b.1950

James McCreary b. 1944

David Lilburn is an artist, whose current work predominantly involves the graphic

James McCreary was born in Dublin in 1944. He worked at Harry Clarke’s stained

processes of drawing and printmaking. He studied history and political science at Trinity

glass studio between 1960-1963. From 1964-1978 he worked as a steel erector for

College Dublin, (MA); lithography at the Scuole D’Arte, Urbino, and art and design at

Smith & Pearson’s structural engineering works. In 1973 he joined Graphic Studio

Limerick School of Art and Design, (Dip. AD), where he taught for a number of years.

Dublin, studying etching and lithography. He became Studio Manager in 1980. With Mary Farl Powers he set-up the Visiting Artists’ Programme, which introduced many

His recent commissions include: In Medias Res, for the James Joyce Ulysses

of Ireland’s leading artists to printmaking over the past twenty-five years. Also with

Exhibition, National Library of Ireland, 2004. The Courthouse Maps, and Frieze,

Mary Farl Powers and James O’Nolan he was responsible for the setting up of Graphic

two commissions for Limerick County Council, 2002/2003. Coastline, for the Irish

Studio Gallery in Cope Street 1988. James McCreary was a board member of Graphic

Pavilion, Expo, Hamburg, 2000. A Map for City Hall, Millennium Project 2000, Dublin

Studio Dublin (1989-2000), and a committee member (1975-2004). In 2004 he left his

Corporation. At IMPACT 3 in Cape Town he presented Urbs Antiqua Fuit Studisque

position as Studio Manager in order to concentrate solely on his own work. In 2005 he

Asperrima in Causa Belli - (Re)Presenting the City (in Print).

was invited to become a member of Áosdana.

His recent printmaking awards include: First prize, “Impressions”, open print award, Galway, Ireland, 2004. “Michael Byrne Award for Printmakers”, administered by the Arts Council of Ireland, 2002. “Mary Farl Powers Printmaking Award”, 2000, Arts Council of

Mary Modeen b. 1953 [USA]

Ireland, 2001. First prize, Second Limerick Mini-Print Exhibition, 2000. Mary Modeen is an American-born artist/printmaker of Scandinavian and Native Lilburn has works in numerous public collections, including the Office of Public

American (Chippewa/Cree) descent. Since 1989 she has resided in Scotland where

Works, Ireland; the University of Limerick; the National Self-Portrait Collection; the

she has taught at the University of Dundee, and is currently the Course Director for

National Collection of Artists Books, National College of Art and Design; the National

Art, Philosophy and Contemporary Practices. She has exhibited worldwide and had

Collection of Contemporary Drawing, LCGA; the Palazzo della Penna, Perugia; the

many international residencies (including New Zealand, Australia, Northern Ireland).

National University of Ireland, Cork; the Dublin Corporation; AIB; Guinness; MIC,

She combines studio practice with writing; two recent books are This Place Called

Limerick; the Limerick Corporation; the Shannon Development Company; and the

Home, by Manx National Heritage (2006), and Remembered Places (2007) by Ballarat

Crawford Municipal Gallery, Cork, Ireland. He has recently been invited to take part

Fine Art Gallery of Victoria, Australia. She is interested in traditional folklife, local history

in the 7th International Biennial of Contemporary Engraving, Museum of Modern and

and contemporary art in island cultures, both literal and metaphorical. In work ranging

Contemporary art, Liège, Belgium. March-May, 2009.

from the Isle of Man, Northern Ireland, Scotland and New Zealand as physical islands, and Native American/First Nation Canadian, Maori, and Basque peoples as indigenous cultures—which are effectively islands marked by distinctive characteristics from surrounding and predominating communities—she has been examining the interplay between memory, cultural identities and art, combining creative practice with critical writing. 73

Niall Naessens b. 1961

Ruth O’Donnell b. 1952

Niall Naessens was born in Dublin in 1961. He attended the National College of Art

Galway born artist Ruth O’Donnell studied at University College Galway from 1969

and Design 1978-1983. He studied etching at Graphic Studio Dublin 1983-1986. He

to 1972 and at the Institut Saint Luc in Brussels from 1986 to 1990. She has been a

worked in London from 1986-1990. He was artist in residence in City Arts Centre,

member of Graphic Studio Dublin since 1991 and between 1996 and 2000 was also a

Dublin, from 1991-1993. From 1991 to 2006 he worked as a professional printmaker

member of Artichoke Print Studio, London.

at Graphic Studio Dublin. In 2004 he moved to Brandon in Kerry and has set up his studio there with a view to concentrating more on painting. He was a board member of

In her still life prints she works in series, exploring the expressive and formal aspects of

Graphic Studio Dublin from 2001 to 2006. In 2007 he set up Cló Cill Rialaig which he is

the genre. Starting from diary-like sketchbooks and idea based working drawings, she

running on behalf of the Cill Rialaig Project in Ballinskelligs, Co. Kerry.

reworks the imagery in compositions where more abstract considerations are taken into account, such as the relationship of pattern and form, repetition and variation.

Lars Nyberg b. 1956 [Sweden]

Tom Phelan b. 1970

Nyberg attended the Royal University College of Fine Arts, Stockholm (1978 – 1983). He has visited and worked at Graphic Studio Dublin for the past fifteen years. He

Tom Phelan was born in Dublin and was educated at Blackrock College and Dun

specialises in drypoint and he exhibits frequently in Sweden and Ireland. His most

Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology. In 1997 he was awarded one of

recent exhibition in Ireland was a two person show with James McCreary at Graphic

nine international scholarships in Graphic Arts at Il Bisonte, Florence, Italy by S.D.

Studio Gallery in 2007.

Aerospace Design, Tokyo, Japan. He has been a member of Graphic Studio Dublin since 1992 and has worked as an editioning printmaker and technician with artists

His work is held in international collections including The Museum of Modern Art

such as; Louis Le Brocquy, A.R. Penck, Michael Farrell, Tony O’Malley, Felim Egan and

Stockholm, The British Museum, London, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York,

Barry Flanagan.

and the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin. From 2003 to 2007 he was a master printer and Studio Manager of Graphic Studio

Nyberg has been awarded grants from The Swedish Visual Arts Fund, IASPIS,

Dublin. He has exhibited extensively in Europe, Asia and North America. In 2006/07

International Artists Studio Program in Sweden and The Royal Academy of Fine Art

he showed his most recent work at Graphic Studio Gallery, Dublin and at the

in Stockholm. He has been artist-in-residence a number of times at Ballinglen Arts

Konstnärernas Hus in Stockholm, Sweden in two solo shows. He currently lives and

Foundation in Ballycastle, Co. Mayo, Ireland.

works in Vienna, Austria.

Barbara Rae RA b. 1943 [Scotland]

Katherine Van Uytrecht b. 1980

Barbara Rae studied at Edinburgh College of Art in the nineteen sixties, was awarded a

Van Uytrecht was born in 1980 in Johannesburg, South Africa. She studied

post graduate year and a travelling scholarship.

Printmaking at the Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town where she graduated in 2002.

After teaching in Edinburgh Schools and Aberdeen College, Rae joined the staff of the painting department of the Glasgow School of Art in 1975. She taught there until 1996.

After graduating, Van Uytrecht moved from South Africa to Dublin. Since she joined

Thereafter Rae traveled extensively to Europe, Japan, South Africa and USA. Several

Graphic Studio Dublin in 2004 she has been editioning prints for Graphic Studio Dublin,

exhibitions showed the results of her travels.

Stoney Road Press and privately for other artists and members. She has exhibited in various group shows in Ireland, Poland and South Africa. She is currently Studio

Her work can be found in many public, corporate and private collections. Honours

Assistant at Graphic Studio Dublin.

and affiliations include, being elected to the Royal Scottish Academy in 1992, Member, the Royal Fine Art Commission for Scotland from 1995 to 2004. Elected to the Royal Academy in 1996, and awarded a CBE in 1999. In this decade awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Art, and Honorary Doctorates from both Napier University and Aberdeen University.

Robert Russell b.1960 Born in Dublin, Robert Russell attended Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology from 1979. He specialised in sculpture, but also worked in print and painting, winning the Taylor Art Competition for painting in 1980. He received the Alfred Beit Award and the Norah McGuinness Award before graduating in 1983. Russell is Studio Director at Graphic Studio Dublin, and has been a member since 1988. In 1999 the Chester Beatty Library commissioned him to make an etching, a woodcut, and an engraving to demonstrate printmaking techniques for a video displayed in the library. They also acquired one of his mezzotints for their permanent collection. Exhibitions include a solo show at Graphic Studio Gallery, Revelation and Art into Art at the National Gallery of Ireland, Gardens of Earthly Delight and Holy Show at the Chester Beatty Library, Ireland France Print Exchange, Paris, and RHA Banquet Show as guest of Patrick Hickey. 75

Glossary

Aquatint: An intaglio technique used to produce tones. Fine rosin dust is applied to a metal plate, which is then heated until the rosin melts and adheres. When etched to various depths, the rosin acts as a ground allowing the acid to bite only the spaces between the particles thus producing a variety of tones. Applying sprayed paint or varnish to the plate, which acts as the ground, can also make aquatints. BAT or Bon a tirer: A French term meaning â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;good to pullâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. When the image has been finalised through proofing, the final proof is marked BAT and signed by the artist. The BAT is then used as a reference when printing the full edition. Bitumen: Bitumen is diluted in white spirit and applied to the back of the plate to protect it while in the acid. It is also used as a stop-out on the front of the plate to protect some areas of the image from acid while other areas are been bitten. Burin: Used predominantly by engravers, but also by relief printmakers in making woodcuts. Its older English name, still often used, is graver. The burin consists of a rounded handle shaped like a mushroom, and a tempered steel shaft, coming from the handle at an angle, and ending in a very sharp cutting face. Burnisher: A polished steel tool, usually curved, which is used to smooth a metal plate surface or to lighten a tonal area in mezzotint or aquatint. A burnisher is often used in conjunction with a scraper. Chine collĂŠe: A French term for thin paper, which is glued or collaged to a heavier backing sheet of paper. Copper plate: Copper is used in sheet form for intaglio printing. Copper sulphate (CuSO4): A solution of copper sulphate, salt and a weak acidifier can be used to etch metal plates. Degreasing: The removal of grease from the surface of a metal plate using ammonia and whiting or other solutions so that grounds will adhere properly.

Dry point: An intaglio technique where a hard point called a dry

Foul bite: When an intaglio plate is being etched in acid the ground can begin to

point needle is used to draw on a metal or plastic plate.

break down allowing the plate to be etched in unwanted areas. The foul bite can either be removed from the plate by scraping and burnishing although it is sometimes

Edition: The total number of prints of an image pulled from the plate or plates. Each

incorporated into the image.

print in an edition is numbered. 5/40 would be the 5th print from an edition of forty. A limited number of artist’s proofs may also be pulled, but not more than 10% of the total

Hahnemühle: The trade name of a high grade German etching paper. Hahnemühle

edition, and these are marked A/P.

papers have been in production since the 15th century.

Engraving: An intaglio technique where the image is cut into the

Hand wiped: After the application of ink to an intaglio print, the

surface of the plate or block using a burin or graver.

excess ink must then be wiped off, usually with fabric or paper. The palm of the hand is sometimes used to wipe the plate.

Etching: An intaglio technique where the plate is covered with a ground, the ground is partially removed, and the exposed areas are

Hard ground: A mixture of wax and bitumen used to coat an etching plate, as an acid

bitten with acid. The lines and tones become indented beneath the

resist.

surface of the plate. The ink is held by the indentations and transferred under pressure to the paper.

Intaglio: From the Italian to incise and engrave a design cut into a surface.

Fabriano: The trade name of an Italian printing paper. Fabriano art paper has been in

Intaglio print: A print from an incised surface where the ink lies in the incisions and

production since the 13th century,

not on the surface. Examples of this technique are: drypoint, engraving, mezzotint and etching which includes aquatint, soft ground and hard ground.

Gampi paper: A Japanese paper made from the inner bark of the Gampi plant. In Japanese paper making Gampi was the earliest and is considered to be the noblest

Japanese paper: The art of papermaking was brought to Japan in 610 AD by

fibre, noted for its richness, dignity and longevity. It has an exquisite natural sheen,

Buddhist monks who produced it for writing sutras. By the year 800, Japan’s skills

and is often made into very thin tissues used in chine collée printmaking. Gampi has a

in papermaking were unrivalled, and from these ancient beginnings have come

natural ‘sized’ finish that does not bleed when written or painted on.

papers unbelievable in their range of colour, texture and design. It was not until the 13th century that knowledge of papermaking reached Europe—600 years after the

Grey out: When printing intaglio plates the pigment can react with the metal causing

Japanese had begun to produce it. It is highly prized by fine art printmakers.

the colour to become dull and lifeless. This is more likely to happen with grey metals such as zinc and aluminium.

Line etching: An intaglio technique where a line is produced by drawing the image into a hard ground using an etching needle.

Ground: Any material that is used to protect a plate from acid. There are a variety of

The plate surface exposed by the needle is then etched in acid.

grounds, each one applied to the plate to produce a different effect. Types of ground include hard ground, soft ground, and white ground.

Lithograph: Derived from the Greek words for stone (lithos) and drawing (graphos). This technique was invented in 1798/9 by Alois

Ferric chloride (FeCL3): A corrosive salt also known as perchloride of iron. It is used to

Senefelder in Bavaria based on the antipathy of grease and water.

etch copper, diluted in water, and with some additives to etch zinc.

A lithographic stone is used as the plate, or increasingly zinc and aluminium. It is the basis for today’s commercial printing methods.

Lithographic crayon: A crayon with a waxy, water resistant quality. It can be drawn

Pitting: See foul bite.

onto a lithography stone, and will repel water. Plate: The matrix that holds the inked design in a variety of printmaking processes. Litho stone: The limestone that is used within the lithography technique. It is only

The plate can be metal, wood, linoleum, rubber, glass, card, paper, stone or stretched

found in Bavaria, due to the unique geology of that European location. Thus there are

textile screen.

finite supplies of litho stones worldwide. Plate tone: A feint tone produced by the residue of ink which remains on the clear Master plate: When more than one plate is used, the plate which contains the key

areas of a plate and which is transferred to the paper when printed. Plate tone can be

elements of drawing which are then transferred to other plates is called the master

controlled and used very effectively as an element in the design of a print.

plate or key plate. Proof: A preliminary print pulled to examine the progress of the work at successive Matrix: The printing surface or plate is sometimes referred to as the matrix. It may be

stages. See also State proof.

stone, metal, wood, linoleum, rubber, glass, card, paper or stretched textile screen. Proofing: Proofing is the process of pulling a proof. Proofs are pulled to check colour, Mezzotint: From the Italian word mezzotinto, it is an engraving

registration, weight of ink impression, and how the print looks on different papers.

technique which was invented in 1642, whereby the metal plate is indented by rocking a toothed metal tool over its entire surface.

Reduction method: A relief print technique whereby a single block is reduced and

Each tiny tooth pit will carry ink and if inked at this stage the print would be entirely

printed in stages to produce a colour print.

black. The indentations are gradually burnished to reduce the ink holding pits so an infinite number of tones can be created from solid black to pure white (where the plate

Relief printing: A process in which the image to be printed is

is made entirely smooth so can hold no ink).

created in relief. Unwanted areas are cut away and the image area is left in relief so that when the ink charged roller is passed over

Nitric acid (HNO3): An acid used to etch copper, zinc, and steel, diluted in water.

the block only the areas in relief receive ink. Woodcut, wood engraving and linocut are examples of relief printing.

Original print: A print designed and printed by an artist or under artist supervision. The original print is the first manifestation of the image and not a reproduction. An original

Relief roll up: The inking of a relief printing block or in some cases an intaglio plate.

print is one in which the artist intended the work to be realized by creative printed

After an intaglio plate has been inked and the surface ink wiped away leaving only

means.

the ink in the incisions, a different colour ink can then be rolled on the surface thus combining intaglio and relief printing techniques.

Perchloride of iron: See ferric chloride (FeCL3). Roll up: To roll ink onto the surface of a plate or block. Photo-intaglio/Photo-etching: Another name for photogravure. Invented in 1879 by Karl Klic. A copper plate was covered by rosin

Rosin: A natural tree resin which is used in powdered form as a resist ground to

powder and heated. A sheet of bichromated gelatin tissue was laid

produce aquatints.

on top and exposed with a positive transparency. Light hardened the gelatin variably giving an acid resist that could then be etched. Today artists often use a photopolymer plastic (which is light sensitive), and are applied to a backing of metal or plastic. They are exposed to an image and then etched using traditional intaglio techniques. 78

Roulette: A steel engraving tool with a small spiked drum or

Sugar lift: An intaglio technique which allows positive marks to be made in ground.

wheel which is used to make a dotted texture directly or through

Sugar is dissolved in water with some colouring and a small amount of soap. The sugar

a ground onto an intaglio plate. The roulette is sometimes used to

mixture is painted onto the plate and when dry the whole plate is covered in a liquid

repair a worn aquatint during printing.

ground. The plate is immersed in hot water and the sugar dissolves and lifts away exposing the plate. Aquatint is then added and the plate is etched.

Scraper: A sharp tool, usually triangular in section and with a pointed end, used in intaglio, engraving and mezzotint.

Tusche: Ink emulsion that is made in liquid, paste or stick form. It is used to draw on a lithographic stone or plate, or for washes

Scrim: Refers to tarlatan, a fabric used for wiping intaglio plates.

when diluted in distilled water.

Sekishu: A thin Japanese paper.

Woodcut: Also woodblock print. A print taken from a relief block of wood lengthways with the grain. When the wood is cut crossgrain

Soft ground: Similar to hard ground but with added grease.

it is called wood engraving. See also relief printing.

Paper is placed over a plate prepared with soft ground and then drawn onto. The ground transfers to the back of the paper under

Zinc plate: Zinc is used in sheet form for both intaglio printing and lithography.

the pressure of the drawing tool exposing the copper beneath which is then etched. Objects can also be pressed onto the soft ground surface creating an imprint which is then etched. Spit biting: A method used to etch small areas of a plate. Spit is applied to the plate and acid dropped on. The acid will not spread. Gum Arabic can also be used with nitric acid. Acid can also be dropped or painted directly onto a wet or dry plate for different effects. State proof or stage proof: A proof is taken each time work is done to a plate to check progress. State proofs are of great interest to historians and collectors. Stop-out: A liquid acid resist which is used to stop selected areas on a plate from further etching by acid while allowing other areas to be etched further. Thinned bitumen or shellac based straw hat varnish can be used. Straw-hat varnish: Shellac mixed with black pigment used as stop-out in etching.

Straw-hat varnish was originally made to waterproof hats.

Desert Star (Detail) Gerard Cox Inside back cover: This is Me (Detail) Robert Russell 79