In this newsletter Liz Chalfin's letter Meet the Interns Research News Studio News Print Fair North October Workshops Exhibition at Zea M

         
ZMPHeaderSept

In this newsletter

Liz Chalfin's letter
Meet the Interns
Research News
Studio News
Print Fair North
October Workshops
Exhibition at Zea Mays: Erika Radich
Digital Exhibition
Residency News
GPC Recap
Member & Faculty News
Anne Beresford at McDowell
Exhibition Opportunities
Featured Website: Maya Malachowski Bajak

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Letter from the Director

Dear Friends,

Summer seems to have flown by, and now it's September. These are the busy months at the studio and this is a very full newsletter.

This Fall we begin the Artist Mentorship Program, matching artists with ZMP faculty members for an intensive ten-month mentorship. Mentors and mentees will meet throughout the year for critiques, technical tutorials, discussions, and support in creating a lasting artistic practice. Our six mentees have begun working with Louise Kohrman, Lynn Peterfreund, Nancy Diessner, and Joyce Silverstone. It's exciting to hear how each mentor/mentee pair are approaching their time together, beginning with an extended look at the work and a discussion about where and how each artist wants to grow. The enthusiasm is palpable!

Our own Print Fair North at the studio is going to be fantastic this year! The Print Fair North organizing committee has been hard at work and has made some significant changes to the event. First and foremost, a new date! We made it earlier in the season so as not to conflict with all the other Open Studio events that happen later in the Fall. We've also opened it up to other artists and studios to create a truly inclusive event showcasing all the wonderful printmaking happening in our region. And we moved it into a big tent in our courtyard to accommodate more artists and open up the studio for ongoing demonstrations and a members' exhibition. Plus we've added a "make your own print" event. It's scheduled for September 26th - see the details below and mark your calendars.

Our current newsletter editor, Sally Clegg is giving up the editor post for a monitor job at the studio. I'd like to offer a big thank you to Sally for doing such a fine job editing our newsletter for the past year. We are about to switch to a quarterly newsletter format with our next newsletter coming out in December. In the meantime, you can stay connected through our website, our Facebook Page and our Instagram feed.

Happy Autumn,

Liz

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Meet the Interns

Two New Interns Have Already Begun Work at ZMP

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http://www.stephaniemotyka.com/

Stephanie Motyka

Stephanie graduated from Massachusetts College of Art & Design with her BFA in printmaking. Her work focuses on the ephemeral atmosphere a single landscape can reveal. Her interest in this stems from the nature of New England weather and is translated through intaglio processes and watercolor. Living in Hampden, MA and traveling to the coast creates a diversity of sky and landscape references in her work. Aside from working, she likes to hike with her German Shepard, Catja, and snowboard as much as possible.

kristinakey

Kristina Key

Kristina Key

Kristina Key is an artist from North Carolina. She studied studio art with a concentration in printmaking at Appalachian State University. Since graduating this past Winter, Key has participated in a two month concentration at Penland School of Crafts, completed a printmaking residency at The Vermont Studio Center, and has been an intern at Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop for the past three months. Her primary interest in printmaking lies in copper etching and relief. She loves experiencing different cultures and new people, and has traveled to thirteen different countries in the past seven years.

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Research News

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Zea Mays Printmaking Transparent Etching Base Hits the Market

ZMP is proud to announce that our transparent base for etching ink recipe is now manufactured by Hanco Ink and sold through Takach Press. Interns Angela Zammarelli and Mike Barrett developed the formula as their studio research project when Faust's wonderful product went out of production. Hanco Ink contacted the studio with an interest in manufacturing our homemade formula, and after many trials developed a method for bulk manufacturing. The finished product has a buttery consistency and integrates beautifully with all oil based etching inks. We are so thrilled to see our name on the can and share the product of ZMP research with the greater printmaking community.

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Studio News

EAB-15-logo-21

http://eabfair.org/

ZMP @ EAB Fair '15

Zea Mays Printmaking was selected as an exhibitor at Editions/Artists Book Fair in New York City, November 5-8 at The Tunnel, 269 11th Avenue, New York, NY. The fair coincides with New York City Print Week, an annual city-wide event packed with fairs, openings, lectures, print sales and demonstrations.
The following member artists will participate this year: Anne Beresford, Annie Bissett, Judith Bowerman, Liz Chalfin, Nancy Diessner, Tekla McInerney, Frank Ozereko, Lynn Peterfreund, Joyce Silverstone, Nanny Vonnegut and Carolyn Webb.
Please stop by our booth and say hi!

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Print Fair North

Coming to our home town on September 26th!

Featuring new and returning artists, regional print studios, demonstrations and a community "make your own print" event

PFN15 PostcardComposite
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Featured Workshop

Jenny

Jenny Gover

Photo Screenprinting

With Jenny Gover
Saturday & Sunday, October 3 & 4, 2015, 10-5
$245 members, $275 non-members
$55 materials fee

This workshop is a technical introduction to the new photo screenprinting facilities at Zea Mays. Participants will learn how to use a photo process to create screenprinting stencils by coating screens with light sensitive emulsion and exposing them in the darkroom to a variety of imagery printed on transparencies. With an emphasis on technique, this workshop will cover digital image preparation, screen prep and exposure, and an orientation to the screenprinting section of the darkroom. We will share images and swap screens so that participants have opportunity to practice printing and create multi-layered prints. We will also review basic printing technique as well as non-toxic screen preparation and cleanup. All levels of screenprinting experience are welcome.

Materials included: use of screen during workshop, photo emulsion and washout, acrylic screen printing inks, paper.

Register here

Also Coming in October

AnnieBisset

Annie Bissett

White Line Woodcuts with Annie Bissett.

Introduction to Chine Collé with Louise Kohrman.

The Figure in Monotype with Lynn Peterfreund.

The Variety of Mark in Printmaking with Joyce Silverstone.

See a full list of upcoming workshops here

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Exhibition at Zea Mays

ericka

"Grasses Wild 1", Erika Radich

As some of you know, Erika Radich has been working on an MFA degree from Heartwood College of Art in Biddeford, ME for the last five years. The quest ended on June 12, 2015!

Virtually all of her work pursuant to the degree was executed at Zea Mays. She extends a huge thank you to many studio members who influenced, supported, inspired, and simply showed interest, especially to Liz, who provided wise and expert guidance as her Mentor.

For the month of October, some of her MFA work will be hanging in various spaces in the Zea Mays building. This free-form and unusual exhibit will span the five years and offer a few examples of each year’s work with a short description of the intent and meaning to the artist.

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Digital Exhibition

On the Edge, Curated by Tekla McInerney

BrighamN 3

Neil Brigham, Down East, linocut, 6" x 9"

Early cartographers added beasts and serpents to the uncharted fringes of their maps—“Here be dragons.” The artists in this exhibition would not be deterred by such warnings. These prints embrace their boundaries—squeeze into the margins, hug a single corner, force us to travel beyond the brink. And like the intrepid adventurers who accompanied the great explorers, we happily follow. – Tekla McInerney, curator

See the show here
View the entire Flat File Project here

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Residency News

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Lisa Sweet during her residency in the Annex

July and August are always a busy time for the studio and our Artist in Residence program.

This year we had the pleasure of welcoming Lisa Sweet from Evergreen State University, Olympia Washington who spent the entire month of July in the Annex working in intaglio. Lisa concentrated on images of saints and martyrs and produced beautiful results while working extensively with BIG ground and the new Zea Mays aquatint formula. She shared her approach to her residency and her artistic philosophy with our members during a fascinating afternoon presentation in her studio.

Sarah Hulsey from Somerville, MA and Megan Morrison, Acton MA, were our August residents, printing in the private and community studios respectively. Sarah occupied her 14 days in the Annex working in intaglio exploring new ways of representing historic diagrams in her visual art. She spent valuable time with Liz familiarizing herself with BIG ground and learning the ins & outs of a “green” studio.

Megan Morrison, a visual arts teacher, filled her 6-day mini residency in the community studio alongside our members working in monotype and using Akua ink. Megan also found time to take advantage of the beautiful August weather and enjoyed some outdoor fun during her stay.

The Artist in Residence program at Zea Mays Printmaking is designed with flexibility and spontaneity allowing each artist the opportunity to achieve a unique and rewarding experience. The autumn schedule will continue to be active as five printmakers visit us between October and December: Ana Fernandez (Michigan), Eileen Bushnell (Rochester), Maria Doering (Halifax), Elizabeth Sacca (Quebec), and Leah Pilsbury (Bolivia). We will welcome back a couple of familiar faces as well as three for the very first time. We look forward to working with each of them.

Learn more about residencies right here at Zea Mays Printmaking here

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GPC Recap

In our last newsletter I mentioned the the first Certificate In Green Printmaking program that we were about to embark upon. Well, it's come and gone (how quickly July flew by) and was a smashing success. Our participants came from all over - Moose Wesler and Marian Harris from California, Ana Fernandez from Michigan, Tatiana Klacsmann from New York, Rebekah Wilhelm from Cleveland, Anyelmadeline Fernandez from Havana and Jenny Gover and Sheldon Carroll from our own backyard, Northampton. It was a packed three weeks of intensive learning and making. The participants left with stacks of prints and plates and the knowledge to set up or transform an etching studio into a green space and practice, with a beautiful hand-printed certificate as proof. In addition to the demos and studio work, got to know each other as artists, pot-lucked, went bowling, played pool and went dancing. It was a blast. Already, Rebekah is in the process of greening up Zygote studio in Cleveland (she's the shop tech) and Tatiana has created a safe etching facility for her home studio. Besides learning a tremendous amount, the group bonded as a tight community and continues to stay in touch and dream up collaborative projects. I am so proud of this inaugural class! We'll definitely run the program again next summer, so stay tuned for announcements.

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Rebekah, Ana and Moose wiping plates during GPC15

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Member News

Esther S White's Night Quilt made with silkscreened and breakdown-printed fabric is included in the exhibition Mother(ing) at Mill Arts Project in Easthampton MA through August 28, 2015.
This fall, Esther's zine press Sister Sister Books will be an exhibitor at Paper Jam Small Press Festival #4 in Brooklyn on September 5, the Visual Studies Workshop Pub Fair in Rochester on September 26, Northampton Print and Book Fair on October 4, and the Boston Zine Fest on October 11.

Larinda Meade was awarded First Prize at the Washington Printmakers’ National Small Works Exhibition for her print Morning Walk. The award is a solo show at Washington Printmaker’s Gallery in 2016. The 2015 National Small Works Exhibition runs from August 5-30 at 1461 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington DC.

Therese Moriarty will have a print in Motion/ Emotion, the Northampton Arts Council Biennial, reception in conjunction with Arts Night Out, Friday October 9, 5p.m.-8p.m at the Hosmer Gallery.

An etching and woodcut by Nancy Haver will be featured in a show of work by former artists in residence at Petrified Forest National Park, September 24-December 31. Sponsored by the National Park Service and the Winslow Arts Trust, the show is at the historic La Posada Hotel, Winslow, AZ, and its reception will be hosted by the local chapter of former Harvey Girls.

Jean Allemeier Boot received a Sponsored Purchase Award this summer for her print Lazio Town IV at the Muskegon Museum of Art's 87th Annual Regional Exhibition.
This Fall her print Windbreak will be included in the Centennial National Exhibition of the Society of American Graphic Artists at The Art Students League of New York, October 22 through November 6th.

Erika Radich has a solo exhibit at Sharon Arts Center, Peterborough, NH: Order/Disorder, November 6-28, Reception: Friday, November 6, 5p.m.-7p.m. The exhibit features new prints that were inspired by the Nepal Earthquake.

Elisa Lanzi's show Chasing Daylight: Handmade Paper and Monotype Prints will be at
Hope and Feathers Gallery on Main Street in Amherst October 1 - November 21, Opening Reception Saturday October 3, 4p.m.- 7p.m. Artist Papermaking demonstration during Amherst ArtWalk: Thursday, October 1, 5p.m.- 8p.m.

The University Museum of Contemporary Art at UMass presents ANNE BERESFORD — TEN THOUSAND WONDERFUL THINGS: A CONVERSATION WITH THE UNIVERSITY COLLECTIONS. September 25 – December 6, 2015. Opening Reception: Thursday, September 24, 5 –7 p.m. Featuring a talk and walk-through with artist and curator Anne Beresford

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Anne Beresford at the MacDowell Colony

A Zea Mays Member Artist Reflects on Her Experience as a MacDowell Fellow This Past Spring. Questions by Sally Clegg.

MacDowell.04.12.05

A peek at the MacDowell litho press and work space

Tell us a little about your residency at the MacDowell Colony. Did you enter the experience with a set project in mind? What media?

Everyone enters into the MacDowell Colony application with a project proposal. For many people I met there the project moved to the background, and something else moved up to replace it. My project initially was printmaking-based, an expansion of the Utopia pieces I had begun last year. But by the notification date, I had already moved away from that project... My application indicated that I could proceed either in printmaking or painting. No one "checks up" to see that you are on track with your proposal.

What is the value in moving your art practice to a new setting?

Nearly everything is new in a new setting. This is eye-opening, in a constructive as well as an alarming sense. Ideas that I was working on that had seemed obvious and worthwhile to pursue, became silly and/or impossible in the pale New Hampshire light. I felt things were turned on their head a bit, in a way that I am still sorting out.

Are there challenges?

The amount of equipment involved in printmaking is daunting. Having such a luxurious resource as Zea Mays had lulled me into a false sense of sufficiency. For that reason, working at MacDowell was challenging, since very little is provided when compared to Zea Mays' real working print studio environment. For example, I needed little bowls to mix gum arabic in for paper lithos. No little bowls available, what could I substitute? So after a couple of days of gathering more data and making a list of Things I Failed To Bring, I ordered stuff from Takach, and drove to the nearest Target and bought stuff from the list. So much is provided, but in printmaking, so much is needed, that little things become distracting if you find yourself without.

Does your involvement with Zea Mays influence the way you work in other settings?

See above. As everyone knows, making prints takes a lot of time. And although MacDowell gives you lots of time, I felt a self-imposed need to produce alot. That meant I spent every day while there working in the studio, producing. I am not sure if this feeling was a result of the limitations imposed on my working habits by Zea Mays - hurrying because of the need to clean up and put everything away everyday - or just my own need to "get a lot out of" the MacDowell time.

Did this residency change the way you work back home?

I have been very lazy in my work since returning back to normal. Lazy - the new normal. But I think (I hope) the experience is still changing my work.

What advice would you have for others seeking out residency opportunities/ looking to expand their experience of making art?

I am not sure MacDowell is where I would recommend printmakers go. I hear that some other art colonies have better printmaking facilities, and MacDowell has only one studio with a press, and it is shared by photographers, too. So it may be more competitive for that reason. (I needed a place close to home because of my family situation.) But by all means try it. Artists and writers sometimes leave (I was told), they don't like being alone with their work - so I can understand that it isn't for everyone. I met many fabulous people from all over the world, and it is interesting meeting them all completely away from their work. Dinner conversations were fun. But sometimes boring. And the food is really very good, and the studios truly gorgeous. AND the price is great. And maybe the next Giovanni's Room will come out of your pencil. What could be better?

See more of Anne's work on her website

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Faculty News

Annie Bissett is pleased to have her work included in April Vollmer’s new book Japanese Woodblock Print Workshop, a comprehensive and beautifully illustrated overview of the process of making a Japanese style woodblock print compiled especially for use by creative artists outside Japan.

Anita Hunt is pleased to announce that her etching, Lodge III, is included in the Tokyo International Mini-Print Triennial 2015. The exhibit will be on display at Tama Art University Gallery in Tokyo, September 26 - November 8. After the exhibit, the prints become part of the Tama Art University's permanent print collection. See the entire exhibit on the excellent website.
Anita has a drypoint print in Look Again: AMC Collection Inspires the Boston Printmakers, on display at the Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, MA through September 6.
She will also participate in the upcoming SAGA Centennial National Exhibition at the Art Students League in New York. Show dates are October 22 - November 6, 2015, with an Opening Reception on October 22, 6p.m.-8p.m.

Nancy Diessner's upcoming shows:
The Sky Is Falling, Bromfield Gallery, 450 Harrison Ave., Boston. Solo show, September 30-November 1.
Once, Brickbottom Gallery, 1 Fitchburg St., Cambridge MA. Juried MGNE show, September 10-October 17.
Plus One, Bromfield Gallery, Boston. September 2 - 27.
Artists As Curators, Kehler Liddell Gallery, New Haven, CT. July 9-August 30.

Liz Chalfin's print "Peso Taxi" has been accepted by juror Willie Cole into the Boston Printmakers North American Print Biennial, November 8 - December 12, 2015 at Roberts Gallery, Lunder Arts Center at Lesley University).
Her print "From The Ashes", part ofAbsence and Presence: A Printmakers’ Response to the Bombing of Al-Mutanabbi Street is currently on view at Hampshire College, Amherst, MA through September 30th and will be part of an exhibition of different selections from the project at Curry College, Quiet Study Lounge Gallery, Milton, MA, August 28 - October 23, 2015 with a reception on Thursday, August 10, 6-8 PM.

Lynn Peterfreund will be showing her animation, “Storm in a Teacup 124” at the Northampton Biennial. The exhibit will be in the Hosmer Gallery at the Forbes Library in Northampton from October 2 through October 30.
Lynn also contributed to A Real Fake: Truth is in the Making, a portfolio of prints by regional artists. The portfolio will be shown at Studio 22 in Troy New York, opening on September 25.
Lynn will be spending a week mid September in Amsterdam to visit her son and his family, new members include Elie, born on August 21. Her elder granddaughter Hannah turns two. Birthday gifts made: sewing and printmaking.

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Exhibition Opportunities

Art at Wharepuke (New Zealand) is accepting applications for its 4th Biennial International Open Print Show. Deadline September 30. Application here

Target Gallery at Torpedo Factory Art Center is accepting submissions for Printed Matter. Deadline October 18. More information here Apply here

Brattleboro Museum & Art Center is accepting submissions for Open Call NNE 2016. Deadline November 9. More information here Apply here

Lessedra Art Gallery in Sofia, Bulgaria is accepting entries for the 6th International Painting and Mixed Media Competition. Deadline November 10. Entry form here

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Featured Website

This month we're highlighting member artist Maya Malachowski Bajak's new website, found here

You can find a full directory of links to member and faculty websites here.

maya

Maya Malachowski Bajak, 38"x50" concrete and rebar, sumi ink on paper, 2015

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Reminder: this is the last e*newsletter before we make the switch to a quarterly schedule. Thank you for reading and submitting.

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