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In this newsletter: Letter from the Editors Research News Studio News Flat File Update Featured Workshop Exhibitions at Loo Gallery Online Exhi
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In this newsletter:
Letter from the Editors
Research News
Studio News
Flat File Update
Featured Workshop
Exhibitions at Loo Gallery
Online Exhibition
Residency News
Member News
Faculty News
Exhibition Opportunities
Featured Website |
 Process photos: 1 of 4 22"x30"reduction screen prints for the front windows. |
Much has been happening here at Zea Mays Printmaking since the new year! A new research project has been published on the website that involves finding alternatives to solvents in monotype printmaking. Read more about it here!
If you haven't stopped by the studio recently, you will now find that our front four windows have been beautifully decorated with large reductive screen prints. Each photo-related screen print has 5 layers printed on tan Stonehenge paper. Every layer was reductively added on the same screen to create a graphic yet painterly quality to the final images.
We are now at the end of our time as ZMP interns. We worked on two research projects and many workshops throughout the past 6 months. Researching both the Soy Wax Soft Ground and Alternative to Solvents in Monotype truly helped us get more acquainted with green printing at Zea Mays. Prior to interning with Zea Mays, neither of us had worked with Akua inks or the Marnix Everaert method of soft ground. Working through the research showed the flexibility of printmaking and all the opportunities green printmaking holds. It showed us there are so many ways to work non-toxic that is comparable to traditional printmaking methods as far as the results.
The workshops were our favorite part of the internship because they helped us connect with different artists while also learning. I (Kristina) learned more about non-toxic printmaking and the possibilities it holds for my own work.
Working under and learning from the different faculty at Zea Mays helped us to teach and actively assist in the workshops. It showed me (Stephanie) that I really enjoy teaching other artists what I know about printmaking, which could develop into a long term career in the future.
Succeeding us as interns are Oliva Stanislaus and Katelyn St. John, who begin March 1st.
▪ Stephanie Motyka and Kristina Key (Fall 2015 ZMP interns)
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Our interns, Kristina and Stephanie, have been researching different alternatives to solvents in monotype printmaking using Akua Inks to create fluid textures, reticulated tones, and marks. After trying out several different mixtures, they found that the reaction of washing soda (sodium carbonate) and water in a spray bottle most promising. For each test they would roll the ink onto a PETG plate, spray it with the washing soda/water mixture, dry it with a blow dryer, then spray/dry again. Breaking the surface with the washing soda mixture and then moving it around with the hair dryer created the fluid textures seen below. To see the step-by-step research click here!
Check out past research projects here! |
 Carbazole Violet Akua Ink: sprayed with water, blowdried, sprayed with washing soda/water mixture, blowdried again | |  Carbazole Violet Akua Ink Plate Printed |
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Zea Mays Printmaking director Liz Chalfin participated in SHIFT: Environmentally Responsible Printmaking Practices Symposium at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, February 26th. She presented an etching demonstration and participated in a panel discussion. The Symposium, organized by Judy Major-Girardin and Briana Palmer (both faculty at McMaster) brought together over 100 printmakers from all over Canada and the US. Other demonstrations included wood lithography (Judy Major-GIrardin), Toner Transfer Lithography on Stone (Otis Tamasauskas), and Estisol Transfers (Briana Palmer). Estisol, a coconut derived solvent alternative was in use quite a bit in the studios at McMaster, for both cleaning and lithography. It's got a very safe msds and appears to be a versatile and useful product. We're going to look into getting it at Zea Mays Printmaking. The panel discussion focused on the transition from traditional printmaking to safer approaches and each panelist described the journey of their institution, the pitfalls and successes. The day culminated with a reception at the McMaster Museum of Art for Shift: Environmentally Responsible Print Practices exhibition, which runs through April 2nd.
Visit us at SGCI Conference in Portland! Zea Mays Printmaking will have a table at the Vendors/Publishers/Institutions Fair where we will share information about many of our programs, including the Green Printmaking Certificate Program, our Residency Program, Internships and Artist Mentorship Program. If you will be attending the conference, please stop by and say hi!
We are very excited about our 2nd annual Green Printmaking Certificate Program happening in July. Last year's inaugural program was a huge success and we're doing it again. It's 25 days of intense instruction in the latest developments in safe intaglio printmaking. Registration is open and it's filling fast.
We're also offering an extended Moku Hanga (Japanese Watercolor Woodcut) workshop this summer. We've offered this workshop as a 2 and 3 day option in the past, but based on feedback from participants who said they wanted time to really develop multiple plates and edition, we've decided to try an extended version with the fabulous Annie Bissett. |
 Stephanie Motyka "Deer Isle, ME no.2" |
We are happy to announce that this year's new Flat File entries have been curated and images are now on our website. Our Flat Files Project now features 70 artists. New to the Flat File for 2016 are Daniel Chiaccio, Carolyn Horan, Kristina Key, Elisa Lanzi, Stephanie Motyka, Maggie Nowinski, Kevin Pomerleau and Carrie Scanga.
The Flat File showcases some of the best work being produced at Zea Mays Printmaking and is available for exhibition and sale.
Call to make an appointment to view some of the artists files in the Flat File anytime. |
Easy Etching on Aluminum with Copper Sulfate: with Liz Chalfin
Saturday & Sunday, March 5-6, 2016, 10-5
$245 members, $275 non-members
$35 materials fee includes plates, paper, inks
Aluminum is an easily accessible, inexpensive metal that can be etched safely using the salt compound Copper Sulfate. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to mix the Copper Sulfate mordant, how to prepare the metal and how to make both linear and painterly images. One of the beautiful aspects of this way of etching is that the aluminum creates its own aquatint when etched, removing the need for any kind of etching ground. This means that you can use a brush dipped in Copper Sulfate directly on the plate to create beautiful painterly marks. We’ll work on several plates, exploring the rich potential of this way of etching and print them individually and together with color inks. This workshop is great for beginners who want an introduction to etching, or for experienced etchers who want to learn how to use a new metal and mordant.
Sign up here to ensure your spot! |
Introduction to Photopolymer Printmaking: with Nancy Diessner
Saturday & Sunday, March 12-13, 2016,
10-5
$245 members, $275 non-members
$50 material fee includes plates, paper, inks
This workshop is an introduction to working with Toyobo Printight plates, a photopolymer plate that is very sensitive to the tonal range in photo-based imagery as well as direct drawing. In fact, the process is so versatile that it can accommodate nearly any type of imagery or visual approach you’re interested in bringing to it. The plates can yield prints with rich, luscious blacks, delicate tones, or lines that sensitively translate the texture of the drawing tool. Through the use of colored inks, multi-plate printing, and chine colle, the plates can also yield beautiful color prints. We’ll be working with photographic imagery that the participant will have the opportunity to alter at many points in the process with digital manipulation, drawing, scratching, or the addition of painterly marks.
Sign up here to ensure your spot! |
 Kristina Key, Screenprints displayed |
In this past month of February, one of our interns, Kristina Key, filled the downstairs studio and Loo Gallery with her work. She displayed two different configurations of screen prints, in the gallery and near the staircase. Her piece entitled "Vortex" consists of welded steel fitted with etchings and an arrangement of photopolymer prints. |
 Kristina Key, Screenprints displayed | |  Kristina Key "Vortex" welded steel, photopolymer prints, etchings |
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For the month of March: Erika Knerr
Erika will be showing her "self portrait" woodcut made in the Prismatic Woodcut class with Lyle last fall. She is also showing a few of her most recent monoprints.
During April, Hannah Richards is going to show some of her recent collagraphs and monotypes.
Esther White will be showing some of the printed textiles and quilts she has been working on recently during the month of May. These methods are something that she will be teaching at Zea Mays Printmaking this spring! |
 Sally Clegg "Jennifer" etching 6.5" x 6.5" $100 |
Zea Mays Printmaking's exhibition committee continues to showcase work in our Flat File through online exhibitions that present work based on a theme selected by an artist member/curator.
This season's exhibition is Life Reimagined, curated by Kristina Key and Stephanie Motyka.
What is real and what is imagined? The works selected for this exhibition ask this question to the viewers through a variety of prints.
Check our website next week when it will be online! |
 Kate Baillies with etching proofs |
February was cold here in Western Massachusetts, but Kate Baillies from Calgary, Canada kept warm and busy etching throughout the month in the beautiful private studio we call the Annex. Kate is a member of Alberta Printmakers and has spent time at many printmaking studios throughout Canada. She was at Zea Mays to deepen her etching experience using both BIG ground, soy wax ground and acrylic aquatint. As part of her practice, she made an etching a day for 25 days.
Coming soon as artists in residence:
Ellyn Weiss (Washington, DC) is returning in March for her second ZMP residency.
Judy Major-Girardin (Hamilton, ON, CN) will be here in April for a two-week residency and Daryl Storrs begins her residency in May. We are very excited to welcome these artists into our community.
We still have a few openings for Summer and Fall residencies. Read about them and apply here! |
Therese Moriarty had her watercolor monotype titled "We Matter" included in "Black Lives Matter", a juried exhibition at G51 in North Adams. The show was curated by Dr. Frances Jones-Sneed and Melanie Mowinski of MCLA and included 30 works from across the United States.
Larinda Meade has her dry point, “Untitled” included in Greenhut Galleries (Portland Maine) invitational group exhibition, Focus: Printmaking featuring Maine printmakers.She also has her dry point “Maine Fields” accepted to the exhibition Lasting Impressions at Grove Gallery, East Lansing Michigan.
Maya Malachowski Bajak MFA thesis exhibition "knowing fragments" will be on view March 23-26, 2016 at Temple Contemporary Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, PA. The reception is Friday, March 25th 6-8pm.
Tatiana Klacsmann was honored to be featured in an article published by Women's Studio Workshop: "The In-Between Space:Tatiana Klacsmann in the Studio," which focused on the pieces she created during a November and December residency. She will continue to develop that work, combining relief and polyester lithography prints of life-scale figures and creatures at a residency at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts in February and March.
Channing Lefebvre won the Legion Paper Purchase Award in Manhattan Graphics Center’s inaugural Miniature Print Exhibition for his print “Datsuzoku I”, which is currently in our Flat File.
Kristina Key will have her lino-cut print "Manhattan" in the print exhibition Press Play at the Lincoln Center in Fort Collins, CO. MARCH 4th to APRIL 9th, 2016. |
Annie Bissett is pleased to announce that she has been selected as a finalist in the 90th Annual International Competition at the Print Center in Philadelphia, PA. This online exhibition will launch in May 2016. Several works by Annie will be included in a group show in Concord, NH, at McGowan Fine Art, April 26 - May 27. The show will focus on New Englanders who have studied with Japanese woodblock teacher, Matt Brown. Opening reception Friday, April 29, 5-7pm. She will also have a solo show at Charles Krause Reporting in Washington D.C., May 12 - June 18.
Lynn Peterfreund will have two animations included in the showcase of “Printmaking and Animation” at the Southern Graphics Conference in Portland, Oregon at the end of March.
Liz Chalfin's book "Another Day" is included in the exhibition Shift: Environmentally Responsible Print Practice Exhibition at McMaster Museum, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada through April 2. |
March 2016 Deadlines:
The Fall River Public Library is seeking to commission a Massachusetts artist to create an original work of art that will become part of the library's permanent collection. Interested artists may submit a digital drawing along with a written description for their original design. The winning entry will be chosen by the library's selection committee and the winning artist should complete the proposed piece within six months of the notification of their selection. The work must be 2D and no larger than 20" x 24". Send your digital submission to lclark@sailsinc.org by March 31, 2016.
April 2016 Deadlines:
Alberta Printmakers in Calgary, Canada will be hosting "Outside the Envelope", a fine art postcard exchange, sale, and exhibition. This year's theme is "Letters from Home". All artists working in all disciplines and backgrounds from around the world are eligible to participate in this non-juried exhibition. Interested artists are invited to submit a printed edition of ten 4" X 6" postcards to Alberta Printmakers by Wednesday, April 6, 2016. For more information and submission requirements please visit their website.
June 2016 Deadlines:
Green Pea Press invites you and the artist of your group to participate in our 3rd annual print exchange! Please pass this on to students and other artists who would enjoy this. I hope to see your prints! Deadline is June 30th, 2016 |
This month we are highlighting member artist Anita S. Hunt's website, found here.
You can find a full directory of links to member and faculty websites here. |
 Anita Hunt "Cavern" 11" x 15" etching & spit bite aquatint $250 |
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