Sunday, September 30, 2012

Columbus Print Gathering

Oh my goodness blog, where have I been? Busy, that's who! I finished my second Intro to Intaglio Class at Tiger Lily Press, with Intermediate Aquatint starting next week- but in those two weeks off, boy I packed it in!
First was a lovely trip to PA with friends to tour amusement parks and Gettysburg and such things. Of course it is always great to see the folks. Then- this wonderful gathering of the Ohio Co-Ops in printmaking, and lastly a crazy road-trip photoshoot with my dear friend Katie who met me up in Cleveland as we traversed most of the state.

But, for business sake- I will just discuss the Columbus Print Gathering for now. Organized by many wonderful folks, including those of Phoenix Rising and Ohio State, we started off with a demo by good ole Mr. Tauber at Logan Elm.

Here Bob demos how to make polymer plates for letterpress- oh no, not OS 7 and the Panther RIP! Lots of memories with this machine...

You've gotta get a good vacuum on the platemaker!


Charles and Bob ponder a few things


How to cut sticky back.

So in an hour we had a little plate ready to go and had it proofed on the press!
But next, before more events, I was whisked away by Sergio, the dept chair, to see the grand new art building and print facilities at Ohio State.


My new friend MP and I check out the acid room


Wow- what a beautiful space!

Gigundo roller- finally unearthed


A gleaming row of presses

Sigh, you can screenprint and gaze out the window

Nice exposure room shared with photo

A screen washout booth now hooked up to compressed air in the building rather than a power washer- you know we'd always break them things

So there you have it! Wow- I was kind of speechless. I could be cranky about the whole thing since our musty old building was bulldozed the second we graduated and this sure would have been nice. But you know what? I really am just happy for everyone. I think it's amazing and full of much-needed improvements. So go Art Dept!

The next event was a private viewing of prints at the Columbus Museum of Art

Interesting calendar page by George Bellows

Lovely Sid Chafetz etching from 1965


A blurry Rockwell Kent wood engraving (my bad)- Mountain Climber, 1933


Stone lithograph by Clarence Holbrook Carter- Jane Reed and Dora Hunt, 1950

Next I finally get to see Phoenix Rising! The first event there is a talk by a favorite of mine, Kathy McGhee

Here are some demo plates

April and others peruse the work

Nice motorized etching press

A tabletop Takach with a student of mine, Jessica, in the background

Kathy holds up her giant prints

And gets some assistance while speaking- wow, so prolific!

Colorful crows

Here she demonstrates her giant mezzotint rocker

And how to rock it!

Showing how it's attached

The other end of the pole rests in the large block of wood while rocking

It's strapped right on there with weights

And the nice diagram to keep track of all those directions

Last event of the first evening- receptions of work at Urban Arts Space. Here is our show, Peripheral Visions- prints of various horizons by all 4 Ohio Co-Ops

Tiger Lily represents with Ken, Joe, and Rick

And so many others! incl Jay, Ingrid, Theresa, myself, Mary, Susan and Saad

And the rest of the room- sorry my pics got blurry, so I don't have everyone : ( This is Phoenix Rising's wall

And now the show of the Dresden Exchange program, Time and Place: An International Exhibition of Works on Paper, with both American and German artists

More views of the show



So that was quite the eventful day! The next morning we went back to Phoenix Rising for a portfolio review.

Everyone spread their prints out across several tables and we got to discuss work. A great way to meet everyone!

And I will end with Theresa explaining important matters to the crowd.

Such a great time! I was thrilled to have my fellow Cincinnatians meet my fellow Columbusites- and then the rest of the Ohians. Can't wait till we host this coming spring! Till then...