Workshop One
Sausages.
25th September 2014
It's as if an ice age, a milennia, eons have passed since I accepted my place on this MA Multi-Disciplinary Printmaking course. I am Yoda. To have actually arrived here today, sitting in the unnaturally warm cream room (full of creative hope and a skinny latte) listening to Sarah, Paul and Ian talk about what it means to be an MA student, I have an overwhelmingly strong desire to whirl like a dervish and throw glitter with joyous abandon.
This day has been such a long time in coming and my proverbial 'road' has been strewn with distractions, demons and dirt. Therefore it is my intention to hoover up every possible piece of creative debris. Today is all about introduction and insight. This voyage involves familiarisation with the fabric of Bower Ashton ( my memories from 15 + years ago flooding back) and the structure of the course.
Printmaking (sights and smells) , Silkscreen, Etching, Fabrication, Ceramics, The Library, Information Points, Students Union, The Art Shop etc. with the smile welded to my face; meeting fellow students and staff (both familiar and less so).
Being here, I am aware how vital and important creativity and art is. How the feeling underpins my desire to share this importance with the students I teach and develop my own work.
I spend the day in a haze of excitement with a sense of deja vu - writing notes, sharing 'banter', looking at the work of Theo Jansen, Tom Stingle, Alex Frost, Thomas Demand and the interactive work of Daniel Rozin http://www.smoothware.com/danny/ , to name a few. I learn that 'questioning reality ' is the way forward, Printmaking can be explored in a myriad of forms and it's best not to get your tongue pierced because it hurts when you say 'sausages'.
Day Two
Silkscreen.
2nd October 2014
Signing in today like the newbie I am. I'm still over-excited at the prospect of another day at Bower Ashton. I have embarked on the 'Sketchlook' exhibition. I have been given a beautiful sketchbook to fill with my creative chunks which will then be sent to the USA. Awesome dude! Another reason to be cheerful today - The Silkscreen workshop. It began with sketchbook preparation, working with a variety of textures and the idea of abstract mark making which coalesced into a final creative piece. I found that this final outcome could be taken in any number of directions or discarded and reinvented. Dave Fortune the God of the vacuum bed (with his game show host style banter and twinkly, crinkly eyes) gently led me and my fellow disciples of Print through the maze of techniques and watery processes culminating in our individual experimental outcomes. All work produced was unexpected and all work was innovative causing us to coo like excited children at a firework display on the unveiling of each new print.
I was introduced to the Water-Based Screen Printing process using acrylic colour. Grainy textures and delicate washes, reminiscent of Litho were achieved on drawing film, with the addition of lace fabric and rubbings. The sensitivity of the marks made using chinagraph pencil and dip pen combined with a delicacy of line allowing for a diversity of form. My initial figurative designs were discarded as i experimented with a series of textures.
I found that using a fine silkscreen mesh (120 - 150T) the thinnest of linework can be translated with ease and even type does not lose sharpness or clarity.
This Print process is one I feel most comfortable with having worked with silkscreen as a specialism whilst doing my Degree. It is also one of the most effective processes which is transferable to the classroom and in my experience children who find translating imagery in a more 'controlled' or 'traditional' manner difficult, find silkscreen printing a much more satisfying means of self expression. The paper stencils of Matisse http://www.henri-matisse.net/cut_outs.html or the large scale explosive works of Julie Mehretu (using the exploration of mark making and directional abstract ) http://whitecube.com/artists/julie_mehretu/ are forms of inspiration as are the vibrant 'monoprint-esque' paintings of Cecily Brown. http://www.saatchigallery.com/artists/cecily_brown.htm
I spent my day experimenting with sandpaper, ink and methylated spirit; working into my design which was constantly changing depending on the media I tried. After 5 hours we had all produced our first prints and we took them away like party favours with Dave, omniscient. (He even conjured up tea and bakewell tarts. A miracle).
The final stage today was a Careers and Volunteering talk given by two earnest and slightly nervous University administration staff in another very hot, moist, cream room. Then, in groups, we had an initial introduction into the production of our own 'creative journal', whose compilation could be either an iliad or an ill written postcard. The professional nature of some tomes were awe inspiring and critical engagement from the outset is paramount.
' The beginning is the most important part of the work' as Plato said.
I'm just happy to be here.
I was introduced to the Water-Based Screen Printing process using acrylic colour. Grainy textures and delicate washes, reminiscent of Litho were achieved on drawing film, with the addition of lace fabric and rubbings. The sensitivity of the marks made using chinagraph pencil and dip pen combined with a delicacy of line allowing for a diversity of form. My initial figurative designs were discarded as i experimented with a series of textures.
I found that using a fine silkscreen mesh (120 - 150T) the thinnest of linework can be translated with ease and even type does not lose sharpness or clarity.
This Print process is one I feel most comfortable with having worked with silkscreen as a specialism whilst doing my Degree. It is also one of the most effective processes which is transferable to the classroom and in my experience children who find translating imagery in a more 'controlled' or 'traditional' manner difficult, find silkscreen printing a much more satisfying means of self expression. The paper stencils of Matisse http://www.henri-matisse.net/cut_outs.html or the large scale explosive works of Julie Mehretu (using the exploration of mark making and directional abstract ) http://whitecube.com/artists/julie_mehretu/ are forms of inspiration as are the vibrant 'monoprint-esque' paintings of Cecily Brown. http://www.saatchigallery.com/artists/cecily_brown.htm
I spent my day experimenting with sandpaper, ink and methylated spirit; working into my design which was constantly changing depending on the media I tried. After 5 hours we had all produced our first prints and we took them away like party favours with Dave, omniscient. (He even conjured up tea and bakewell tarts. A miracle).
The final stage today was a Careers and Volunteering talk given by two earnest and slightly nervous University administration staff in another very hot, moist, cream room. Then, in groups, we had an initial introduction into the production of our own 'creative journal', whose compilation could be either an iliad or an ill written postcard. The professional nature of some tomes were awe inspiring and critical engagement from the outset is paramount.
' The beginning is the most important part of the work' as Plato said.
I'm just happy to be here.
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