One Down, Three to Go

A few weeks ago I received a very lovely card from the Belmar Arts Council.  The cover was a collage of photos of some of activities of the past few years.   Familiar images since I had shot most of them in my position as BAC blogger.  The card was an invitation to a special cocktail party at a local bar, appreciation for the many people who do a lot of hard work for group.  I noticed that the party was scheduled for Monday, May 4th.  A day when the bar would normally be able to host a special party.  Also a day when I had a scheduled woodcut class for the Belmar Arts Council.  As usual, woodcut and printmaking get little respect.

Anyway, I had a more exclusive event to attend, the final meeting of the spring woodcut class.  I was set up about 15 minutes before the scheduled start, which is good because they always show up before the scheduled start.  Last week Nannette pulled a first proof of her block, and had fun with it over the past week, pulling proofs on a variety of papers, doing some chin colle with some paper she had made herself, even some mixed media stuff.  Barbara, who had acquired a set of new tools, spent the week finishing her first block and was ready to print tonight.  We got some other stuff out of the way first, including more information dispersal, then we got to printing.  I tore pieces of paper while my hands were still clean.  I gave an inking demonstration using the Outlaw Black, much different from the water washable ink from last week.  I pulled a first proof for Barbara on Lightweight, then let her try the whole thing on a piece fo Heavyweight, which will work well with her plan to try some hand coloring. Had another piece of the heavier paper for Nannette, and let her try the whole process as well.  Then the last demonstration- how to clean up after using oil based ink.  Both students were pleased with the results of their four weeks of woodcut study, as well as the prints they finished.  Soon I will need to pick dates for the summer sessions, while dates are still available for the incredibly busy Boatworks.

So that's one spring class finished.  Two of my spring college classes will finish later this week, and my other college class will finish early next week.  At least I don't have to grade tonight.