A Break from the Routine

The weathermen who predicted heavy rains for today, and gave me a reason to buy wood yesterday, actually got it right.  Morning sprinkles eventually gave way to heavy rains in the afternoon.  Not that it affected my plans, since I was going to be going to the Studio, which is an indoor activity.  Got a later start than I had expected, so I only got to part of my plan, and used the time for some school related stuff.

After a break of a few years, I'm back to teaching Intro to Art this semester at my university, and a project that I always do with that class is a collagraph project.  The beginning of that word refers to the idea of "collage", and the printing plates are made by attaching materials to whatever you are using- no carving, acid, or any of the other fun stuff.  I first learned of the process while a grad student at Montclair, and we were shown processes involving silkscreen fabric, and carborundum grits.  I paid attention to the demos, but continued cutting wood.

When I was given the Intro class years ago we were given little instruction, so I put together a basic arts class covering the main formal concepts and basic processes.  Being a print guy, I always try to get a print process into whatever class I teach, so my 2D classes usually do a woodcut, my drawing class does monotypes, and the intro class gets to try a type of collagraph.  Back when I started the Design classes were also there in the building, and every year they would leave piles of old materials in the hallways outside their classrooms, including lots of cloth samples.  And so I developed a type of collagraph print using cloth textures.  I don't know if those interior design classes are still in our building, but I still have a supply of those cloth pieces, so I put them to use this year.  So one day I gave a lesson on the history of printmaking and they made the plates using my supply of cloth and cardboard from cereal boxes, with the option of adding other materials later.  Two weeks later I had them bring in the plates and I printed them, providing ink, brayers, etc.

Of course, some students missed that day, or didn't bring their plate back in, so didn't get a proof.  Normally when a student misses a class it's on them to make it up, and as long as it's by the end of the semester they can get the full credit, but most Intro students have no printmaking experience or access to the materials and tools.  But because I love printmaking so much, when students miss the printing day I will collect the plates, print them at home, and bring them back, as long as they get them done before the last day.  Two weeks ago I received one plate, and last week I got four more, enough to make it worth doing.  So today I brought those 5 plates to the Studio and pulled a proof of each.  Image at the top of this post if you want to see the results.  Used water based ink, so they'll all be dry and the students can get them back on Friday.