Professional Printmaking

 Back in 2007 when Molly and I started this studio, she talked about wanting to turn it into a regional print center.  I built tables and cabinets, drawers. selected bright and bold colors, and we worked toward that goal. Molly held a bunch of classes, but then she stopped that.  She hates committing to things.  I've taught a lot of classes, but mostly in other places, only using the room twice for that.  Once was as a substitute when we couldn't use the Belmar Arts Center as planned, the other was a class to be held in a location in Ocean Grove, as the organizer wanted it.  Molly's press has been used a few times, and she was paid for that- an edition we pulled together for a student who was unable to pull the prints herself, and she rented it a few times to other artists, who came in to make prints on it.  But that hasn't happened lately.  Mostly she just piles things on top of the press, the tables, the countertops, etc.  I have my table, my rack, my tack board, and a few shelves, and that's enough for me. I no longer pay half the rent.  To be fair, the building has also planned a print center, but that was two directors ago, and it still hasn't happened yet.  Molly and I still use our space for personal art making, but that is just about all. We have been there longer than almost anyone else, and Molly remarked recently that it is without any kind of business plan.  Perhaps that is because we don't try to run it as a business (making a recognizable profit), but just as a place to do our messy work.  

But that doesn't mean I don't try to make some money now and then.  Today was another such opportunity.   A few years back a former student asked me to pull some prints for her friend, now almost elderly, but with an upcoming show.  I did that at the student's house in Bradley Beach, on her portable press, which she since donated to the building in Ocean Grove, for that print center that hasn't happened yet.  At least I knew where it was.  That same former student has a new home (a tower for seniors in Asbury Park) and a show opportunity of her own (also in Asbury) and wants prints pulled.  She called me about it a few weeks ago, and I can do that in my space, so why not?  It's a paying job, and I could use one of those right now.  She has the blocks made, said she had paper and could buy ink, and I have plenty of tools.  All she would need is a ride from her place to our building.  She has a deadline of the end of the month for her show, and today was the day we planned to start the printing process.

I found the portable press, on a wheeled cart so we could easily move it from the kitchen of the old cafeteria to my basement studio.  It was crooked on the cart, but I figured we could fix that once we got it to my space.  I figured wrong.  It was too heavy to move, and the cart seemed too small anyway.  How did this work at Mary's house?  One thing I found was that turning the wheel of the press did not so much cause the press bed to move, but the whole press to move on the cart.  Kind of dangerous, but we decided to try it anyway.  She had two blocks, but expected to eventually have a third.  We pulled a test proof on newsprint, which looked as good as any proof on newsprint does.  Started it on the press, but finished with some hand rubbing.  On to one on the better paper.  The size was good, but it was much heavier paper, too much so to hand rub.  So we gave up.   Mary will order some new paper, and we will try again after that.  

She has offered me a chance to be part of this show, in a gallery on Main in Asbury, a few blocks from the Jersey Shore Arts Center.  I don't know if the gallery knows this yet, so I'm going to wait and see on that.  Any exhibition opportunity is a good thing, and it would have to be something I have framed already, as I doubt I have time or materials to frame anything by the end of the month.  I'll worry about printing these new proofs of hers first. 

With all this going on, I didn't get around to taking any photos of today's labors. Since we had nothing to show for it, not really of any consequence anyway.