01/11/2008 09:28:17

Hi Erin,

 I only have the little Dick Blick press.  It's not a bad little press, but I am limited in the size of my prints.  That's OK because I don't tend to work large anyway and if I do need a bigger press, Burlington City Arts has a gorgeous Takach that members have access to. 

Now you have me going.  I have got to try plexiglass!  How durable is it in a press?  How many prints can you work before your lines get fuzzy?  I currently paint my copper and zinc plates with india ink to help me see the lines I scratch.  I wonder if that would work?  I didn't quite follow how you use old black mattboard to see your lines. Is the Mattboard placed under the plexiglass?

In the mean time, Middle Tennessee State University has a great printmaking website full of resources.  There is a discussion group on there with leads for presses all the time.  It also has links to all sorts of other sources.  Their web site is:

http://www.mtsu.edu/~art/printmaking/

 I plan to print a bunch this weekend since all 4 feet of snow we had on the ground last Sunday is now in Lake Champlain. I got my first new ski equipment since I was 16 for Christmas and got to ski once before it all floated away.  Ah well, more time to print.

Talk to you later!

-M 

01/10/2008 08:20:50

Hi Erin!

I am so glad you contacted me!  I love your stuff, too and I love your drypoints! I never thought of using plexiglass as a matrix.  How does it hold up? I love drypoint because of it's fabulous spontinaity.  It's like drawing on steroids and I love the fact that I'm burning calories while doing it.  (I use copper plates, so I can work up quite the sweat.)  I got started on waterless lithography from a local workshop with Davis TeSelle.  He's a fabulous landscape artist and a good teacher so I was really lucky.  It was my first exposure to printmaking and I really like it.  However, there is so much preparation and conditions that impact the process that I have really grown to love drypoint as well.  How big are your plates?  -M

01/09/2008 23:02:17

I really enjoyed your drypoints. Great work. It's exciting to see more printmakers join scuttlebutt. What type of plexiglass do you use? Have you found one that maintains the burr while printing an edition? How large are your editions?

I'm excited that you are practicing non-toxic (safer) printmaking methods.  My studio is a fully non-toxic facility. Welcome!

01/09/2008 10:42:19

Great work! I love the architectural structures and the detail you have taken the time to include.

Interesting quote you reference:"Buildings that rise to the status of public monuments are social artifacts. In material and immaterial ways they reveal much about the philosophical, religious, and political values of society." From The Annotated Arch

I read a book called "How Should We Then Live" by Francis Schaeffer. In the book he followed the relationship between Art, Music and the Church from the Byzantine Empire to present (1980s was present at that time) He also discussed Architecture. I facinating book. Anyway, great work. Sorry for the ramble...

01/08/2008 16:43:19

Oddly enough I just got my MFA from Marywood as well.  I was in the "masters with the masters program" with Sister Cor.  It's a small world.