Global Print 2013

A few months ago I was invited to send some work of mine for the Global Print 2013 Exhibition in Alijó, Portugal. I feel very honoured to have received this invitation and this is the first time I'm showing some work of mine in Europe. The exhibition runs from August 31 - October 30. One of my prints is currently on display there (McDermot Avenue I), and two others will be on display at the same location next year as part of the 7th Douro Biennal 2014. So, if you find yourself in Portugal, please check out the show.

My Winnipeg IV

My Winnipeg IV.

Linocut.

60cm x 60cm. 2013.

My paper arrived and with great excitement I started printing and here is My Winnipeg IV. I'm printing on Revere, a newer line of cotton paper by the Cartiera Magnani mill in Italy, the same mill that makes the Pescia Magnani paper I usually use. As I mentioned in my previous post, I re-used a previous image of an etching for this piece (My Winnipeg II), changing the scale to 60cm x 60cm (24" x 24") and translating it into black and white, with a focus on patterning. It took me about a day and multiple prints before figuring out how to ink the plate just right. I always have to get to know a plate first after I've made it before I can print it properly, even though it's 'just' a relief print. It was the background that was (and still is) giving me a hard time to get it just right. The background consists of relatively wide open and flat areas I carved away, so in some places, the brayer inevitably touches down and leaves a mark, especially around the edges. I solved the problem by using a soft brayer with a thin coat of ink to get deep down into the recessed areas, which don't get the same amount of pressure as the surface of the plate resulting in that grey patterned tone. The looseness of the background takes away some of that black and white starkness of the image. The surface of the plate I ink up with a harder brayer. Now the printing of the edition begins.

Linocut - My Winnipeg IV

I was hoping to post a new print by now, but I'm still waiting on a delayed paper order, so no paper, no prints yet. Instead, I'll show you the plate I've been working on for the past few weeks. It's a fairly large linocut (24" x 24"). I've once again re-used a previous image I've done as an etching a few years back to re-interpret it in black and white on a larger scale. I have this wonderfully huge roll of flooring linoleum sitting around (6' x 8'), which I found really cheap at a thrift store a few months ago. Leftovers from construction I assume. I've been wanting to just cut a piece out and work on it for a while already and I finally did. I love this kind of linoleum. I used it at the university and at Martha Street Studio in Winnipeg, and having so much at my disposal suddenly made me salivate to do some block printing again, which I haven't done on this scale since the Steamroller Festival in 2010. The linoleum or the company that makes it is called Tarkett. It is a flooring vinyl with a high cork content and wonderful for carving. It is much softer than art linoleum or wood, but strong enough to hold up to large editions of more than 50 prints. Some people might want to mount it, but I never do. I just put a plexi-plate underneath to carry it around and slide it onto the press bed. The part I love best about this linoleum is that I can edit my plates. Imagine that, to edit a blockprint! I always edit my etchings, scraping, burnishing and re-etching, since a plate never turns out quite right the first time. With blockprints I tend to be very nervous getting only one try; if the tool slips or I've cut away too much in one area and the image looks off balance that's it, right? Wrong. I simply cut out the shape I want to replace and carve a new piece. You can see in the image below all the parts I replaced after proofing since I used leftover pieces of grey linoleum (the same kind and thickness as the orange...just a different colour). I simply use contact paper to adhere the pieces from the back and keep them in place. I don't know where the stuff is actually available, but perhaps a flooring company would know or even have offcuts.

Illustrations

 Single page

It has been so long since I posted some new work! For months now between trips and travels I've been working on and off to get my submissions for a new children's picture book ready and today I finally sent out the first ones. I finished a dummy book with sketches and I also made two finished illustrations as samples. I initially wanted to paint them, but that didn't work the way I wanted, so I foolishly opted for copper etchings. Can you imagine illustrating a whole book with double-plate etchings? But why not? I'm super happy how the illustrations turned out plus I had a ton of fun making them. I can't wait to make the rest of them. Well, I'm getting ahead of myself. First I have to land a publishing contract, which might take years.

If you can't figure it out from these two illustrations, the story is about an armadillo trying to find the rain since his waterhole is drying up. 

Double page

Exhibition at McNally Robinson

I have another exhibition opening next week. I will do a small artist talk at the prairie ink restaurant Monday, June 3rd at 7:30pm in Winnipeg. The exhibition will be on display until July 8th and continue with part of the work from August 6th - September 15th. 

Nivaclé Printmaking Workshop

I am currently in Paraguay and it is wonderful to be home again. I'm staying with my parents in the house where I grew up and I'm enjoying all the sun and lovely weather after coming from the still snowy Minneapolis. Aside from the exhibition I am having in Asunción next week (see post below) I will also teach a woodblock printing workshop to a group of approximately 10 indigenous artists for one week (May 12 - 18). Since I want to document the whole workshop more thoroughly, I decided to start a new blog for that. Please click here to be redirected for more information about the workshop and images of the artists' work.

Exhibition in Paraguay

Encounters and Farewells is my first exhibition in my home country Paraguay. After all these years that this country and my life there (before North America) have inspired me to make much of my work, I finally have the chance to show my work at the Manzana de la Rivera, a beautiful gallery complex in downtown Asunción that is part of the city's cultural center. The opening reception is Thursday, May 2 at 7:30pm in the Espacio Miguel Acevedo and runs till May 19th. I am thrilled to have this opportunity, which I have dreamed of for years. In so many ways I still feel deeply Paraguayan and yet I feel quite the stranger in the Paraguayan art scene. Perhaps I will have the chance to make some connections through my exhibition and stay in closer touch with what is going on in the art world in Paraguay.