| The
Way Forward
This month’s World Printmakers update features
Maureen’s first-person account of her experience at a small-town print fair
in England’s Lake District. In itself it was not a terribly exotic nor grandiose
event, just a few local people getting together to convert a historic public building
for one long weekend into a place where printmakers from all over the country
(and a couple from abroad) could show, discuss, explain and sell their work directly
to the public. Therein lies its greatness, as a model of what should be happening
in every town of 15,000 inhabitants in the entire world! For this, I submit, is
the way forward for printmakers and printmaking. And Judy Evans, Ronkey Bullard
and the town of Ulverston deserve our admiration, appreciation and encouragement. Feed
Your Paper Fetish
If you love fine paper the way we do, I think you’ll be fascinated by Nancy
Jacobi’s Japanese Paper Primer, which gives us the basic knowledge to begin
to explore the world of fine Japanese art papers. Nancy worked as a teacher in
Japan back in 1975-76, became fascinated with the paper, returned to her home
in Toronto and began importing it. Today her Japanese Paper Place has the widest
range of Japanese handmade papers for artists and keeps the largest stocks anywhere
in the world. Graphic
Graphics from Argentina
Cristina Santander is an Argentine artist
we met in Madrid and we’re pleased to host her work on World Printmakers.
Cristina’s prints, with her skillful use of primary colors and bold black
backgrounds, reminds me emphatically that the best graphic art is much more than
just drawing on a plate. It’s, well, graphic. Have a look and see if you
don’t agree with me. "I
Would Rather Be in Italy!"
New York printmaker, April Vollmer,
is travelling in her beloved Italy now, but before she left she was kind enough
to answer some questions for World Printmakers. April works in the traditional
Japanese Hanga woodcut technique and creates some wonderful images. I found her
tentative definition of art particularly endearing. If she hasn’t put her
finger on it yet, she’s definitely got it cornered. The
Young Printmaker Who Could
Richard Kennedy came to World Printmakers
as a “young printmaker” a year or so ago. Since then he has graduated
with a fine-arts degree from the University of Nebraska and moved with his wife
and two children to Rhode Island where he has set up shop as a digital printmaker.
Faced with the eternal question of “How does a young artist get started?”
he came up with his own creative answer. He did an edition of prints to give away.
Now he’s starting on his second giveaway edition. This, I submit, is the
kind of initiative which will permit this young printmaker to become one of the
select group of artists who can make their living from their work. Best of luck
to you, Richard. An
Offer You Can't Refuse
One more thing before I go: We’d like to hear from printmakers who have gallery
exhibits or fair participations scheduled over the next few months. We want to
make you an offer you can’t refuse. Drop
us an e-mail. See
you next month. Count
your blessings! Mike
& Maureen Booth
Editors & Publishers
World Printmakers
The
Worldwide Showcase for Contemporary
Fine-Art Printmakers
URL: http://www.worldprintmakers.com
Email: miguel@worldprintmakers.com
| |
