BLOCK PARTY in Albuquerque

We had a "BLOCK PARTY" on May 27th, 2023 at the North Fourth Art Center in Albuquerque.  The basic idea was that artists would bring their carved "linocut blocks" and we would print them that Saturday afternoon.  We provided the ink and 8x8 inch paper:

Printmaking "Block Party"

in Albuquerque

at North Fourth Art Center

Seven people attended the "Block Party"

on May 27th, 2023

Then we framed and exhibited the linocut prints in the hallway at the North Fourth Art Center on June 1st, 2023:

Framed exhibition

of what was printed during the "Block Party"

on June 1st, 2023

BLOCK PARTY

In order to show prints, we have to first make prints.  Therefore we organized a basic printmaking workshop.  Ellie was the one who pushed to make this happen:

BLOCK PARTY

on Saturday, May 27th, 2023

The room and set-up

Ellie Weadock hung all of her prints

as an example

We brought a lot of colored inks

and other equipment to pull prints

(I don't think we used that press though)

Inking Lisa Isenberger's print

The reveal

of Lisa Isenberger's print

Kerry Orr brought an image

to translate into a print

Zoe Zelenka

drew into expanded PVC foam

with a pencil and pen

COLORS

The workshop allowed us to experiment a bit with color for the first time:

Cranfield Caligo Safe Wash Relief Ink Black

 150 ml tube

We mixed Speedball Professional Relief Inks to make interesting dirty colors:

• Speedball Professional Relief Ink Super Graphic Black 8oz

• Speedball Professional Relief Ink Crimson Red 8oz

• Speedball Professional Relief Ink Ultramarine Blue

• Speedball Professional Relief Ink Diarylide Yellow 8oz

PRINTING METHODS

We experimented with a variety of printing methods.  The favorite was using Henry Morales's letterpress proofing press:

Stewart pulling

Henry Morales' letterpress proofing press

The medium sized baren

made by Iron Frog Press

Stewart rubbing and printing

with the Iron Frog Press baren

Ellie printing with her feet

using the curved FEZIBO anti-fatigue board

Printing with a spoon,

the time honored traditional back up

THE PRINTMAKERS

Kerry Orr

Kerry Orr made two prints:

• Kerry Orr (1)
• Kerry Orr (2)

Inking

Henry Morales printing for Kerry Orr

The master print

Kerry Orr's print 

was based on this image to the left

Zoe Zelenka

Zoe Zelenka pulling the letterpress proofing press,

assisted by Henry Morales

The plate and the first print

Zoe Zelenka's print

carved on expanded PVC foam

Steve Williams

The reveal

Steve Williams print

Henry Morales

 

Henry Morales drew on both Styrofoam, and then on expanded PVC foam:

Henry Morales drawing on Styrofoam

Henry Morales drawing on the harder

 expanded PVC foam

Henry's print (left)

next to the inked expanded PVC foam plate

Holly Grimm

Holly Grimm emailed a couple of drawings, and Krrrl laser engraved them into linoleum using the laser cutter at Quelab:

Holly Grimms' figure drawings

laser engraved into linoleum

using two different methods

Ready to print Holly's laser engraved linocuts

One version of Holly's linocut print

This more direct linocut version

of Holly's figure drawings

came out the best

Ellie holds up Holly's print

fresh off the press

John Tollett

We also printed John Tollet's expanded PVC foam plate in red:

John Tollett's print

Having a good time

Stewart Weadock

Stewart Weadock drew into Styrofoam and pulled this print:

Stewart Weadock's print

Stewart Weadock also 

inked and printed a lot of the other pieces

Ellie Weadock

Ellie Weadock printed everyone else's blocks, and ultimately managed to print one of her own:

Ellie Weadock's print

Rich Hasler

Rich Hasler used to print with us in Albuquerque, but moved to Peru.  So we asked him to send us an image and Krrrl engraved it into linoleum with the laser cutter at Quelab:

This is the image that Rich sent by email

We laser engraved this image into linoleum

at Quelab in Albuquerque

The first print

from Rich Hasler's laser engraved linocut

I think that Rich's hand carved linocut that he did in Peru is a little better:

Rich Hasler cut this plates out by hand

in Peru

Another linocut that Rich made

in Peru

Rich printed with us for the grand opening of Hecho Gallery in Santa Fe in 2022:

Screen grab of Rich Hasler printing with us

at Hecho Gallery in Santa Fe in 2022

We made a lot of prints

during the first workshop!

Ultimately we made a lot of prints using many different techniques.  Seven people was really all we could handle.

Perhaps the latent motivation for the workshop was to break out the colors.  We can't really experiment much with color during the figure drawing sessions (though we do make quick black-and-white prints during the model breaks).

Perhaps the biggest success was that we pulled this off.  We brought all the materials, including colored inks, and managed to keep busy for three hours.