REGISTRATION is now open!

I am teaching two PRINTMAKING classes this Fall at the Phoenix Center for the Arts:

8 Saturdays

9 AM to 12 PM

September 17 – November 12

$171

WHAT A RELIEF!

Forget linoleum!  Discover new and wonderful relief printmaking surfaces:  Gomuban, Borco Board and Sintra.  They cut easier than traditional lino and each have their charm.  Explore these new materials and expand your mark-making tool box.

6 Mondays

10 AM to 2 PM

September 19 to October 24

$170

BEGINNING SOLARPLATE ETCHING

Turn those photos into artistic masterpieces!  Learn how take a photo you have taken and turn it into a fine art etching.  You will learn the solarplate process and how to put the artist's "hand" into your image. 

Here is a link to register for my classes.

PHOENIX CENTER FOR THE ARTS

1202 N. Third St. Phoenix, AZ 85004

(602) 262-4627

Fall Printmaking Classes at the Phoenix Center for the Arts

REGISTRATION OPENS AUGUST 22^ND 2011

I am teaching two PRINTMAKING classes this Fall at the Phoenix Center for the Arts:

8 Saturdays

9 AM to 12 PM

September 17 – November 12

WHAT A RELIEF!

Forget linoleum!  Discover new and wonderful relief printmaking surfaces:  Gomuban, Borco Board and Sintra.  They cut easier than traditional lino and each have their charm.  Explore these new materials and expand your mark-making tool box.

6 Mondays

10 AM to 2 PM

September 19 to October 24

BEGINNING SOLARPLATE ETCHING

Turn those photos into artistic masterpieces!  Learn how take a photo you have taken and turn it into a fine art etching.  You will learn the solarplate process and how to put the artist's "hand" into your image. 

I haven’t seen the catalog yet but both classes should be under or at $200.  Online registration is not yet available but I will post when it is ready.

PHOENIX CENTER FOR THE ARTS

1202 N. Third St. Phoenix, AZ 85004

(602) 262-4627

DISCREPANCY: living between war and peace Opening

DISCREPANCY OPENING RECEPTION

What a night is was!  The show looked amazing.  Elegant.  Powerful.  Beautiful.  There were artist statements with the work, so the intention and heart of the artist was clear.  And the crowd responded.  My print, Ten, One Thousand, about the people who fell from the World Trade Center on 9/11, really touched people.  More than that really.  Strangers and friends came up to me to tell me how moved they were.  Some came to me crying after having just seen it.  I cried with them.  It is a feeling like no other to move people, to share the intent.  They understood.  They knew.  And they appreciated it.  It was a very emotional evening. 

The entire show was cohesive.  Every artist had a personal point of view of what it meant to live between war and peace and how it tied back to their regular artist practices.  The curator, my sister Nancy Willis, had a vision, born out of her own work, trying to reconcile living in the beautiful Napa Valley with images of conflict from the news.  She invited artists to create work that looked specifically at the rituals of daily life in relation to three events, the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  The work varied in media, size and dimension but it all tied into Nancy’s vision.  People noticed.  One woman remarked that she hadn’t expected it to be so strong.  “This is BIG!” 

Nancy and Wendy Willis

From her Curator’s Statement Nancy said, “I believe in the power of art to make a difference in people’s lives.  In a climate that seems propelled by divisiveness, art can be a powerful tool to remind us that we are all human and there is always more below the surface of what we see.”  I saw this to be true last night.  One woman told me she would be forever changed because of my print.  You just can’t ask for anything more than that.

The Napa Valley Museum just posted 59 photos from the reception last night on their Facebook page.  I will be uploading photos to my Flickr page later of more empty museum shots, some reception images and close ups of each piece.

Friends Born of the Internet

I was just explaining to my husband how I became friends with Candace Nicol.  We were lucky to spend a couple hours with her yesterday at her studio, Oxboo Press in Reno, NV.  My excuse for visiting was to see the 2.5 x 2.5 Print Exchange Exhibition. 

2.5 x 2.5 Print Exchange Exhibition

I first saw her work on Inkteraction, not so very long after it started.  I loved her prints and wrote comments about them.  She then, checked out my work and liked what she saw too...and an internet relationship was born.  I followed her work and one day Kathryn Polk in Tucson invited me to participate in Candace's project "6 Sides to Every Story" where 6 artists each carved one side of a cube based on a topic from the news. (100 cubes were sent out.)  I was thrilled to be "playing with the big kids" even though I hadn't done a woodcut in 30 years.

Candace Nicol, 6 Sides to Every Story in background

Then I was invited by Candace to participate in a print exchange - "Naughty, Taboo, Just Plain Wrong" - the title alone reflects on joy and fun she often puts into her printmaking practice.   She was going to exhibit the print exchange during Nada Dada Motel (where downtown motel rooms are turned into gallery spaces for a weekend) - and I decided I wanted to see it!  She invited me to teach a 2 day linocut workshop and again I said yes.   I finally met her face to face!  I had never taught before but have many times since.  So she has inspired me to grow just by inviting me to participate in stuff.
Yesterday we plotted a plan to bring her to Phoenix (it will be her first time!) and I am looking forward to sharing some AZ print time and hospitality with her.