Ink, Print, Love

-Milinda

Sitting in a piece by James Turrell at the de Young Museum. This blog will continue to be a resource for those interested in printmaking. As a group, we will keep up with this blog and see where it takes us. We plan on visiting print-related art exhibitions and more around Austin and as we move on after graduation. - Milinda Hernandez

I would like to first thank The University of Texas at Austin COFA for giving me the opportunity to visit San Francisco. With the magic of the city still lingering, I realized that this trip was not only informative but eye-opening. Having been in Austin for almost four years, I wanted to see what another city had to offer - art & culture. My group specifically chose San Francisco due to the fact that Southern Graphics Council International (SGCI) was holding their first conference on the West Coast. SGCI: San Francisco brought together printmaking instructors, professionals, and students together from all over the world. With over 1200 printmakers under one roof, I knew that this conference would open my eyes to more and new art. The discussions, panels, galleries, and other events I attended with my group provided great detail and information for the future of my art career. I fell in love with art again. 

My recap post was a little bland looking without a picture. So, for your viewing pleasure, here are my SGC traveling companions. Thanks for helping me get to San Fran, guys. And thanks for all the lovely memories! Cheers, Rachael

I can honestly say that our trip to San Francisco to attend the SGCI conference was one of the most educationally valuable experiences of my entire college career. The conference offered so many resources not readily available to me at school, including demonstrations, panels, and discussions, which opened my eyes to new possibilities in printmaking and answered a lot of questions I had about what to do after graduation. For example, my favorite demo (which I previously posted about) called “Think B.I.G.!,” offered solutions to issues I had been thinking about in my own intaglio practice. Not only did I learn ways to make the process more environmentally friendly, which has been a concern of mine, but I also discovered that intaglio can be done cheaply and easily at home. Another highlight from my conference experience was an “inkubator session,” on finding work within the arts outside of academia. At this discussion I had the opportunity to engage with other students and working artists about how to continue making art after graduation and how to make money doing so. A few tips I picked up from this discussion included where to look for cheap printmaking equipment for your home studio, and how to get involved in teaching printmaking workshops as a means of extra income. Hearing some of the innovative ways people were able to find clients for their workshops inspired me to think more creatively when it comes to making a career out of printmaking for myself. For example, one women talked about making her set up mobile and offering print workshops at people’s homes. She even offered printmaking bachelorette parties! Information like this is invaluable to students, and I feel very grateful to have been exposed to it before graduating this semester and going out on my own to find work as an artist. On top of that, the amount of inspiration I felt from being surrounded by so much artwork and so many like-minded individuals was overwhelming. All I could think about after the conference was getting to work and putting into practice some of the things I had seen and learned. I also had a great time getting to know my traveling companions better, and I hope to collaborate with them on many future projects, including keeping up with our humble little blog here. I am so thankful for the travel grant that brought us together and gave us this wonderful opportunity to grow and develop as artists.

As a first-timer to the Southern Graphics printmaking conference, I found the experience very vital to my career in art. The introduction of newer technologies into my studio practice, such as the laser cutter, CNC router, and milling machine, have opened a new door to the way I can create a print. These machines were used in demonstrations during the conference in ways that I had not been taught before. While the Art department at UT has these new technologies, which I have used to create some of my artwork, I was able to see how other artists and students were also incorporating these machines into their art practice. The trip to San Francisco gave me so much more inspiration than I could have even imagined. I plan to continue experimenting and exploring with the traditional and newer ways of printmaking. - Milinda Hernandez

The trip to San Fransico specifically to engage in SGC was an eye-opening experience. I learned many things. I had set out to make connections and expand my knowledge of garment production. Thanks to David Newman I learned that many fabric dyes are toxic and should be handled with care. Creating T-shirts using lithography ink is fairly safe for consumption. The most toxic colors are yellows in regards to litho ink. The most valuable thing I got to experience was making connections to other printmakers. It's a great feeling to know that there are other people in the world who have the same passion and dreams as you. I truly believe that any success I generate will come from collaboration with others. Being with my group strengthened this concept. As we got to know each other we became more efficient in setting and completing goals. It was a lot of fun. We saw an overload of art. We got to witness how a professional shop is organized for business- Crown Point Press. Being in California made me realize the abundance of possibility around me. I believe I learned invaluable concepts that will further my career as an artist and businessman for the better. -Taylor Pierre Bryant Rollaz!

The Blanton owns about 16,000 prints!

www.brookevertin.com 

Check him out at: www.dougbosley.com

Courtney Sennish -mono print "Marking A Space" CCA, Oakland

Lithograph by Brooke Burrows -open portfolio, Sgc

-Rachael

"The Dimensional Relief Print" at Academy of Art University. Guests could walk around the room to see the various stages that went into producing these lovely 3D artist books by Macy Chadwick and Carrie Ann Plank, from the printing of the relief blocks, to die cutting, typesetting, and finally assembly.

"Rhythmic Structures" Demo at Academy of Art University. Shannon Lee Collis created audible prints by rigging these turn tables to play screen printed "records." Instead of a needle, the arm of the record player is fitted with copper wiring which, when it makes contact with the copper paint on the disc, triggers a mechanism that strikes a drum or plucks the strings of an instrument. Guests were invited to print their own disc and listen to the sweet sounds of printmaking by giving it a spin on one of the turntables. My understanding of the technical stuff is shaky, to say the least, but it was really exciting to see (and hear!) printmaking come alive in a new way.

Prints hanging during Sgc at the Academy of Art, San Fransico.