7 x 7 in. Monoprint-Collagraph, 2005
Have you ever had your heart broken so badly you almost gave up on love? Printmaking, for me, was the undergraduate relationship that sucked from the beginning, going from bad to really bad, humbling my pie to pieces. It was the one medium I couldn’t master. I couldn’t afford its luxuries, its promises nor meet its expectations. The press shook my confidence so badly I wasn’t sure I was an artist at all.
Now, I did have some success with silkscreen printing, probably because it’s the most like painting. I scored my A’s. But I struggled. It was work. It was time consuming. The thinking, the prep, the work involved was more methodical than just picking up a paintbrush. It expected patience, it asked me to plan, to account for mistakes. But I didn’t want to change. I wanted easy. I was young. I was lazy. What did I know about commitment?
Okay so, fast forward a gazillion years to the new millennium: I’m taking printmaking classes again. Maybe I was trying to right a wrong but I was lured back;even as I was telling myself to be careful. You know, there was always the “what if” just hanging there. I began with revisiting etching, with that innocent winter class in New Jersey. It was there that I got my hands dirty. And I found I liked Dirty. OMG, I liked it a lot. Then, I moved back to the Hudson Valley, and, it got out of control. I was abandoning zinc plates for block printing, making monoprints, creating editions all over the place, all of this with increasing abandon and unashamed glee. I wanted to keep true to canvas. I couldn’t.
The love affair became a full blown orgy for a while. The most intense experiences were with a group, with others, at the Woodstock School of Art, under the tutelage of master printmaker, Kate McGloughlin.The class then, as now, was packed with other deviants, true printmaking junkies. Monoprint is a popular workshop offering, and Kate is an inspiring teacher. It was there that I got my first taste of chine colle, collagraphs, and water-based inks. Kate shared everything she had in her bag of tricks, new ways to apply glue, to prepare plates and paper, new uses for found objects. I found a fresh way into collage and mixed media. By the time I took my second workshop I was all the way down the rabbit hole and I didn’t want to come back up.
After the class ended, a small band of us decided to continue meeting together. Through much of the following year, we would rendez-vous at the school’s Graphics studio, renting the space by the day, indulging our printmaking co-dependencies all afternoon. The unofficial nickname for our ragtag group was the “Cabal”. And, I’d like to think we conjured up a little magic together, making some great art. In the end, we pulled off a pretty decent group show in Beacon, NY. I remember those days in Woodstock fondly. And with love.
I’ve since turned away from the press, and am back with canvas and brush, working alone once again in my Highland studio. But I no longer feel that something is missing. Printmaking is a medium that encourages experimentation. The workshop experience encourages creative growth. The printmakers I know have always been welcoming, generous and forward thinking. They live their passion. I recommend a romp with them anytime.
© 2010 Ann Haaland
For more information on Printmaking
For more information on the Woodstock School of Art and the Graphics Studio
