Milk Carton Printing in Uruapan

I made a  milk carton drypoint etching print in a studio in  URUAPAN, Michoacan, Mexico, on Sunday, July 28th, 2019.  This was at MAPECO, the Taller Escuela de Artes Plasticas.

My final "milk carton" print,

with Irma Reyes Almanza looks on

Of course, I could not have done it without the help of Samuel Diaz Gaona and Irma Reyes Almanza, who are in charge of the MAPECO printmaking studio.  

They had both submitted to the Ambos Lados International Print Exchange, and brought in 12 more printmakers to the exchange.  That is why Manuel Guerra, Marco Sanchez, and I went down there to meet them.

Milk cartons (Tetra Pak)

unfolded, almost ready for etching

The "milk carton" material 

was taped to cardboard support.

I then drew on it with a ball point pen,

pressing hard to make deep grooves for etching

My "plate"

ready to ink

Samuel Diaz Gaona, head of the printmaking studio,

has been there since the mid 70s.

He wiped the Sanchez ink off my "plate"

with cotton material (not a tarlatan)

Finer wiping with newsprint

The inked

"milk carton plate"

Fresh off the press

The print 

next to the "milk carton plate"

The impressive milk carton print

that Samuel Diaz Gaona made for the 

Ambos Lados Print Exchange

I had previously taken a milk carton drypoint workshop with Ren Adams, at Remarque Print Workshop in Albuquerque, in November 2017.

OTHER TECHNIQUES AT MAPECO

They also unfold aluminum cans,

tape them to cardboard,

and use them as plates for low cost etching

A  collagraph technique

was to cover plant material with aluminum foil,

to create a low relief for inking and printing

Every print studio needs a cow in the back yard

We were very impressed with the MAPECO printmaking studio in Uruapan, Michocan!  They recycled packaging material (like milk cartons and aluminum cans) to make cheap printmaking plates.  They painted shellac on those plates to achieve different values and textures.  They printed on local handmade paper, made from water lilies (water hyacinth).  They made large relief prints on cheap brown kraft paper, for wheat paste print exchanges -- and pasted those prints up in Cheran, the small self-governing village in Michoacan that ran out the police and the drug lords.

Unfortunately Michoacan currently suffers from violence, as 19 victims died in Uruapan the week after we left.

UPDATE:  Some of those printmaking processes were demonstrated at Remarque Print Workshop in Albuquerque, during their Open House on September 21st, 2019.  They have been using the aluminum foil collagraph technique, and milk carton techniques before, but I brought in some Tetra Pak milk carton material, which they were using in Uruapan.

Remarque Print Workshop Open House,
demonstrating printmaking techniques,
on September 21st, 2019