KRЯRL DЯAWINGS: Guadalajara and more Printmaking and Art

GUADALAJARA PRINT EXHIBITION

UPDATE (July 11): I made a big post about the Guadalajara show on the BUCKET EXHBITIONS blog:

Guadalajara show

on the BUCKET EXHBITIONS blog

Manuel Guerra and 3 Gatos Press showed 8x8 prints at Galeria Sepia in Guadalajara, including one of my AI prints, on July 8, 2023:

Screen capture from an

Instagram "story"

by 3 Gatos Press

Live printmaking

and 8x8 exhibition

at Galeria Sepia in Guadalajara

From tresgatospress

story on Instagram

Eunice Barajas posted videos of the opening on Instagram at Galeria Sepia in Guadalajara:

Video of the print exhibition hanging

at Galeria Sepia in Guadalajara

There was also live printmaking

of round linocuts

during the opening

John Tollett hand carved a "JAVALINA," but it didn't print well. So we laser engraved the first version of that "JAVALINA" into linoleum, and sent it directly to Guadalajara:

John Tollett's "JAVALINA" linocut

Eunice Barajas also posted evidence on Instagram of John's "JAVALINA" being printed:

Inking John Tollett's "JAVALINA" linocut

Printed "JAVALINA" linocut

MANCOS COMMON PRESS

Julianna Kirwin and the HerStory Collective from Albuquerque went up to Mancos Common Press in southwestern Colorado in June to direct a printmaking workshop, and she sent me some pictures:

HerStory print workshop

at Mancos Common Press

Printing plate

created with sticky foam

Julianna Kirwin, Shelly Shucker,

Ilene Weiss, and Rosie Carter

Laser cutting EVA FOAM

I got the idea to use sticky foam for printmaking from Julianna Kirwin and the HerStory Collective. For instance, they put on an outdoor sticky foam printing workshop as part of their Axle Contemporary exhibition in Santa Fe on May 8th, 2022:

Live Printmaking in Santa Fe -- HerStory

Adhesive foam plate

and fabric print

from the Axle Contemporary worshop in Santa Fe

I found that laser cutting EVA Foam is fast and easy with my LaserPecker 2, and makes good prints on the REAL Tortilla Press:

The final Maya print

made from laser cut foam

on 8x8 inch paper

The Maya image

I laser cut some EVA adhesive sticky foam sheets from Walmart with my LaserPecker 2 on July 9th:

The EVA foam cuts nicely

with the LaserPecker 2

I cut the foam into a circle

with hand scissors

More laser cutting

Printing on a REAL Tortilla Press

I even adhered one of the EVA foam image to a sponge

as the EVA foam was "self adhesive"

Sponge printing

didn't turn out as clean

Perhaps I need to try inking with an Archival Ink Pad

More Mayan images can be generated with the Mayan Translator

While I did laser engrave linoleum with the LaserPecker 2 twice this year, it was a lot easier and faster to laser cut the EVA foam:

LaserPecker 2 Prints (May 2023)
Open Press Print Exchange (January 2023)

Going forward we could laser cut the EVA foam outdoors and make prints quickly. It did smell, but not that bad. Moreover EVA foam cuts a lot easier -- needing only one pass, while the linoleum engraves need several passes (often taking an hour or more).

AND the EVA foam a is a lot cheaper than linoleum.

The Laserpecker 2 only cuts 4 inches maximum, which is perfect for printing with the REAL Tortilla Press.

Thus the three sisters of -- the portable laser cutter, the EVA foam and the REAL Tortilla Press -- is the perfect combination for doing quick unique turnaround prints. I even bought battery to run the laser cutter, foregoing the need of an electrical outlet.

NOTE: EVA foam is safe to cut, but NOT PVC foam!!!!