Saturday, 21 February 2026
February 20, 2026 -- PORTRAIT
The portrait session on Friday nights is free -- FRIDAY NIGHT FACES -- but the artists had to give their drawings to the sitter:
Friday, 20 February 2026
PRINTMAKING -- UNM/UTEP Print Exchange, plus Die Cutting Tessellations
Dipping back into printmaking a bit:
This is GREAT! We can now quickly and easily die cut tessellation shapes from Expanded PVC Foam. The alternative is to cut them out on a CNC machine -- which still works well, but creates a lot of foam dust and is more complicated.
This LeatherPress machine weighs a lot. Would the Ellison Educational Letter Machine Model 9000 be lighter, and still work with our tessellation die?
"DieCut.SVG" file, ready for the laser cutter:
UNM/UTEP
PRINT EXCHANGE
Stirring things up on the Rio Grande, the FORGOTTEN REACH black-and-white print exchange was between the students at the University of New Mexico (UNM upstream) and the students at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP downstream):
Professor Aaron Bass hung up the UNM/UTEP black-and-white student print exchange at the printmaking department at the University of New Mexico:
This was a print exchange between the students at the University of New Mexico and the students at the University of Texas at El Paso:
Printmaking Professors Aaron Bass (UNM) and Manuel Guerra (UTEP) organized the student print exchange:
I think we need to have more artistic exchanges and interactions between Albuquerque and El Paso, like we did with the Desert Triangle Print Carpeta starting ten years ago. Like this month, when Christin Apodaca of El Paso came up to paint a mural of La Malinche at the Secret Gallery downtown Albuquerque:
Last year (2025) we ordered a custom die from the Ukraine through Ebay, to punch out tessellation tiles. However the hydraulic press at Quelab was broken, so we could only fantasize about punching out tessellation shapes with getting a leather press:
Adric then found a used die cutting press for cheap -- The XL Ellison LetterMachine -- and brought it to Quelab on February 19th, 2026, so that we could use it with the tessellation die:
The prints hanging in the hallway
of the UNM Print Department
The UNM student prints
The UTEP student prints
FORGOTTEN REACH
Print Exchange
UNM and UTEP
student print artists
I think we need to have more artistic exchanges and interactions between Albuquerque and El Paso, like we did with the Desert Triangle Print Carpeta starting ten years ago. Like this month, when Christin Apodaca of El Paso came up to paint a mural of La Malinche at the Secret Gallery downtown Albuquerque:
LEATHER PRESS
for Tessellation Tiles
Adric then found a used die cutting press for cheap -- The XL Ellison LetterMachine -- and brought it to Quelab on February 19th, 2026, so that we could use it with the tessellation die:
Linoleum tessellation tile,
tessellation die,
Expanded PVC Foam tessellation tile
The LetterMachine opening
was high enough to fit our die inside
Side view of the die going into the LetterMachine
Die cutting a tessellation shape
from a six inch square piece of linoleum
We needed to add a piece of wood
to raise the die and
get the LetterMachine to work correctly
Adric ready to press
Pressing and die cutting
a tessellation shape
The die cut stiff foam was tightly wedged into the die (top),
while the linoleum was easier to release from the die (bottom)
We CANNOT laser cut the Expanded PVC Foam tiles -- like we can with real linoleum -- because laser burning PVC creates toxic gas:
Stiff foam tessellation
punched out with the tessellation die (below)
It seems like 9.5 inches
is the widest one can insert into the leatherpress machine
Not quite 10 inches wide
"Formerly called the Prestige SpaceSaver Extended Length Cutting Pad, this SS Standard Cutting Pad measures 5 3/8" x 15 3/8". Designed to fit the Prestige SpaceSaver..."
***
Now we need to make other dies to punch out other shapes. Adric says that we can laser cut a shape into wood, and push a bandsaw blade into that groove to make a new die. The challenge then is to find shapes to laser cut and make into dies. Naturally I would like to do this from one of my drawings:
Best PNG Drawings 2020 -- Part 1
Perhaps we could make a die
from this shape
Mitchell's Art Exhibition
I went to Mitchell Newberry's art exhibition at Madcrema Coffee in Albuquerque on February 19, 2026 (having missed the opening on the previous Thursday):
Art Street is the sister organization to OffCenter, the community art studio downtown, where I have done some printmaking:
*****
The next day I went back, and Mitchell took me to Art Street, just a block away (and I gave some linoleum to Tina as a printmaking donation):
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