I was more active with printmaking in 2021 than I realized. Besides participating in a few print exhibitions I pushed to make 8 x 8 inch prints from sketches I made in figure drawing sessions. The turning point was when I bought a Tortilla Press in June, and we started doing live printmaking on the street. This snowballed into a modest exhibition concept -- BUCKET EXHIBITIONS -- where I could carry around ten framed 8 x 8 inch prints and have hit-and-run pop-up exhibitions.
TORTILLA PRESS Printmaking
Printmaking started 2021 on a sad note as Print Collector Juan Sandoval passed away on January 3rd in El Paso.
Octavio Irving of Havana posted a video on YouTube with a snapshot of our printmaking visit back in 2018:
Henry Morales and I submitted a collaborative print to the MAPECO portfolio called "Miradas sobre la niñez" (a look back to childhood).
My print was exhibited in Albuquerque at Remarque Print Workshop (April 9th to May 29th) for the "New Mexico Printmaking Invitational 2021":
Screen captures from the exhibition at Mexic Arte including a lot of Desert Triangle prints and Desert Triangle artists. Unfortunately I didn't make it to the exhibition:
Tin plated drawing on copper, might make a print:
These drawings have been vectorized and are downloadable, and can be used for printmaking:
I laser cut one of my drawings into linoleum, but I still need to figure out how to make a good print that way:
July 27, 2021
I altered one of my drawings in software, then laser cut one it:
Manuel Guerra came up from El Paso and we printed outside for the August Art Walk in downtown Albuquerque:
The next day Manuel Guerra and I went to Santa Fe to do live printmaking on the Tortilla Press in front of Hecho A Mano gallery at the top of Canyon Road:
September 1, 2021
Manuel Guerra and Raul Monarrez came up from El Paso to print again in Santa Fe, in front of Hecho A Mano gallery at the top of Canyon Road. The owner, Frank Rose, passed out linoleum squares to his Santa Fe artists, and five of them brought linoleum plates to print on the Tortilla Press:
September 1, 2021
I was sick for weeks, so I delayed printing my edition for the print exchange of the Southwest Print Fiesta 2021. I finished on the due date, so I sent in the edition with the faster (not overnight) service from FedEx on Friday. However my prints did not arrive on Monday, even though the recipients received other deliveries from FedEx. Nor did it arrive during the delivery the next day. After a lot of phone calls the driver went back to Silver City to deliver the prints, so they were barely accepted. Many calls later I never could get a refund from FedEx, as they dodged all my requests.
I altered one of my AI (artificial intelligence) creations and tried to massage it for silk screening, but did not arrived at a decent enough image to print:
I converted several of the drawings from my book into halftone images so that I could laser cut them into linoleum and make prints.
The problem is that the laser cut dots fell off when touched. The small dots were on high stalks (the deeper cut, the higher the stalk), and therefore were very weak. Adric at Quelab suggested that I coat the laser cut linoleum with acrylic floor wax, which might strengthen the linoleum image.
Someone else suggested that I do a shallow laser cut, so that the stalks weren't so high, and the dots would be less frail. However that made it harder to ink. Manuel Guerra printed the shallow cut image for me at Horned Toad Prints in El Paso. He first dusted the linoleum with French Chalk, which sunk into the "valleys" of the relief and resisted the ink:
I bought an 8 x 8 inch print from Celeste De Luna of Texas directly from Instagram. Walmart sells 8 x 8 inch frames for under $2 apiece, so the idea is to show this print with a lot of other 8 x 8 inch prints in pop-up shows.
My print was hanging in the Ambos Lados exhibition at Casa Ortiz, in Socorro, Texas, adjacent to El Paso.
I had this modest exhibition idea -- to show ten small framed 8 x 8 inch prints that I can carry around in a bucket. The idea is to have hit-and-run print exhibitions in smaller venues. I call this idea BUCKET EXHIBITIONS:
I contributed to a paste-up exhibition in Guadalajara, organized by Tres Gatos Press. They solicited forward-looking skulls from printmakers to create a Tzompanlti (an Aztec trophy skull rack) to paste up in a cemetery in Guadalajara.
We sent some printmaking supplies from Takach in Albuquerque to Yorch in Juarez, to make 8 x 8 inch prints:
I did not make a lot of prints in 2021, though I carved a lot of 8 x 8 inch linoleum and expanded PVC square plates. The Tortilla Press made printing these a lot simpler, though it took me a while to get comfortable with it. This lead to the BUCKET EXHIBITIONS idea, where I would carry around ten framed 8 x 8 inch prints by different artists, and have hit-and-run pop-up exhibitions.
Coming out of the Covid pandemic the live Tortilla Press printing was a good idea, since we could do that outside, more safely. Moreover the small pop-up shows didn't attract huge crowds, so it was a safer exhibition idea. People were really pleased to see any art activity after being locked down for two years.
I intend to continue to explore the 8 x 8 inch print. I can alter my drawings with AI (artificial intelligence) and laser cut them into linoleum. I'd like to enhance the prints with AR (augmented reality), and bring the exhibitions into the 21st century.
I would like to have pop-up exhibitions, not only in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, but also in El Paso. Ideally we would also have reciprocal pop-up exhibitions in Mexico as well, as we can easily send 8 x 8 inch prints in the regular mail, cheaply.
The BUCKET EXHIBITIONS could stir up dialog between the printmakers, over long distances. Thus it could evolve into a platform, and spawn exhibitions of larger prints.
Ultimately print might become the most substantial way I can present my figure drawing style, as scanned newsprint drawings are not that dignified.
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