Reading

Printmaking with Soledad Salame by Alzaruba

Previous Story

EUREKA! EUREKA! Happy Accidents and Exquisite Fai [...]

Next Story

Closing Reception and Bluegrass!

Photobucket
Print by Mary Walker

Recently I took part in a wonderful new printmaking workshop in the light filled, white on white studio of the artist, Soledad Saleme, who recently had a gorgeous show at Goya Contemporary. She specializes in solar etching and monoprints and limits each class to five people- perfect for a 3-day intensive plunge into the process. Each class has had a wonderful mix of painters, photographers, jewelers, sculptors and architects.

Although I was the artist in residence for MICA’s printmaking department in the spring of 2000, it’s been several years since I’d explored the medium and figured that Sol would provide the perfect refresher. Our group turned out to far exceed my hopes. (Soledad learned the solar etching process with Dan Welden, who published the book ‘Printmaking with The Sun.’)

Photobucket
Print by Kini Collins

Solar etching is a fairly recent development. Instead of scoring or eating away the surfaces of metal plates with toxic acids, the solar process uses a transparency upon a biodegradable emulsion backed by a thin steel plate that is exposed to light, and then simply washed with water and air-dried. The process provides a wide array of delightful possibilities. Before the workshop, I began several images in Photoshop, some painterly and others using photos of my performances. These were translated into the transparencies for the exposures.

Photobucket
Servitus Luminum by Alzaruba

In addition, we explored monoprints-, which became a revelation for me. With her warm Latin enthusiasm, Sol drew the best out of all of us. Everyone made excellent work. The sense of excitement drew us further into intuitive experimenting, amid much discussion about techniques and effects.

My work took on a surprising new fluid organic quality; ideas arose about returning to painting, even as I’m now considering using more of my photography as a basis for solar etching. The difference between a quality gyclee print of an image- and an actual etching of the same image is enormous. Solar etching lifts the image into something more authentic, mysterious and original. The end result is a quality set of great prints, and a wealth of new ideas. Highly recommended!

Photobucket
Print by Pam Phillips

Related Stories
Ruppert Explores the Symbiotic Relationship Between Nature and Civilization at C. Grimaldis Gallery

Spending time with the pieces on display is humbling the way that great art so often is. Climate change, the relationship between man and nature, the vastness of geological time, and our relative insignificance are all conveyed through images and objects of great aesthetic beauty.

The best weekly art openings, events, and calls for entry happening in Baltimore and surrounding areas.

Creative Alliance 30th Anniversary Marquee Ball, Earth Day at The Crow's Nest, The Queen-tet performance at the Peabody Library, MICA Grad Show III, Anacostia Portraits at DC Film Fest, Clavel at The Walters for a tepache tasting, Baker Artist Awards Celebration at the BMA, and more!

The Group Show "Ecocide" and a Window Installation by Taina Litwak Confront Environmental Violence

This exhibit at The Crow's Nest pushes you to do what you can do to protect the land and the communities that inhabit it.

The New Exhibit at the National Museum of Women in the Arts Isn't Here to Make You Comfortable

It’s unusual to group an exhibition around an adjective, but Uncanny is less about a word than a psychological experience where something feels unnerving because it’s familiar but just slightly off.