Saturday, January 31, 2009

Crown Point Weekend Workshops: Alumni Special

Master printer Ianne Kjorlie prints with workshop participant Roberta.

On a recent Saturday, six alumnus of Crown Point's summer etching workshops gathered in the Crown Point studio. They were participants in the first of a series of weekend workshops the Press if now offering. Because the alumni were already familiar with the etching studio, they were ready for action the minute they walked through the door. There was experimentation with a string and sugar lift aquatint. One participant honed her skill at drypoint and another produced a four-plate etching. It was remarkable how much was accomplished during the day, said Emily York, Crown Point master printer and one of the teacher-printers for the day. Chine collé was also experimented with, and master printer Ianne Kjorlie (the other printer/teacher for the day) remarked that it was nice to see that all of the workshoppers were working on their skills learned during past workshops.


Workshop participant Kate experimenting with string and sugar lift aquatint.

One of our goals as an etching studio and gallery is to pass on what we know to the world outside our walls. Through education we hope to keep the medium of intaglio alive and appreciated and loved and used. We offer these workshops so that a range of people can experience first-hand how etching works, and what it has to offer the artist, the printmaker, the novice. Our next workshop in our weekend series is called the Process Diary Workshop, on February 28. This is the perfect workshop for those new to the etching medium, who have either done a bit or none at all, and would like to learn about each of the processes. Check it out on our workshop page of this website…. To learn is to live, and to live is to learn.

-Sasha Baguskas