Art Patronage and Master Printing At New Grounds - Desert Triangle Print Carpeta: Ruben Urrea Moreno

A work by Tucson artist Ruben Urrea Moreno printed at New Grounds
 by master printer Ren Adams

Art Patronage is not dead!

Granted, it is hard to find a patron the likes of the Medici family in 15th and 16th century Italy, who commissioned copius works of art from local artisans, and the U.S. lags way behind in supporting the arts compared to European countries, but there are exceptions.

Karl Whitaker, an avid print collector, is in the process of commissioning 30 prints by 30 contemporary southwest artists. The collection will tour as a traveling exhibition when complete.

New Grounds was fortunate enough to be chosen to print a work by Tucson artist Ruben Urrea Moreno, as part of Whitaker's project. The large-scale woodcut was editioned in September by New Grounds master printer Ren Adams.

New Grounds provides custom printing services to artists, curators and patrons of the arts, and we often have a master printer  working on an edition or series in our main studio. It's one of the many services New Grounds offers and our custom printers are respected and skilled across various printmaking techniques, including etching, gravure, relief and serigraphy (among others!).

If you're interested in having pieces printed at New Grounds, don't hesitate to contact us to discuss options!

Whitaker's commissioned project is impressive! You can read more about the piece printed at New Grounds (and about the project's larger vision at: Desert Triangle Print Carpeta: Ruben Urrea Moreno).

Moreno's piece during the duration process

Ren Adams aligns the block before printing

Ren Adams' workstation, inking the block

The main printing studio at New Grounds, with Moreno's block on our big press

Wayne Chinander - Relief Printmaking and Registration Demo Video Update!

Our videos are getting fancier (and more informative!).

We're excited to announce that we've updated Wayne Chinander's demo video from The Cutting Edge exhibition opening. During the reception, Wayne provided a multi-plate printing demonstration, which included a glimpse of his inking, registration and printing techniques. We caught live video of Wayne in action that night, and we turned that raw material into a newly updated video for our YouTube channel.

We combined all the separate parts, added commentary and close-ups of the prints Wayne was working on--and we've even added a little splash of tango music by local talent Q Tango!

Expect great things from our future demo videos, too. We're planning to create nice, educational (and snazzy) video footage for each of our demonstrations and we may even give new polish to some of our classic videos. We hope our new and improved video footage will inspire, motivate and inform.

Stop by our YouTube Channel to see our latest work.

First Show of 2013

 At New Grounds Print Shop and Gallery and Matrix Fine Art 2013 started off right with the first art show of the new year on January 4th! It was the last day of the holiday sale and all the artists' new work was on display. Not only was the event successful, but also a lot of fun!

New member to New Grounds, Wayne Chinander, stands next to his linoleum cut print entitled Maiden. Wayne has been a member since December and this is his first time showing art here at New Grounds.

Visitors explored New Grounds and Matrix checking out all the amazing art that was part of the holiday sale and new work by the artists.

Artists Phil Peterson and Katherine Noe.

A guest visits with artist Pamela Wesolek.

Myself and fellow new intern Karissa greeted people at the front as they walked in!

Artist Jeff Simpson stands in Matrix taking photos of the night's event.

Artist Dan Noyes and Artist Ray Maseman have a conversation in New Grounds.

Ray Maseman's twins Ben and Norah are both charming and very entertaining!

A guest speaks with artist Adabel Allen.

Cheers! Artist Deborah Donelson and a friend.

Fellow intern Erik was the bartender of the evening.

Artists Susan Evans and Pat Berrett

Artist Jessica Krichels and her daughter pose for a picture before leaving.

Phil Peterson hangs out in the offices as he showed me yoga poses for sleep.

Photos by Jeff Simpson and Kaitlin Reese. Be sure to join us next time!

-Kaitlin Reese, New Grounds Intern

Jeff Simpson’s grand opening!

Jeff's black and white relief prints drew quite a crowd! His images are graphic yet whimsical in design. Jeff was delighted to have his first art opening at New Grounds! If you wanted to know what his work was about he didn't hesitate to talk about it. The atmosphere was cheerful and lively. Everyone who showed up this month seemed very pleased about the opening.











An impromptu fashion show happened just before the demonstration by the artist. An up and coming designer named Aspen Couture, came along with four models wearing her designs. This was a great chance for publicity.





I have worked at New Grounds for 3 years now and have not seen a completely relief print show! It was a pleasure to be at Jeff's opening. I have a passion for relief prints so it was nice to see them all in one room. At the demonstration Regina introduced Jeff donning his fashionable ladybug apron. It is an old family heirloom and he wore it just for this special occasion.






Jeff starts the demo off with an introduction to carving tools and how to use them.




Then he rolls on the ink with a brayer, using the Akua Intaglio Water-based inks. New Grounds is almost completely water-based these days! It is a big change from oil-based inks however they have beautiful results!





Once Jeff has rolled the plate through the press he shows the final image to the crowd.



Thanks to Michael Rudahl for the photographs!


Molly, our summer intern has gone back to college for the Fall! Thanks for all your help

Tanya