Ren Adams Multi-Layer Serigraphy Printmaking Demo Video

Ren Adams prints an image in front of the crowd

On First Friday, Nov. 6, 2015, Ren Adams gave a live printmaking demonstration at New Grounds, featuring the multi-layer serigraphy method she used to create the unique pieces in her Desert (Loss) series. 

Ren Adams provides a detailed serigraphy demonstration

Ren discussed some of the ideas behind her latest series, including her reasons for using serigraphy in such a freeform manner. This useful demo also provides insight into various approaches to silk screen printing, image making and layering transparent layers to create finished works. 

If you missed the live, demo, don't worry! The video is available on our YouTube channel. You can view it below:

Don't forget to follow us on YouTube!

Ren Adams gets ready to clamp a screen into the hinges

Krista Barrett Multi-Plate Etching Video

Krista Barrett's glowing personality and playful prints made for a great demo

On First Friday, October 2, 2015, New Grounds hosted an exhibition opening for printmaker Krista Barrett's newest series - Portals - Mixed Media Prints by Krista Barrett. 

During the opening, Krista provided a fun, multi-plate etching demonstration, where she discussed her inking, registration and printing methods, as well as the playful way that she creates rich monoprints from a selection of plates cut to identical sizes. Krista inks each plate differently each time, then combines them in diverse ways, to create entirely unique 'portals' into new, colorful spaces.

Krista inks up the second plate using Akua non-toxic intaglio color

We have cut Krista's demo into a short video, viewable on our YouTube Channel (or view it below!).

Enjoy!

Krista shows her book full of 6 x 6" plates

Portals - Mixed Media Prints by Krista Barrett, Exhibition Opening

Viewers admiring Krista Barrett's new work

On First Friday, October 2, 2015, New Grounds Gallery hosted an artist reception and exhibition opening for Portals - Mixed Media Prints by Krista Barrett. 

Work by Krista Barrett, installed in New Grounds Gallery

Work by Krista Barrett, installed in New Grounds Gallery

Krista Barrett’s layered, mixed media prints investigate portals and doors as a metaphor of transformation, change, new opportunities and beginnings. They celebrate that change is the only constant and is inevitable. It offers as many surprises as her subtly colored, detailed, one of a kind prints. 

Her intimate pieces offer viewing pleasure. 

Each 6 x 6" piece is made up of layers of etching and gravure imagery

Krista Barrett's etching demo was lively and inspiring!

Krista's demo station, with one of her many plates

Krista also gave a demonstration of her inking and multi-plate printing. Because her process often requires a number of layered plates, including copper etchings and gravure, and can take many hours to complete a print, Krista featured a few highlights and discussed her overall approach. 

You can expect a video of Krista's etching demo on our YouTube channel this month.

Viewers getting a closer look

The artist, Krista Barrett, entertaining friends and fans during the opening

Krista has shown work internationally and her pieces art part of several major collections.

Krista says of her work:

Making art is a playful process which allows me to explore my inner world more deeply and encounter the unexpected – both within and beyond myself. As I work, consciously planned elements combine with unconscious, unpredictable lines and shapes. This interaction allows me to explore spontaneity while cultivating structure and purpose.

Combining gravure and etching allows me a greater range of expression. Most of my prints are a combination of etching, gravure, monotype and mixed media. Etching on copper is my favorite technique as it allows me to combine various elements while also reflecting multiple layers and details. I etch lines and textures onto the copper plate using techniques similar to drawing and collage. I then print a working proof, which informs the next step of the process. Ideas emerge about what lines, textures or colors may enhance or develop the image. I repeatedly cycle through this process, refining the plate until the image feels complete.

Krista Barrett 

Delicious treats were provided by the Swiss Alps Bakery,
in honor of the Etsate of Amir Espat exhibition, which was featured concurrently in MATRIX

Delicious treats were provided by the Swiss Alps Bakery, 
in honor of the Etsate of Amir Espat exhibition, which was featured concurrently in MATRIX

Did you miss the opening? Don't worry. You still have the chance to view Krista's work up close, in person. The exhibition runs through October 31, 2015.

More shots from the opening:

The plates and ink Krista used during her demo

Dan Noyes is captivated by Krista Barrett's work!

Krista Barrett herself!

Two viewers closely examine the print Krista created during the demo

Ephemera - Etchings by Stephen Lawlor, Exhibition Opening Reception

Viewers admiring the work of Stephen Lawlor

On Friday, September 4, 2015, New Grounds Gallery hosted an artist reception for Ephemera- Etchings by Stephen Lawlor. Stephen was the first place winner of our 2013 International Juried exhibition, and this 2015 solo exhibition is part of the award New Grounds offered. 

We are proud to showcase his stunning, multi-plate etchings!

Travelling all the way from Ireland, Stephen Lawlor was in New Mexico for the opening!

Stephen (left-center) discusses his work with other printmakers during the opening

A selection of Stephen's etchings in the New Grounds Gallery

Stephen Lawlor’s etchings reflect the history of western painting as a subject in itself but also include the natural world through the same filter. Lawlor’s images are evocative of abstracted ‘actual landscapes’, both of which have a definite relationship with a pre-photographic sensibility.

Stephen Lawlor, Outskirts, Etching, 9.75 x 11" 

All of the pieces in Ephemera are multiple plate etchings with spit-bite aquatint. Painting with acid onto the plate creates their fluidity of form and delicate tonal ranges. The master plate is drawn on hard ground with an etching needle that leaps and jerks all over the plate. This convulsive line creates tension and adds character to the dreamlike quality. They draw the viewer back in time and hold the attention by submerging the subject within these lines, forms and random marks which are unique to etching. Most of the works employ the use of four plates but some as few as two. The process of drawing, biting and proofing is physical and intense and requires a persistence and stamina which has been developed over many years.

Stephen Lawlor: Resonance II and Water and Light

Stephen Lawlor, Ecce Homo II, Etching 11.75 x 9.5"

Ethereal, poetic, spiritual, luminous, ambiguous, otherworldly, sensitive, intimate and diffuse are words that have been used to describe these etchings. The complexity of the overlapping layers of tone and colour the artist uses has no parallel in the mainstream within contemporary printmaking which adds to their unique strength.

Stephen giving his demo!

Stephen also provided a detailed, fascinating demo on his inking and printing methods during the exhibition opening. He demonstrated the use of three different plates, as well as a unique registration system that provides accurate results. We will be sharing a video of Stephen's demo shortly!

Stephen's three plates and his special palette of ink

Detail of one of the plates

Another angle of Stephen's inking station

Stephen Lawlor's visit is sponsored by the Honorary Consul for the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs in the South Western USA. 

More shots from the exhibition opening:

Did you miss the exhibition opening? Don't worry. The show runs through September 25, 2015. 

Lincoln Draper - Gravure Demo Video

In July, New Grounds artist Lincoln Draper gave a gravure demonstration at the exhibition opening for our three-artist gravure show, Explorations in Gravure - 19th Century Aesthetic, 21st Century Technology. The audience loved it!

Lincoln demonstrates  inking, wiping and printing a gravure plate, and also discusses exposure and image-making. 

You can view the edited video here, on the New Grounds Print Workshop & Gallery YouTube channel!  Follow our channel, too, if you haven't already. We are always adding new videos.