Scratching the Surface

22 Dec

“I wanted to do something really intimate, really small that didn’t draw an attention to itself….that was about intimate viewing.” Jacob Samuel, New Ground 2023

Etching is a commitment, but this course is designed in small learning portions. Participants can sign up for the sessions they are interested in. Each session will focus on a particular etching  technique. We will begin each session with a demonstration of the technique followed by plenty of shop time to complete the print. 

While sequential, these sessions are designed as independent workshops for beginning to intermediate students. Each session fee includes all your tools and materials necessary to complete a 5” x 7” print. 

Elephant Skull Plate VI 1970 Henry Moore OM, CH 1898-1986 Presented by the artist 1975 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/P02107

Line

First Session: Saturdays, January 6 – February 24, 2024 – 12:30pm to 4pm

Contact: Stefanie Dykes – stefanie.dykes822@gmail.com to reserve your place in the class.

Maximum 6 participants

Students will be working on copper plates and drawing with etching needles to create their imagery. We will be using a traditional hard ground application to draw through and expose the copper. Once the image is complete, students will submerge the copper plate in the etching bath to incise the drawing below the surface of the copper plate. We will cover basic copper plate preparation, image transfer, hard ground application, etching the image, ink applications and printing the plate with Saltgrass Printmakers’ Takach etching press. 

Skill Level: Beginner to Intermediate

Saturdays, January 6, 13 & 24, 2024 – 12:30pm to 4pm 

Class Fee: $135.00 includes 5” x 7” copper, etching needle/burnisher, ink, BFK Rives printmaking paper and everything else! If you have your own etching tools, class fee is $125.00.  

Working proofs from Paula Rego’s Nursery Rhymes

Line & Tone

“Discovering a new tool or a new medium was for him…an incentive for finding new ways for creating images.” David Hockney The Complete Early Etchings 1961-1964

Second Session: February 3, 10 & 24, 2024 – 12:30pm to 4pm

For the second session, we will be adding tone & value to our images. We will start with a line etched image and then apply an aquatint. We will cover the basics for applying an aquatint (so called because aquatints can look like watercolor washes) to establish values within the image. We will look at David Hockney and his early autobiographical etchings and Paula Rego’s nursery rhythm etchings. This session can be coupled with the etching one session.  

**I’m thinking about building our own DIY Claude glass which is a tool for drawing to help compress the value range. With a Claude glass, visible tones go from near black to some sort of grey. The Claude Glass appears to group images into a limited number of similar values. Many artists seem to work within a simplified tonal range, and this helps to give clarity to the image. 

Skill Level: Beginner to Intermediate 

Class Fee: $135.00 includes 5” x 7” copper, etching needle/burnisher, ink, BFK Rives printmaking paper and everything else! If you have your own etching tools, class fee is $125.00.  

A $25.00 non-refundable deposit will be required to hold your spot. Contact Stefanie Dykes stefanie.dykes822@gmail.com

Annual Winter Open Studio

15 Nov

It’s that time of year again! Saltgrass Printmakers will be joining with our neighbors to host our Annual Winter Open Studio event! Saltgrass Printmakers’ member artists will be featured in the printshop! Peruse all the prints. Ply each artist with … Read More »

The Kleinschmidt Years

2 Sep

During our 20th Anniversary party and Bogue Foundry Block Party, Saltgrass Printmakers will also have – what we are calling – ‘The Kleinschmidt Years’ prints for sale. Bob Kleinschmidt was known in the art community as a respected artist and teacher. He retired as Emeritus Professor from the University of Utah 1999 after a 30-year tenure in the printmaking department.

Bob’s estate has gifted Saltgrass with student portfolios from his teaching career. We are selling the prints as a fundraiser to support programing, community outreach, and facility upgrades. 

If you were a student of Bob Kleinschmidt and participated in any of the printmaking student portfolios during the 70s, 80s or 90s, we’d be happy to return your print to you.

Bob Kleinschmidt portrait by Tom Hoffman

‘Luck of the Draw’ – September 15 & 16, 2023

2 Sep

Opening Reception for Saltgrass Printmakers’ 20th Anniversary print portfolio, Luck of the Draw. All print sale proceeds will go to programing, community outreach, and facility upgrades. Join us to celebrate 20 years of making an impression in the Salt Lake Valley! 

Luck of the Draw – Saltgrass Printmakers asked each participating artist to respond to a drawn card from Brian Eno & Peter Schmidt’s ‘Oblique Strategies – Over one hundred worthwhile dilemmas’ deck. The results are diverse in their subject matter and printmaking technical application!  The portfolio will be exhibited at the next Rocky Mountain Print Alliance’s print conference in Spokane, WA – October 12 – 14, 2023.  

Screen Printing with Visiting Artist Randy Clark

6 Jun

A three-day intensive workshop covering the basics of screen printing.

Here’s what to expect: 

Thursday, July 13th starting at 6pm 

            Randy will introduce screen printing basics – coating screens, types of film positives, exposure process, print set-up and cleaning/reclaiming screens. Participants will leave the print shop with their very own screen-printed t-shirt created during the session. Raffle drawing for a complimentary Open Studio pass. 

Friday, July 14th starting at 6 pm 

            Randy will demonstration how to create a one-color screen print. Everyone will have their own personal workspace to produce their screen print edition. We will be working on 20” x 24” screens. Sign up for a Saturday print start time. Raffle drawing for a complimentary Open Studio pass. 

Saturday, July 15th starting at 10 am 

            To accommodate Saltgrass Printmakers’ screen exposure process, two students at a time will be scheduled to arrive at 10am, 10:30am, 11am and 11:30am. Students will be free to print until 5pm on their final three-color screen print.  Final raffle drawing for a complimentary Open Studio pass.  

Meet Randy Clark 

Mr. Clark is a graphic design and printmaker. As a young person he lived in Japan for three years while going to high school. Those formative years helped shaped his perception of space and image. He later served an LDS mission to Colombia and was exposed to the bright and vibrant color palette of South America. Mr. Clark has a BFA from the University of Utah and an MFA from Utah State University.

As a working professional for 22 years, Randy has done work for a variety of clients and partners: Warner Brothers, PEP Boys, Wal Mart, Bookcraft, Utah Jazz, and Utah Symphony. He was the Art Director of Living Scriptures for many years.

Mr. Clark’s work can be found in 11 permanent museum collections, including the University of Wisconsin-Madison, The Harnett Print Collection at the University of Richmond Museums, and the University and College Designers Association. He has had a number of cash awards, and 5 solo shows with 2 shared shows. In all, Mr. Clark has had worked exhibited in over 60 peer reviewed shows, from China to Egypt.

For the last 23 years, Mr. Clark has been a professor of Graphic Design. He taught as an Adjunct at Utah State University, 16 years as an Associate Professor at South Dakota State University, and the last 7 years at Wenzhou-Kean University in China.

Professionally he has won over 90 national/international awards that include Communication Arts, HOW, Graphis, Creative Quarterly, Taiwan International Poster Competition, Dallas Society of Visual Communications, and the University and College Designers Association. Additionally, he has won 7 awards from the American Advertising Association, and recognition from AIGA. 

No experience? Not a problem. This class will cover the basics and is geared for beginners, novices, and intermediate artists. 

Cost: $200.00 – Fee includes all the materials you will need. Just bring your creative energy! 

Deposit of $25.00 required to register for the course.  

Limited to 8 individuals.

Registration Deadline: July 6th, 2023.  

Contact Stefanie Dykes at stefanie.dykes822@gmail.com to register. 

It’s back! Saltgrass Printmakers’ Summer Fellowships for Young Artists – 2023

6 Jun

Saltgrass Printmakers’ Summer Fellowship is for young emerging artists who interested in learning printmaking techniques.  Saltgrass Printmakers is a local non-profit open access print shop with professional facilities that support relief, etching, screen and lithography printmaking. 

Each Fellow can pick and choose what they want to accomplish for the summer. Some artist focus on a specific process. Others like to try out a couple of processes.  Students are free to customize their experience. Scheduling is flexible!

Who is eligible? Emerging Young Artists. High School Juniors or Seniors who are interested in learning about the printmaking process.  

The Summer Fellowship provides a month of instruction and access to Saltgrass Printmakers studio, tools and materials.

The Summer Fellowship is made possible by a generous donation from Mackay Hare family. For the two selected artists, all your materials and expenses are covered. 

Contact Stefanie Dykes for more details at stefanie.dykes822@gmail.com

Deadline to apply: June 16, 2023

bees dance

3 Jun

So, we thought we’d give it a try too!

Saltgrass Printmakers is celebrating its 20th Anniversary!!

In the spirit of building community, strengthening friendships, and forging new connections. We are following the bees lead by creating a DANCE PRINT PARTY.  

Here’s how it will work: 

Starting Saturday, June 10, 2023 – Blocks will be ready to be picked up! 11 am to 4 pm. 

Blocks cost $15.00 each and includes paper & ink for Print Day! 

Community members can come by Saltgrass Printmakers and pick up an 18” hexagon mdf board. Participants will carve a relief print. Subject matter is the individual’s choice. Think about: What is important about community for you? What connects you to your neighbors, city, or region? 

Free Community Workshop – Saturday, June 10, 2023, starting at 1pm. 

We will explain exactly what a woodblock print is. You will leave with a toned & sealed block ready to carve. We will demonstrate how to transfer images and how to safely use the carving tools & answer any questions you might have. 

Print Day

Starting at 10am on Saturday, August 5th, 2023, participants will return to print their individual block. We will schedule individuals throughout the day to come into Saltgrass Printmakers and print on the presses. Saltgrass Printmakers will provide paper & ink for you to print your individual hexagon. You get to keep a print. Saltgrass gets to keep a print for display during our celebration event. All the blocks will be left at the printshop for the final event. 

20th Anniversary Celebration Night – September 2023. 

During our 20th Anniversary party, Saltgrass Printmakers will be hosting a dance print party. We will be inking up all the hexagons created over the summer. Placing them in position to be printed in the back courtyard. That’s when the fun starts. 

While the band is playing, we will be dancing on top of the hexagon blocks essentially printing the blocks onto muslin to create large banners representing how community can come together!