Printmaking Collage
Sometimes it feels good to break the rules. Printmaking has many of them — perfect alignment, clean edges, no brayer marks. I had tried breaking some rules by working with the dyed silk, and even though this experiment did not work, I couldn’t let my key block image go. So I’ve decided to break some more rules in the search for blended, variegated colors.
I had a birthday recently. It wasn’t a momentous one, but pretty close. As I work on my latest large linocut, I am increasingly aware of how much wear and tear printmaking can have on my body. Blocks are heavy, and need to be slid from the table to the press rather than lifted over shoulder height. Large blocks mean large areas to cover with ink using brayers. This motion can put a great deal of stress on my hands and wrists. Luckily I learned a few years ago that good rollers can save your wrists.
Sometimes nothing helps an artistic funk like a piece of new equipment. Thanks to a grant from the Indiana Arts Commission, I was able to purchase a new oversized roller from Takach Press. It has a diameter of 4″ and is 14.75″ long. It is fabulous.
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| My new roller from Takach Press. Heavenly. |