Cardstock Collagraph Workshop

Last Saturday, I led a Cardstock Collagraph workshop at Studio Two Three, a community printmaking space in Richmond, VA. I taught this technique of printmaking to art teachers of Richmond Public Schools last Fall and the teachers created some amazing work, too.

This technique of printmaking is super simple, but can produce very awesome results. Making a cardstock collagraph is basically cutting out designs in cardstock and gluing them to another piece of cardstock. You can cut out the shape and rearrange it, print backgrounds, print multiple times, change the colors, etc. Having the opportunity to teach this class again and experimenting with it made me realize that it's even more creative and fun than I first thought, and the simplicity of making the plates freed me to be more spontaneous with it than I usually am with, say, linocut printing. I also learned a lot about different techniques to try from the participants in the workshop - just one of the perks of being a teacher. Students in the class were very creative and really jumped right into it. They created some amazing stuff! Sorry that I can't credit every print with the artist's name, but I did  when I knew the name of the person who made it. Take a look!

 I created the grassy background for this one, and a student used it as the backdrop for her Alice in Wonderland rabbit! Next to this print, Chris Pool worked on a simple and elegant design for a vase of pussywillows.

Here you can see how artist Sarah Watson used the same grassy backdrop for her flying fish garden. Love the surreal image! Local jeweler Kim Young did the skunk/hummingbird/dewdrop-boy print, and experimented with changing around the positions of each of these delightfully unrelated (yet somehow fitting) images.

 This kite print is so powerful!

 Elegant elephant.

 That rabbit again (and again, and again.)

 

More elephant love by Emily Yeatts!

I will be doing a follow-up post showing step-by-step how I create a collagraph print. Keep a look out!

Summer Art Classes 2012 in Richmond

I'll be teaching these workshops at the following locations in Richmond, VA. Please register AT LEAST ONE WEEK EARLIER THAN CLASS SESSION in order to guarantee your enrollment in the class.

ADULT CLASSES:

At The Visual Arts Center of Richmond
1812 W. Main St
(804) 353-0094

Paper Bead Jewelry Workshop

 

2 days

Saturday, June 23 12 – 4 pm
Sunday, June 24 1 – 3:30 pm

Bookbinding Intensive

5 days
June 25 - 29th
6:30 - 9 pm daily

Gelatin Printmaking Postcard Workshop

1 Day
Saturday, August 4
1 – 4 pm

Printmaking for Painters: Monotype Intensive

5 days
August 20 – 24
6:30 – 9:00 PM, daily

At The VMFA Studio School

2911-15 Grove Avenue (across from VMFA) at the corner of Sheppard Street

804-367-0816  

Handmade Books

1 day
Sat, 10 am – 4 pm
June 9  

Paper Bead Jewelry

 1 Day
Sat, 10 am – 4 pm
July 7

YOUTH CLASSES

Summer ArtVenture - Youth Art Camp at The Visual Arts Center of Richmond

Click here to view the entire schedule online.

Paper Toys

Ages 6 - 8  

Week 2: June 18 - 22, 12:45 - 3:45 pm

Week 6: July 16 - 20, 12:45 - 3:45 pm 

Week 9: August 6 - 10, 12:45 - 3:45 pm

Fun with Printmaking 

Ages 6 - 8

Week 12: August 27 - 31, 12:45 - 3:45 pm 

Ages 8 - 10 

Week 3: June 25 - 29, 9 am - 12 pm

Week 8: July 30 - Aug 3, 12:45 - 3:45 pm

Handmade Zines

Ages 9 - 12 years 

Week 11: August 20 - 24, 12:45 - 3:45 pm

Style Weekly Article and Art Class Schedule

Hello everyone!

Martha Steger wrote a really nice article about me called "Art as an Everyday Thing" in Richmond's Style Weekly. If you don't have access to the print version, you can read it online here. And if you're looking to see some sun - in painted form, that is - during the holidays, Steger also reviews the Impressionist show for the Muscarelle Museum in Williamsburg here.

For those of you in the Richmond, VA area - I am teaching many classes during the winter/spring semester at the VMFA Studio School and the Visual Arts Center of Richmond.

At VMFA Studio School:
Introduction to Relief Printing Workshop - 2 days, Feb 18 and 19
Introduction to Relief Printing - 6 Wednesday, Mar 21 – Apr 25

At The Visual Arts Center of Richmond:
Printmaking Classes
Introduction to Bookbinding Intensive - 5 days, January 23 – 27
Introduction to Relief Printing Intensive - 5 days, February 6 – 10
Introduction to Relief Printing - 6 Thursdays, February 16 – March 22
Monotype Printmaking - 6 Thursdays, April 5 – May 10
Make Your Own Bookplates Relief Printing Workshop - 2 days, Jan 21 and 22
Monotype Valentine's Day Card Workshop - 1 day, Feb 4
Paper Bead Jewelry Workshop - 2 days, April 28 and 29

 Paper Bead Jewelry Workshop

Make Your Own Bookplates Relief Printing Workshop

Taking an art class is a great way to break up those cold, grey winter days and learn a new skill. I am offering both one and two-day workshops, intensives (5 consecutive days) as well as longer sessions that take place weekly over the course of 6 weeks. In order for a class to run, enrollment must be at least 50% capacity and you must sign up one week ahead of the scheduled class. So don't hesitate to sign up (and invite a friend, too!) because classes start as early as

I wish everyone a wonderful holiday and hope that everyone gets a chance to relax and enjoy time with friends and family.

Best,
Aijung

Second Friday Sampler

On May 14th, I led a workshop in bookbinding and gel transfer (a process to transfer photocopied images) at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond. The event is free as part of their monthly Second Friday Sampler. My friend Ann Merle, who I met at my Art of Sewing class that week, took all these pictures. She also helped me cut down the papers for the books and was very helpful all night. Thanks Ann Merle!

 We made a pamphlet-stitched book and decorated the covers with gel transfers. I had photocopied images to use and prepared them by painting on 3 layers of gel medium and 1 layer of varnish. The process is simple: you wet the back of the paper and rub it off, leaving a thin "skin" of gel with the image embedded into it. Then paint the back with gel medium and press it down onto your surface.

This young lady is holding up her finished book. The image is sort of small, but the image of the dog was photocopied from a book of old woodcuts.

Summer Art Classes

I will be teaching several classes at the Visual Art Center of Richmond, located at 1812 W. Main St, Richmond, VA 23220. You may register online or by phone: (804) 353-0094. The Center is an amazing place with great facilities and talented instructors who are also working artists. Consider becoming a member, and you can get discounts on classes and other benefits. I am also teaching classes for children as part of the Center's summer-long youth program, ArtVenture. See the full brochure here. I will be teaching Silkscreen for ages 9 - 12 and 12 - teens, and a Paper Toys Class for ages 6 -8. 

The following descriptions are for my summer adult classes:

Carboard, Carborundum, & Jello: 
A Printmaking Introduction

This class will introduce you to fun, spontaneous printmaking processes. You will learn how to make monotypes, one-of-a-kind prints, and collagraphs, prints which are made using collage, to create prints that range from simple and graphic, to loose and painterly. Materials, plate preparation, inking methods, and printing both by hand and with a press will be taught. Beginners are welcome!

Tuition: $220 (members $205)
8 Wednesdays
June 2 - July 21
6:30 - 9:00 pm

Intro to Bookbinding: Decorative Sewn Spines

Make your own journals and books! Students will learn how to make soft and hard covers, and how to sew their books together to expose delightful patterns in thread. Projects include stab bindings, Coptic sewing, and longstitch variations. No bookbinding experience is necessary, though a little patience is required to get the hand of those stitches!

Tuition: $185 (members $170)
6 Tuesdays
June 8 - July 13th
6:30 - 9:00 pm 

Gelatin Printmaking & Postcard Workshop

This is a fun one-day workshop, great for beginners. Using water-based inks, students will use a slab of jello for their printing surface. We will experiment with hand-cut stencils and found objects to create unique, colorful images. Students will make prints and postcards to take home and swap with the rest of the class. All materials will be provided.

Tuition: $70 (members $55)

Section A
Saturday, June 12
1:00 - 3:30 pm

Section B
Saturday, June 19
1:00 - 3:30 pm

Section C
Saturday, June 26
1:00 - 3:30 pm