Sunday, March 4, 2012

What is a Print exchange?

The Green Door Print Exchange
If you are not a Printmaker, yes, capital P, then you probably don't know or understand what and why is a Print Exchange?

A Print exchange is a bunch of printmakers who get together, usually called upon by an industrious
printmaking studio, to send in from 10 - 15 prints, the print is usually small, and the edition is closed,
that is, you don't print this for anything else, as in other print exchanges etc. When I say 10 - 15 prints, then yes, they are identical.
You send your prints in, and pay your fee, which usually barely covers the postage for the prints you will be sent, an exchange is rarely other than a labour of love, for the studio organising it and for the artists participating.
Where was I;;;;; oh yes,  you send your print in, and after the deadline is met, you receive in the mail, a little parcel with  up to 15 prints in return, these prints are all by other participants, and you receive only 1 print of each, sometimes you are lucky and get wonderful stuff, sometimes less lucky, even at times, you wonder why the artist bothered...hmmmmm, gonna get flak for that ;o) but most of the time, it is a mix of all sorts, and that makes it great fun, I have almost a whole wall covered now in little print exchange prints, and love it! It is also a great way, for beginners, and weekend printmakers, if you have access to an etching press, to take your printmaking a bit further and have a reason for doing a little print, because you get a whole bunch in return, ahhhhh, it is such fun opening that package, I tell you!
So find your nearest printmaking workshop, get going and find some print exchanges, and that is easy, put in print exchange printmaking in your google and up they come, loads of them! A SUPER site is this: http://printexchanges.blogspot.com/ they have loads of info on print exchanges, and very soon, Cascada Studios will appear there, at least I hope so, have not even asked them yet :o))) but such is the printmaker world, that we are all very nice to each other!

Printmaking in Spain

Aquatint etching
Cascada Studio, is surrounded by little houses like this, you know, the kind of ceramic wall plaque house, that I most of the time think of as quite touristy tacky..... which in a way is not true, they are real, I look out my studio window and there they are, the window full of geraniums with a scrolly iron bar..... the birdcages hanging on the wall of my neighbour Miguels house, the little dogs that are as everywhere as the cats sleeping on some sunbaked wall, the washing hanging on every roof in the sun. How do I make sense as an artist of something that is already so over done,  find something "new" I want to say, or if not new, then at least something that shows the deep deep love I feel for this little corner of the earth I call mine, I go on trying and have fun at the same time!  And hey, a Sunday morning with clear blue sky, 22 degrees celsius, and me thinking "what's for lunch" to be eaten on the roof terrace, with a view over the Mediterranen Sea, all the way down to Gibraltar and the Atlas Mountains of Morocco..... how is it possible I can't find something in that!
There is a wonderful sculptor and painter here in Mijas, Carmen Escalona, who's work comes straight from the heart..... I just adore her vision of Mijas and Andalucia.....

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Print exchange, still time to join!

There is still time to join the Leftovers III print exchange, hurry up and get those pieces of paper out!
It's always great fun to join a print exchange, you never know what is going to arrive in your mailbox, as in you actual mailbox, the one hanging on your fence, or sitting in your vestibule!! Something you have to actually open with your hands, it is such a lovely old fashioned feeling!

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

The French Green House: Hiking in France

The French Green House: Hiking in France: Walking in the French country side is absolutely blissful now that the temperatures are steadily rising and the sun has got some strenght ...

Monday, February 27, 2012

The French Green House blog

My little friend Laurent l'agneau

Oakleaf monoprint

The Gartemp River, Viennes
Lambing season has just started, and I was so lucky to make a new friend on the absolutely marvellous walks that abound around my sisters B&B, fields, rivers, streams, and lots and lots of paths to choose from, Larry the lamb, or in French he has to be Laurent l'agneau I guess, was just tooooooo cute for words, with that nasty lamb virus around, even cuter for being so perfect!
I love walking, a good stick, a nice dog, and a pair of sturdy boots, I can walk for hours and hours, collecting all kinds of "rubbish", oakleaf that I promptly printed coming home, getting some very pretty monoprints, and other odds and sodds, of which there is a lot in the country, seeing the peregrin falcons sitting in the trees, hearing the skylarks telling you that spring is just around the corner... -5 at night...hmmmmm, really ?? It is so strange coming back to Southern Spain, where we are now in full on wonderful sunladen Spring..... not a drop of rain has fallen almost the whole winter, and much as I know that that is terrible, what you can't do anything about you should enjoy! And I am, sun on my arms, replanting all the pots of the front of my house with wonderful colourful spring flowers....
Rambling, both foot wise and in my head, is wonderful......:o) You can follow Monica's (my sisters) blog and get lots of tips on walks and nature at The French Green House

Monday, February 20, 2012

printmaking in Spain , the delights of photo etching.....


Subject: printmaking in Spain , the delights of photo etching.....

having fun, getting to grips with solar plates, ohhhh, yees, but then Nancy Wilson and Rick Harrisson are just the most delightful of teachers, incredibly generous with their knowledge and time, you feel as if you are getting so many tips and ideas for how to understand things easily and in a way that is so inspiring! To spend a weekend sharing printmaking know how, is my idea of a great weekend, add som fab food, and some big laughs to that mix, not to mention that you are staying in a real experience of a French house, and you have a printmaking workshop at Maison Conti. ( www.maisonconti.com )
No wonder I keep coming back, and no wonder I feel this I what I want you to get when you come for a course with me too...... I have some great people to follow... thank you, makes me feel very blessed! See you soon again, Nancy and Rick xxxx




Sent from my iPad

Thursday, February 16, 2012

printmaker holiday

a busmans holiday? oh yes, from the wood burning stove at my sisters wonderful b&b
http:// www.lamaisonvertefrance.com to the wonderful studio at www.maisonconti.com to find out more about photoetching, I can't wait! But for tonight, a lovely meal, from a great cook, and a lovely fire, and then a good nights sleep, somewhat helped by large tasty amounts of a delicious red wine! can life get better??? don't think so......

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Printmaking Courses

Agave birds
I am off to France tomorrow to freshen up my skills on photo etching...... bringing this photo, quite fun to go through ones photos and see what would look good as a black and white, maybe I should just switch the color mode of totally, black and white makes you see in a different way....... so am in a terrific "holiday" mode... and should be proofing new plates... no, nothing interesting, just boring old hand drawn copper plates.... what's fun about that??? ;O)

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Printmaking in Spain - Film on basic etching - aquatint and soft ground

Aquatinting.... ahhh, I get goose bumps, I am having the most fantastic fun, with my box and my ferric chloride...... no, no, that does not make me a weird person, that just makes me a DEDICATED PRINTMAKER!! Come join me in my new series of films, 7 all in all, that explain the technique of etching, adding soft ground and aquatint to a basic line etching.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Printmaking in Spain - gobbledygook...???

"Agave I" aquatint etching

"Agave II" aquatint etching

It is interesting to be working and working and working and working, after a while, you have to come up for air, realize there are people living out there (really??) and breathe deeply, and ask yourself, am I talking sense, in this new language of mine.... or just muttering away to myself??
If this is not the most blatant fishing attempt you have ever seen, I don't what would be.. never mind :o)) I am also getting to be so intimately aquainted with aquatint, that I can't even spell anymore, and I am, still, deeply in love with my aquatint box, my little miracle worker.... I call him, yes, I know, but it is, a him..... affectionately :o)

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Printmaking in Spain - Film on basic etching - aquatint and soft ground

Here it is: 7 parts, almost 1 hour and a quarter of instruction on how to, make a basic line etching, add some soft ground impression to that line etching and last, aquatint the whole plate for tonal values....
if you have any questions just get in touch, I like sharing!
Please note as you snuggle up under the blanket with a mug of hot chocolate, that I am not
George Clooney (ahhhhh) and that Youtube mixes the numbers up, so it is a little bit fiddly to go through the films in the right order, but on the other hand, you get a break to fetch more cookies!!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Lino course - Printmaking in Spain

3 color linoreduction by Nina Reistad
3 color linoreduction by Lizzie Gillum
3 color lino reduction by Kit Haig


We have had such fun!! a Whole Weekend of Linocutting, here at Cascada Studio in Mijas, Spain, some very nice and fun Valentine cards were made to start off, to get a feel for the tools and to get a Valentine card with all that extra love poured into it to give to our respectives. And then on to the, what was supposed to be, Basic Linocut course, which very quickly evolved to a Lino Reduction course, the enthusiasm of the students, and their willingness to tackle a tricky medium, was just so fun to watch, and even more fun, the looks on their faces as the prints progressed.... a really nice experience! And I have to say Congratulations on some wonderful prints, don't you think?!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Printmaking in Spain - Finding a new language

"Chumbos", aquatint etching
It's taking me a while, to start on a new artistic language, after so many years in Asia,where the artistic expressions are so strong, and so bound by tradition, I have sweated a bit ( no pun intended) over coming home and finding my way again, amongst the much more subtle language of Spain. Here light and shadow, reflections and life plays a much stronger part, and of course, I want to find my personal way of telling you how much I love my adopted country.
A friend of mine once said...."when in doubt, do greenery" , and yes, it is kind of funny, but then she was too..... and I miss her sorely, so here comes my first timid attempts at declaring my love......
Espana - te quiero!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Printmaking in Spain

person in need of therapy, feel free to donate advice!
I bought a new website!! Printmaking in Spain.com , why... hmmm, I have not got the faintest, other than that it was available..... what is it that happens in your (read my) head, when just going in to correct a minor thingie on my host site, I notice that I have a freebie domain name!!! I have not seen this before?? maybe because with www.artcanbefun.com and www.MariannJohansen-Ellis.com and 3 etsy shops and a blog... I REALLY REALLY do not need another website..... but of course, having seen that printmakinginspain.com WAS available... I got gripped by the fever, and just had to have it..... what the heck happened to a pair of new shoes kind of shopping ;o))) So ... now..... of course I have to do something with it...right...I mean... right..... it can't just sit there languishing like an already abandoned puppy, can it... that would be terrible, makes me feel heartless just to think about.... poor little orphaned printmakinginspain.com! Mummy is cooooming......
And it is now official, I need therapy!

Monday, January 16, 2012

From Colorado to the World!

I got this in the mail this morning, all the way from Colorado, via Australia, and it is just adorable,
Jill of jillbergman.com is reaching out to other printmakers, and me, I am reaching right back, I know what it is like to live in a printmaking "desert", so am thinking about who to send it on to..... if you are interested, get in touch.... I'll be having some fun adding my tiny print to the book..... yes, tiny, it only measures 7.5 x 10 cm... so it's easy to mail on.... what should I make........:o))

Sunday, January 15, 2012

New Etching film coming on Youtube!!

We have just finished making a new etching film, at Cascada Studio, this is a 3 part Basic Etching.
Part 1: Deals with the preparation of the plate, and putting the line on the plate
Part 2: Adding the feather in the Soft Ground
and
Part 3: I put on the reductive aquatint for all the shading, and this is the result.......
I'll let you know when it comes up on Youtube.... but a bit of patience is probably required,
we spent a lot of "film" on this one!!

I am hoping over the course (pardon the pun!!:O)) of the next year, to be making quite a few new films for my Youtube channel, Cascada Studio, it's great fun, and from all the e-mails I receive, it is also fun for you guys out there, so I'll keep them coming........ :o)
PSST, great January rate on my lino courses......

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Good Intentions for the New Year

I promised myself that I would make no silly new year resolutions that I would then only break, you know the usual, I will not smoke, eat, drink or in any way shape or form have fun, except when hauling my rather sorry -ss to the gym for a thorough beating........ so I decided, oh no , not this year, 2012
will be spent in the name of enjoying life to the full, if that includes fags, drinks, and sitting about being lazy, then fine, I will embrace it, I will embrace every sunny day as an opportunity to be outside and  every rainy morning as an opportunity to  have a lie in with a cup of coffee in bed, if I feel like it, exercise will be taken in the form of a walk, to see friends, or to just marvel at the beauty that surrounds us every day, at the incredible miracle of birds flying in the sky, and cats jumping all the way up on to that high ledge, and the sheer joy dogs take in a good sniffing around, I will raise my eyes and look at the stars, and also,  I'll stop going on and on and on and on about stuff, and start listening ;o))))
so here we are, in Ronda, a magnificent town in the South of Spain, eating lunch on the 4th of January, in the sun, with a view that almost defies belief...... and I think the smiles, says it all!
Happy New Year to you all, and come do a printmaking course with me!

Monday, December 26, 2011

Christmas Day Draw is DONE!















My Christmas Day Give away, has been drawn, and the winner is.........
Debra James Percival!!! ( a fellow printmaker, how fun...)
Congratulations....and I look forward to getting your mailing address and It'll be in the mail asap.....
Merry Christmas everyone!

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Christmas give away!!


Last chance to sing up for my Christmas day give away.... leave a comment and you are in the draw!! Merry Christmas....:o) Mariann