Notes from our Selectors
In this selection of printmaking, members of the Central Print Council were invited to submit works in two categories: In the Frame, for more traditional framed prints, and Boundless, where the print could explore possibilities of format beyond the frame. Many printmakers chose to submit work for both arenas, which is a testament to their willingness to participate in the diversity of practice that constitutes contemporary print.

It is one of the strengths and paradoxes of printmaking that it is both rich in tradition and yet always looking for new ways to engage with imagery, materials and processes. Some printmakers are quick to see opportunities in new technologies and some are happier with time-tested techniques. The variety of prints shown in this exhibition certainly reflects both positions.

In selecting for both In the Frame and Boundless we were looking for a work to be successful within its own terms of reference. Be it a simple direct botanical study or a work which included a wringer and origami-like printed shirts, a moving image or a woodcut, such differences require a change in a viewer’s reading of them. There was not an easy formula to be applied and all the works could not be seen through the same lens. So we would encourage you to also see the work in this way: as individual pieces each with their different register.

An exhibition that is entirely printmaking is, unfortunately, a rare occurrence and therefore something to be celebrated. To the organisers who have made this show happen, and equally to the exhibitors showing their work, congratulations are in order.

Also, thank you to Central Print Council for the opportunity to be part of this survey of print.

–  Jill Webster & Anthony Davies

This joint exhibition includes work by Central Print Council members from throughout New Zealand and from Scotland, Australia and the Netherlands.

The selectors are Jill Webster and Anthony Davies. Jill, who is the print tutor at EIT in Hawkes Bay, is committed to pushing the boundaries of traditional print. Anthony is a Whanganui-based printmaker of national and international note; he has taught and exhibited extensively worldwide.

We are grateful for the wealth of experience and expertise Jill and Anthony brought to the selection process and for the care they devoted to their duties.

Most of the works are for sale but must remain in the exhibition until it closes in May. Prices do not include the frames; the frames remain the property of Central Print Council.

The opening night is Tuesday 26 July, 7.30. Closing date: Monday 15 August 2011.

The Private Press Movement rose to strength in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. William Morris’s Kelmscott Press (founded in 1890) can be seen to be the flagship for the movement, and Morris himself as the champion. Essentially the movement was about the creation of books using traditional printing and binding methods, and as might be expected as part of the Arts and Crafts movement, there was a strong focus on creating books that were not only for reading or conveying information but that they were works of art in and of themselves.

The Victorians had mechanised book manufacture and this, along with the use of cheaper materials, had meant cheap books were widely available. Morris and Kelmscott Press produced high quality books using handmade paper, traditional inks, and, at times, unique and specially designed typefaces. Contrary to Morris’s socialist leanings, the books were luxury items – beautifully conceived designs with considered type, page design, format, illustration, use of colour, and bindings. Nothing was left to change and the end results were coherent designed works, significantly more than the typical consumer edition. Despite the high end production values and associated costs, Kelmscott Press produced quite significant numbers of editions — more than 18,000 copies of 53 different works between 1891 and 1898.

Professor Florence Boos, from the University of Iowa has created a gallery of Morris illuminations and books. The above photo of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam from 1872 forms part of the collection.

We are having the AGM on the same time as the Whanganui Open Studios. So come to visit Whanganui artists in their studios from 10.00am through 4.00pm and then at 4.30pm attend the AGM.

The AGM will be held in the Whanganui UCOL Print Workshop at 24 Taupo Quay, Whanganui .

For more information on the wonderful studios to visit and plan your day go to www.openstudios.co.nz

The construction methods appear to be well within the reach of someone with reasonable woodworking skills and access to a table saw, a radial arm saw, a band saw, and a heavy duty drill, along with some common hand tools. The wood could be recycled timber, and hydraulic jacks are available on Trademe for under $100.

Works on paper, paint and glass by Jodie Cunningham, Marci Tackett, and Sharon Hall

opening event
Saturday 20th November 2010 11-2pm

exhibition runs
November 20 – December 8th 2010

Blackmore Jean Gallery, Shelley Bay, Miramar Peninsula, Wellington
Gallery hours 11-4 Tuesday to Saturday and 12-4 Sunday

About the artists:
Marci Tackett’s creative process revolves around the interplay between assertion, destruction and surrender. She says of her work “I feel the need to come very close to destroying the piece in order to get to know what is at the heart of it; to find its voice and reason. Once there we proceed together”. An Island Bay based artist, Marci studied fine art in the United States in the 1990’s and moved to Wellington in 2006. Her practice includes printmaking and oil painting as well as encaustic and a range of dry media. She teaches printmaking at The Learning Connexion School of Art and Creativity and runs Snapshot – a studio and periodic gallery space adjacent to The Empire in Island Bay, Wellington. www.marcitackett.com

Sharon Hall, a Kapiti Coast based glass artist has had an eventful year. A finalist in the 2010 Molly Morpeth Canaday 3D award, she also received the 2010 Emerging Artist Award in the Horowhenua Annual Review. Sharon studied Glass in Nelson and graduated with a Bachelour of fine arts from Whanganui in 1998. She has had a successful national practice for the last 10 years. Prior to moving to Wellington she worked for a number of years for the World of Wearable Arts and Hogland Art Glass. She combines working at her home glass studio with teaching at The Learning Connexion School of Art and Creativity. Her current body of work uses the lost wax cast glass method and explores ideas of luck, superstition and success. This body of work has been aptly described as Alison in Wonderland meets the BFG meets 3rd form Science. www.sharonhallglass.com

Jodie Cunningham paints from her home studio in Canberra, Australia and is currently working as a Lecturer in Visual Art and Design at Canberra Institute of Technology. She has exhibited widely in solo and group exhibitions in Australia and the USA. In 2002 she completed a Master of Fine Arts, by research at the College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales. Prior to that Cunningham studied at Hunter College of the City University of New York, funded by the Fulbright Scholarship for the Visual and Performing Arts, 1999/2000 and a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship 1999/2000. She graduated from Canberra School of Art in 1996, gaining the University Medal in Visual Art. art.jodiecunningham.com

Blackmore Jean Gallery, Shelley Bay, Miramar Peninsula, Wellington
Gallery hours 11-4 Tuesday to Saturday and 12-4 Sunday
Gallery contacts: Anne-Marie Jean 027 3264693 / Jane Blackmore 021 2988743

The UCOL Summer school will be held the week after our CPCANZ summer school. The UCOL menu and enrolment package is available online.

The printmaking offerings are Graham Hall with drypoint and multiblock woodcut combination, Yoka van Dyk with book arts; and Marty Vreede with harakeke paper making

$130.00 [for members] — non-members: $165 [waged] / $155 [unwaged]

Please confirm your registration by mailing your cheque (payable to: Central Print Council of Aotearoa New Zealand Inc.) to Central Print Council of Aotearoa New Zealand, P O Box 7131, Wanganui 4541, New Zealand. If you wish to pay by direct credit: Central Print Council of Aotearoa Westpac 03 0791 0387378 00. Please remember to include your details (email address perhaps) on the deposit so we can match your payment and registration.

Register online

The CPCANZ Summer School will be held in the Whanganui UCOL Print Workshop at 24 Taupo Quay, Whanganui. For accommodation enquiries please contact Julia – pjellery@clear.net.nz – phone 06 343 2344

It is in English – a translation from the original (1880) French second edition. The writing has stood the test of time rather well – with just a few allowances for the language – the English of 1880 needs some translation to our contemporary understandings – the book is informative and remains quite entertaining.

The work focuses on etching of landscapes and gives a good understanding of the aesthetics and attitudes of the day. Lalanne’s approach to etching was to use line – he tends to see dry point as a method of correcting mistakes, and makes scant use of aquatinting. There’s a purity and clarity in his work – refined lines, and plate tone more than sufficient to provide rich contrast. This kind of clarity preempts impressionist and the widespread use of photography for print purposes, and yet Lalanne’s work hints at the artistic and technological developments to follow.

Some aesthetic and attitude advice:

Spirit in which the Etcher must work. — Follow your feeling, combine your modes of expression, establish points of comparison, and adopt from among the practical means at command (which depend on the effect, and on which the effect depends) those which will best render the effect desired: this is the course to be followed by the etcher. There is plenty of the instinctive which practice will develop in him, and in this he will find a growing charm and an irresistible attraction. What happy effects, what surprises, what unforeseen discoveries, when the varnish is removed from the plate! A bit of good luck and of inspiration often does more than a methodical rule, whether we are engaged on subjects of our own invention, — capricci, as the Italians call them, — or whether we are drawing from nature directly on the copper. The great aim is to arrive at the first onset at the realization of our ideas as they are present in our mind. An etching must be virginal, like an improvisation.

Toured by the Central Print Council of Aotearoa, our travelling show of miniature prints is to be hosted by the Art Gallery at the Taupo Museum, 20 November to 14 December 2010. The exhibition showcases prints from the earlier shows plus new submissions, along with ceramics by Fiona Tunnicliffe.

The prints are miniatures (each no larger than 75mm x 75mm) created with various printmaking techniques including etching, screenprints, woodcuts, and monoprints. New prints have been added at each stop of this travelling exhibition to keep the exhibition fresh and to showcase the work of local CPCANZ members.

20 November to 14 December; exhibition opening on the evening of Friday, 19 November.

Art Gallery at the Taupo Museum, Story Place, in the centre of Taupo. Open daily from 10am to 4:30pm; admission charges – $5 adults, $3 seniors, students, free to children, Taupo residents and ratepayers.

If you are a printmaker (and a member of the Central Print Council), and wish to submit work to be included in the exhibition, please note:

The maximum size for your print is 75 mm x 75 mm. Mat your print in white or off-white to fit a frame 190 mm x 270 mm. Mat it to hang portrait (vertical), not landscape (horizontal). For each print you submit, enclose $5 and a copy of the CPCANZ colophon.

Please send your work(s), $5 per print, and the completed colophon(s) to arrive no later than Tuesday November 9th 2010 to — How Could We Resist?, C/- 79 Mount View Road, Bastia Hill, Whanganui 4500.

Please note: works arriving after November 9th 2010 are unable to be included in the exhibition.

Over 60 exquisite miniatures by 45 printmakers … all just $100, or $150 framed.

Toured by the Central Print Council of Aotearoa, our travelling show of miniature prints was such a hit in Hamilton earlier this year that two other galleries have asked to host it.

22 September to 7 November

The MVH Gallery at Marlborough Vintners Hotel specialises in original prints.

Everyone is invited to the opening at 5.30 pm on Wednesday 22 September and the exhibition is open daily from 10am to 5pm in the entrance hall gallery at the Hotel in 190 Rapaura Road, just a few minutes drive out of Blenheim.

Auckland
Lake House Arts Centre, Fred Thomas Drive, Takapuna for 3 workshops
Oct 2/3… Oct 4/5… Oct 6/7
Dilworth School, Epsom – 4th Workshop — Oct 9/10
Times: 9.30 – 4.00
Price: $220

Oct 2/3 and Oct 9/10 – 2 days of drypoint etching/collage/drawing
Oct 4/5 and Oct 6/7 – the first day the same as above – second day we will make an artist book using prints made on day 1.

There are places available — each workshop will have 9 participants maximum.
Contact: Susan Hurrell-Fields 20A Tawera Road, Greenlane, Auckland 1051
Phone 09 520 3442 email hurrfiel@ihug.co.nz

Waikato
Baffin Street Gallery, Pirongia
Sept 30 / Oct 1
Price: $150 (when booking a $50 deposit required)

There are spaces available — maximum class size of 15 people.
Contact: Hilary Ramage at hilary@hilaryramage.co.nz or ph 07 871 9890

Whanganui
Whanganui UCOL Print Workshop
Sept 25 / 26
Price: $ 220
Times: 9.30 – 4.00pm

Contact: Julia Ellery at pjellery@clear.net.nz

Works from Glen Skien’s current exhibition “Room, Letter, Window, Map”.

8 September – 2 October 2010 — Sheyne Tuffery — Tectonic Plates

Exhibition opening 5:30-7:00pm, Wednesday 8 September
08 September 2010 – 02 October 2010
Solander Gallery, 218 Willis Street, Wellington — tel: +64 4 920 0913 — Map

Hours
* 10am to 5:30pm Tuesday to Friday
* 10am to 4pm Saturday
* Closed Sunday and Monday

8 September – 2 October 2010 — Marty Vreede — implement of change

Exhibition opening 5:30-7:00pm, Wednesday 8 September
08 September 2010 – 02 October 2010
Solander Gallery, 218 Willis Street, Wellington — tel: +64 4 920 0913 — Map

Hours
* 10am to 5:30pm Tuesday to Friday
* 10am to 4pm Saturday
* Closed Sunday and Monday

He opened his own printing shop in 1728 producing a newspaper (The Pennsylvania Gazette) and his annual Poor Richard’s Almanack. He was very inventive – he printed cartoons, illustrated news stories, letters to the editor, and used his press as a way to bring news to the people. His use of cartoons and illustrations meant that more people could understand the news, even those with limited reading skills. Poor Richard’s Almanack was equally entertaining – the blend of wit and wisdom gives us an insight to Franklin’s sense of humour.

1. Heri Dono (Indonesia) – Heri Dono is unquestionably one of Indonesia’s highest regarded contemporary artists of his generation, and is best known for his mixed-media installations derived from his experiments with popular Javanese folk theatre Wayang.

2. Brook Andrew (Australia) – Brook Andrew is a conceptually driven artist who challenges cultural and historical perception, using installation, text and image to comment on local and global issues regarding race, consumerism and history.

3. Trent Walter (Australia) – Trent Walter is a Melbourne based printmaker and writer. In 2009, he established Negative Press, a fine art custom printmaking workshop focussing on etching and silkscreen techniques. Recent projects include a multiple panel silkscreen portrait of Professor Marcia Langton by Brook Andrew, commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra,

4. Mike Parr (Australia) – For more than thirty years, Mike Parr has been engaged in possibly the most concentrated and ambitious program in contemporary Australian visual art – the Self Portrait Project. This series of works has been realised through a myriad of individual pieces in printmaking, drawing, sculpture, painting, video and performance.

5. John Loane (Australia) – John Loane is a master printer and print publisher who has a long-standing collaborative relationship with Australian artist Mike Parr.

6. Prof Johanna Drucker (USA) – Johanna Drucker is the inaugural Martin and Bernard Breslauer Professor of Bibliographical Studies in UCLA’s Department of Information Studies. She has written and lectured widely on topics related to the history of the book, with special emphasis on artists’ books, typography, experimental poetry, and contemporary art.

7. Prof Teal Triggs (UK) – Teal Triggs is Professor of Graphic Design, University of the Arts London. She is co-Director of the research unit for Information Environments (i.e.) and Course Director for MRes Information Environments and MA Design Writing Criticism, London College of Communication, University of the Arts London.

8. Prof Paul Coldwell (UK) – Paul Coldwell is Professor of Fine Art at the University of the Arts London, and an artist whose practice includes prints, book works, sculptures and installations. He is currently developing a multi-disciplinary project in conjunction with Birkbeck, University of London, the Sir John Soane Museum London and the British School at Rome.

The video is a good quality production and the steps are clearly stepped out. Of course Shepherds want to sell you their materials but you could get started with basic materials available in your local craft shop. And when you get the process down to a fine art then you might not be able to resist the extensive range in their online shop.

You can download a free 20 minute video of the exhibition from iTunes.