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I cannot praise the Frans Masereel Centrum residency program and everyone there who make it possible enough.  My three weeks at the Centrum were amazing.  Besides the beautiful land & people of Kasterlee, Belgium, the residency is packed with presses and incredible artists.  I was lucky enough to work in the same studios with artists & printmakers from all around the world, from South Africa to Japan and Germany.  The atmosphere of hard work and camaraderie propelled all of us to create.  I was inspired not only by my physical and geographic location, but by the amazing prints that others were pulling off the presses.  I completed a portfolio of 18 letterpress prints using the footnotes of Borges’ short story Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius, an AZERTY keyboard, and naive Flemish Translations (images of the project to come!)

The “C. Fremaux & Fils, Bruxelles” press that I used during the residency.  This all-manual press gave quite a work out, but we bonded nonetheless.

Fellow resident Chris Diedericks at work on a litho stone.  Chris made an amazing trio of litho prints which were a joy to watch being created.  Chris was just one of the bunch of residents that were inspirational and fun to work alongside.

The print shop of the Plantin-Moretus Museum in Antwerp.  This famous print shop was the longest running in history (1550’s – 1875) and is now a mind-blowing museum.  It has two of the oldest letterpresses to exist, alongside drawers of type that were cast in the foundry just upstairs.  I could rave for hours about this museum, if you go to Antwerp, it is a must.

I also went, twice, to the Nationaal Museum van de Speelkaart (National Playing Card Museum) in Turnhout.  It has a huge building full of beautiful lettepresses and litho presses.  It also has all of the other steam- and man-powered machines to make cards since the 1700’s.  Playing cards factor heavily in the history of printmaking and this museum shows a good part of that history.  Another recommended spot!  Below is an image of one of their letterpresses (which a boy of 14 would run all day during production.)

The travel and fees for my residency at Frans Masereel Centrum were funded in part by the Regional Arts and Culture Council.

PROOF:
a group show / ART : SCIENCE
beppu wiarda gallery
319 NW 9th Avenue / Portland OR / 97209 / 503.241.6460

March 2010
Opening / First Thursday / March 4 / 6 – 8 pm
Gallery / Wednesday – Sunday / 11 am – 6 pm
Discussion led by Abra / Sunday / March 21 / 3 pm

I am so pleased to be a part of the PROOF: exhibition at beppu wiarda in March.  The group show includes multiple artists that focused on female scientists and mathematicians for the content.  I have continued my exploration of 19th century astronomer, suffragist, librarian and educator Maria Mitchell.  My work, “An Explanatory and Annotated Legend and Accompanying List, Utilizing the Path of Venus as Seen from Earth to Discuss the Connections between those in Maria Mitchell’s Personal Library as an Addendum to the Personal Libraries Library of Portland, Oregon.” includes a grid of nine letterpress prints (pictured above) and a take-away stack of offset posters.

Alongside the show, there are a series of discussions led by the contributing artists, art historians, scientists and mathematicians.  There is a discussion every Sunday at 3 pm in the gallery.  I will be leading a discussion on Sunday, March 21 that will involve Maria Mitchell and the Personal Libraries Library.

Other artists and their “collaborators” include:
Katie Ammons : Louise Arner Boyd / Kate Copeland : Zoe Rodriguez del Rey / Kate Fenker : Marcia Ascher / Bean Gilsdorf : Suzanne Gahl / Kim Hamblin : Chrystal Bell / Kim McKenna : Sophie Germain / Sara McKenna : Ada Lovelace / Lorna Nakell : Sophie Brahe

and do not miss:

COPY JAM!
A Printeresting Curatorial Project
Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction
116 North Third Street / Philadelphia PA / 19106

One Night Only:
Thursday / March 25 / 2010 / 6 – 9 pm

I am also so pleased to be a part of Printeresting’s curatorial project Copy Jam! As the Copy Jam! website relates:

‘”COPY JAM!” will be an interactive print event. During the party, fifty works by fifty artists will be displayed in a grid on the wall. Upon arrival, each guest will be handed a complimentary ticket that can be exchanged for one black & white photocopy of any work the guest chooses. There will be no sales; one ticket equals one copy. Copies will be made LIVE in the gallery for one night only!’

This exciting “show & take” runs in conjunction with SGC’s Mark & Remarque and the inaugural Philagrafika in Philadelphia. I wish I could be there for all of the incredible art, discourse and ephemera!