The art of printmaking: A guest post by Susan Schwake

Today we are thrilled to bring you a guest post from Susan Schwake. Susan is going to be teaching at Teahouse in September: Playful printmaking Sept 8-9th

I asked Susan to write a bit more about why she loves printmaking and why we will love it too! ~ take it away Susan!

Playing around with printmaking -

Printmaking by definition is the act of making graphic works by hand.

Many things come to mind for people when they are thinking about printmaking. Sometimes people think oh it's too technical - too perfect/exact - etchings by DaVinci and Dürer while other may think about cutting themselves with sharp tools in the 9th grade art class.

While lino cuts and acid baths are all part of one kind of printmaking, there is another side which is more accessible, more spontaneous, more painterly and much much more playful.  It's the sunny side of the printmaking street that I have strolled  for the past 20 years and am so excited to offer my two day workshop at Teahouse this September.

Printmaking for me is about working with found materials (think bubble wand, corks, papers, etc.) and printing plates made from gelatin and cardboard. I use pure pigments in liquid form, waterbased printmaking inks and brushes, screens and brayers to transform these plates into singular works of art - as well as bases for mixed media works. Stencils, simple screen printing methods, relief printing and dozens of additional tricks of printmaking without a press are in my repertoire and I love to share the secrets with others. 

Everyone is able to take away dozens of papers for other projects and plenty of finished works to frame. The methods are repeatable at home with simple materials and small spaces. Your own style emerges when working in this medium as well as your own marks and you are left with a new vocabulary.

I hope that you will join me for a joyous two day workshop in printmaking at Teahouse on September 8 and 9th.

Susan Schwake is an artist who has been printmaking since collage. Her gelatin prints have been used for bookcovers, fundrasiers for the tsunami relief fund for Japan and are in personal collections around the world. Her new book "Art Lab for Kids" has a whole chapter filled with printmaking processes that she has used and taught with thousands of people, young and old. Most of all she loves teaching printmaking processes to others and finds great joy in their discoveries! You can also find Susan online and her blog.