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In November 2000, I journeyed to Irving, Texas, as the Fall Matrix Visiting Artist at the University of Dallas, where I worked with Professor
Jürgen Strunck's graduate students to make a tusche wash lithograph, give talks and demos and have an exhibition of my work.
The Matrix Program is instrumental in bringing printmakers to the University of Dallas each semester to work with the printmaking students. It is the brainchild of their professor,
Jürgen Strunck. An important part of the program is the graduate students' role in choosing the artist to be invited. Not only will they work with the artist and watch his demos, but they will also be working together to produce an editioned print.
Jürgen's graduate students, Matt Clark, Kazuko Gotto, Ben Herrera and Takako Tanabe first approached me at the Southern Graphics Council Conference in Miami last arch about being the Fall Matrix Visiting Artist in November 2000. They were interested in my approach to tusche washes in lithography. As we were talking I also suggested that they might like to learn how to do a gum reversal - another technique that I frequently use in my work.
I prepared a line drawing on tracing vellum to take with me for the black and white lithograph we were going to produce. Matt and Kazuko met me at the airport Wednesday morning and took me directly to the printmaking studio. After a Texas barbecue lunch, we got down to the business of my first demo and most intimidating moment: when in the sepulcher hush of that domed room and in front of the silent expectant students, I started painting the washes on the lithographic limestone.
Well, washes take a long time to dry, but by the time I finished the drawing the next morning, I was getting to know the graduate students. They were taking over the proofing of the image (Watermelon Grin) and we were establishing the give-and-take that makes a good team. I was impressed by their artwork and their willingness to try new techniques. Matt wanted to see a demonstration of paste tusche washes on an aluminum plate and all four of them wanted to do gum reversals. Since I was giving a wash demo for the beginning printmaking class that afternoon, we had to put off the reversals till Friday morning, but there was time to do the washes on the plate. With no prepared sketch, I had fun using elements in the room including Matt, his Fat Albert T-shirt, the Takach litho press and the three-dimensional prints on the wall (which I later learned were Matt's).
A variety of people came to the print studio to watch as we worked on the lithographs and demos. Many of these were Matrix Members - people from the community, some former students and interested collectors - who wanted to meet the Matrix Artist and see what was going on in the studio. We had put up the color separations of
Moon Dreams, a six-run color lithograph that showed my use of tusche washes, gum reversals and rainbow blends. This background became a focal point for the informal discussions that occurred when these visitors dropped by. Taylor, one of the Matrix Members, had the delightful tradition of bringing a box of brownies each day to insure that the artists did not go hungry. She, as well as the others, asked some very good and searching questions about both imagery and technique.
Friday morning, I demonstrated the first part of the gum reversal process from stone to plate with an image of Takako's. Then Ben and Kazuko tried it with the toner wash image on Ben's stone and then with the tusche wash image on Kazuko's plate. We experimented with different papers and frosted mylar for the inked image to see which made the best reversal.
By noon, Jürgen pulled us together to make some decisions. Our time was limited. The reception in the evening would include a gum reversal demonstration of the
Watermelon Grin image (somehow the black and white lithograph had expanded into a three-run print: blue, brown and gum reversal in a rainbow blend). We split into two teams: Matt and Takako would pull the black and white edition of
Watermelon Grin while Kazuko and Ben would get the refreshments for the reception and set that up. The slide lecture was pushed to Saturday morning - if we had time (which, in the end, we didn't). Saturday, my last day in Texas, had to be planned as well. It looked as if we would be printing three separate editions: the
Watermelon Grin in color, the FAT print of Matt (as the grad students had named it), and a black and white lithograph from the little stone used for the beginning printmaking demo.
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| Left: Matt and Kazuko printing the
first color of Watermelon Grin. |
In working with graduate students, and in a studio I wasn't used to, I found I had to work differently than I usually do. For the students to get the most out of my visit, I had to let them do the processes I normally do alone. I had not realized how much I rely on the way a stone looks as I roll it up to decide what I will do next, until I had to release that control to the students. The prints we made turned out differently than if I had made them in my own studio by myself, but they are satisfactory prints and show a good knowledge of the medium by the students. Normally I would have printed the colors in the color lithograph in a different order starting with the gum reversal, but because of the time limits, the order had to be reversed. The master image was the first color to be printed. While Matt and Kazuko were printing the blue that I had mixed, I was finishing the gum reversal started at the reception the night before, mixing the inks for the subsequent colors and talking with Ben and Takako about the
FAT lithograph they were printing. The second color would also be printed from the stone before we removed it from the press. It would be entirely reductive. The gum reversal plate would be printed last.
Once the blue run was finished, I attacked the stone with hone, razor blade and spot etch to create the image for the second (brown) color. Matt and Kazuko liked some of the drawing I did with the spot etch almost as much as the washes. They also approved of the fake washes produced by razor blade lines. We had a scary moment when the first print of the second run was off register - a problem of trying to print three colors in one day. By taking out two lines and lining up the top of the blue print with the brown image, we solved the problem. Matt printed the third color, the gum reversal, in a rainbow blend with easy handling of the large roller. What really amazed me at the end of that Saturday of printing three editions (not to mention several people acquiring a few blisters from the cuffless rollers) was Matt's cheerful
"That was fun!" He could do more!
Jürgen believes in caring for his visiting artists and graduate students. We all worked hard and long hours, but he fed us well. Besides Taylor's luscious brownies, we were treated to Texas's best: Tex-Mex, barbecue and the indescribable Texas steak house which reminded me of a Warrington Colescott print in motion with its rows of tables, waiters running around in cowboy hats, giant steaks, colored lights, children's slide and crowded dance floor. That was our treat after finishing up Saturday evening.
We said our good-byes late Saturday evening. It had been fun working with these enthusiastic students. Early Sunday morning, I returned to the print studio for the last time to sign the editioned prints. I expected to be alone as I looked over the prints. I was surprised and impressed once again by the dedication of
Jürgen's students when I discovered I was not the first to arrive at the print studio even though it was only six a.m. I was delighted to find a note from Matt and Kazuko attached to a proof of her print:
"Kazuko and I processed her gum reversal, what do you think? It was very exciting to see it work! Thanks again!" What a note to end with.
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