In Memorium: Peter McCormick

Many CSP members were among the relatives and friends who attended a memorial celebration for Peter McCormick at the home of Jenette Raymond in Napa on September 18, 2011. Peter was a long time member of the CSP and served on the board for many years as the treasurer and as the institutional memory of the organization. She was always ready to help with CSP shows (her extensive contacts were often responsible for finding venues and jurors), she worked on the CSP Journal, and she helped anywhere else she was needed. She was a fine artist and a good friend and inspiration to so many of us. Her generosity of spirit and enthusiasm for life and art were remarkable. At the memorial one of her oldest friends, Dianne Timberlake, read a poem by Mary Oliver, “White Owl Flies Into and Out of the Field,” that Peter would surely have loved. Photos of her life, as a child and a young woman were on view, along with a selection of her prints. As a final remembrance, everyone who attended was given a gift of one of Peter’s prints.

Peter McCormick Memorial handout -PDF

Filed under: from a Member, Remembrance

Printing in Spain by Barbara Milman

Inside the Studio

The Outside of the Studio

I just returned from a wonderful week–long printmaking workshop in Andalusia, near Granada, Spain.  Maureen Booth, who has lived in Spain with her husband, Mike Booth WorldPrintmakers.com since the 1960’s, is a very accomplished printmaker who runs workshops for individuals or groups throughout the year.  Her studio, looking out on the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, is well equipped for many printmaking techniques.

Barbara in the Studio

During my week with Maureen I learned to use solar plates in many different ways. I made solar plate etchings, relief prints, prints using some of the dried local plants that Maureen collects, and prints made from a charcoal drawing on glass.   The plates can also be made from photographic or computer images. The process is very quick and simple (or so it seemed with such a good teacher), is non-toxic, requires no expensive equipment, and is suitable for my home studio.  At the end of the week I made a very nice small edition of one of the prints.

Barbara and Maureen Booth

Maureen also works with artists on other techniques, including traditional etching.  Workshops are flexible, from a week to months.  Artists stay in a lovely small cottage (a refurbished chicken coop) with a kitchen and a balcony (and a friendly small dog if you miss your own pet) on their property.  It is a five to ten minute walk to the village of Pinos Genil, and Granada is less than an hour by bus.

All in all,  a beautiful place to relax and do some serious printmaking, as well as a good starting point for a Spanish vacation (I went on to Barcelona after the workshop).  For more information about Maureen and the workshops visit her websites:

• El Gallinero

• Printmaking Courses in Spain

Filed under: Article, from a Member, Members, Travel, Workshop

Karen Towne has work in the Yosemite Renaissance show.

Cloud's Rest by Karen Towne

A woodcut titled “Cloud’s Rest” by CSP member Karen Towne has been selected to be part of the annual Yosemite Renaissance show. If you are in Yosemite this Spring, check out the show in the Yosemite Museum near the Visitor Center.

TITLE:  Yosemite Renaissance XXVI
DATES:  2/26/11 through 5/1/11
HOURS:  daily
LOCATION:  Yosemite Museum, Yosemite National Park

Website: www.yosemiterenaissance.org (has images from past shows but not the current one yet!)

Filed under: from a Member, Show Announcements, Yosemite Museum, Yosemite National Park

Lila Wahrhaftig on a recent visit to the Crocker Art Museum

On Saturday, January 8, 2011 about sixteen members of CSP (including some happy spouses) were treated to a special tour and viewing of some of the California prints in the new study room area of the Crocker Art Museum, one of California’s major art museums. With an area now almost three times larger than before, new buildings and remodeling, the extensive collection can now be viewed in a thoughtful and comfortable context. With  We met at reserved tables for a delicious lunch before joining Dr. William Breazeale, Curator of Prints and Drawings, for our private tour. It was also a chance to connect with some of our Sacramento CSP printmakers.

In a spacious and well-lit study room, we were able to closely examine prints by such California icons as Roi Partridge whose engravings of the Sierras landscape won medals in France around the period of World War I, through such other print masters as Wayne Thiebaud, Roland Petersen. and Gerald Gooch. We closely examined the drawing and needling techniques of each artist, how they applied color, even the very texture of the printing paper used.

Later some of us browsed through other areas of the museum, admiring how each art object had its own space, yet kept a relationship to the works around it. As an aside, the Crocker was totally full of people, families, artists, old and young, all enjoying their museum. As a bonus, free posters were given out as we left to walk back to the train station.

Jack and I took the train from Jack London Square in Oakland to Sacramento and back to make the whole day a very special one. We are old enough to remember with much nostalgia when traveling by train was a common, yet magical way to take a journey. Old Sacramento is an interesting and historic area between the station and the Crocker, with restaurants, galleries, etc. That will be part of our next trip to the Crocker Art Museum.

Many thanks to Dixie Laws for arranging the recent California Society of Printmakers special trip and viewing to the recently refurbished and much enlarged Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, California.

Filed under: Article, from a Member, Museum, California, Crocker Art Museum, Field Trip, Lila Wahrhaftig, Sacramento

Artist John Babcock discusses his print

John Babcock’s print “Fifty-eight Houses/Fifty-eight Dreams” was included in the recent CSP show, the 98th Annual Membership Exhibition at the Alameda Library. John  graciously offered to tell us about his piece, since many of the Member were intrigued with his incorporation of color and paper in his blind embossed print. Enjoy! -Ed.

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Fifty-eight Houses/Fifty-eight Dreams by John Babcock

I am interested in symbols and hieroglyphics, occasionally using certain ones in my work. I use the triangle or pyramid shape to signify or represent a house or shelter, an elemental and basic human need.. A series of triangles together could be a group of humanity, a town or city. In this print the triangle symbolizes shelter in a document format.

The plate was made from 1/8″ mahogany plywood and I carved out the triangles with a knife. Each print from this series is unique because I make a special sheet of paper for each print.

To make the paper, I first beat a batch of white cotton pulp and pigmented it off white with a small amount of yellow ochre and black iron oxide pigment. In another batch of cotton pulp I added carbon black pigment and black iron oxide to create an almost black pulp. A small batch of abaca fiber pulp was then made to match the off-white cotton.

The paper sheet was poured rather than vat moulded.  I used a large screen on a flat table and blocked out the size of paper needed for this print. Then I divided this space with a Plexiglas strip.  On one side, I poured the white pulp and on the other, the black. I removed the plexi strip and worked the two pulps together. Last I poured the abaca fiber pulp in a gestural motion.  (The abaca fiber pulp will only show up from a specific angle in the cotton base sheet when light is reflected off it.) The sheet was dried overnight.

I ran the dry paper through the press, maximum pressure with no dampening. The un-calendared paper is soft enough to pick up all detail. I size the paper after printing.

John Babcock

Filed under: About the Work, Article, from a Member, From the Editor, John Babcock