The CSP and Printeresting announce the Journal; party on 11/6!

The California Society of Printmakers and the blog Printeresting announce the latest CSP Journal. This year, the blog was guest edited by the awesome folks (Amze, Jason and RL) from the blog Printeresting. They got a great line up of artists and writers to contribute. The journal even comes with a poster from Sonenzimmer!

To celebrate this effort, the CSP is having a party on November 6th, from 2-6pm at Gruenwald Press (John has generously donated his space for the event). We’ll have special guest RL Tillman from Printeresting making an appearance and talking about his work and the blog; DJ Krayzer Blade spinning some tunes; drinks on hand, and food carts downstairs.

The event is free, but we’d love to get a head count, so RSVP to CSP@caprintmakers.org

Gruenwald Press is located at 1663 Mission st (enter on Plum) SF CA 94103

Filed under: Announcements, Collaborations, From the Editor, Members, Products, San Francisco, Show Announcements

Call for the Commissioned Print 2011

NEW – The 2011 Annual CSP Gift Print

This year one lucky CSP member will be awarded $500 to create an edition for our first Annual CSP Commissioned Print.
All members except for current board members may apply. Deadline August 15, 2011.

Click the graphic above, or here to download a prospectus for the 2011 Commission Print (PDF).

Click here for the Word version: CommissionPrint2011.

Filed under: Announcements, Calls for Artwork, Members

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

FOUR CORNERS AND A CENTER: Upcoming Show

Peter Baczek, J Dock, aquatint etching, 1990. 19" x 20"

Four Corners and a Center: An Exhibition by the California Society of Printmakers

Village Theatre Art Gallery, 233 Front Street, Danville, CA

Opening Reception: May 20, 5:00 – 8:00 pm

Exhibition Dates: May 20 – July 1, 2011

The California Society of Printmakers is pleased to present Four Corners and a Center. Juried by Renee Bott, co-owner and master printer of Paulson Bott Press, Four Corners and a Center features a selection of 34 prints from 24 members of the California Society of Printmakers. The exhibit highlights the diversity and creativity of contemporary printmaking and showcases techniques such as woodcut, monotype, etching and handmade artist books.

Barbara Foster, Tin Top Silo, lasercut woodcut & chine colle, 2010. 16" x 13"

The theme, Four Corners and a Center, was selected by Amy Miller, Visual Arts Program Director of Danville’s city-run Village Theatre Art Gallery. Miller wanted to incorporate an open-ended theme for the exhibit while referencing the format in which most printmakers work, paper. Miller states, ” Four Corners conjures images of location, direction, edges, boundaries a destination and even the entire planet. The Center can be one’s home life, an essence of an object, the soul, a state of being or a compositional element used to invoke power or focus. Even in an empty room or in a singular structure, the center remains a powerful position within any work of art.”

Yuji Hiratsuka, Soft Landing, intaglio etching & chine colle, 2011. 24"x 32"

In jurying the entries, Renee Bott wanted to be as inclusive as possible while selecting artworks that defined the exhibition theme. The selected works address existential themes, graphic imagery, and social commentary with insight and humor with subject matter ranging from urban landscapes, animals, nature, and identity, to ecological concerns and politics. Works by some of CSP’s newest members (admitted by jury in 2011) will be shown along some of its most enduring members (admitted by jury as far back as 1975).

Sirima Sataman, Discard Fortunes, etching, 2009. 15" x 22"

Work by the following artists will be on view: Peter Baczek, Gary Comoglio, Jessica Dunne, Linda Filhardt, Joan Finton, Barbara Foster, Yuji Hiratsuka, K Kuster, Linda Lee Fribley, Peter Leone McCormick, Linda Lieberman, Kay Marshall, Stephanie Martin, Cythia Milionis, Barbara Milman, Nancy Mintz, Carrie Ann Plank, Laurel Prieto, Sirma Sataman, Deborah Sibony, Herlinde Spahr, Jerry Theobald, George Woodward, and Mark Zaffron.

Four Corners and a Center will run through July 1 with a special art chat and printmaking demonstration to be held on June 8 at 7pm in the Village Theatre Art Gallery.

Filed under: East Bay, Members, Show Announcements

In remembrance…Nathan Oliveira and Beth Van Hoesen

Two well-known and well-respected Printmakers passed away in 2010. Both of them were honorary members of the California Society of Printmakers.

Nathan Oliveira

Nathan Oliveira, 1928-2010, born in Oakland, CA, exhibited with Bay Printmakers Society beginning in 1956. In 1968 Bay Printmakers and California Society of Etchers merged to become California Society of Printmakers. Oliveira  was awarded Honorary Lifetime Membership in CSP in 1993. A few images of his prints are located here with a long list of his exhibitions.

Beth Van Hoesen

Beth Van Hoesen, 1916-2010, is first mentioned in the CSP archives in 1958 when she helped organize a few exhibits, and in 1959 she was President of the Society. She was awarded Honorary Lifetime Membership to the CSP in 1996. A few of her etchings that were published by Crown Point Press in 1965 can be viewed on the Annex Galleries website. Some nice illustrations of her animal paintings and prints are seen on her Facebook page, as well as on the Nancy Dodds Gallery website.

Filed under: Historical, Link, Members, Remembrance, Beth Van Hoesen, Nathan Oliveira, Obit