Residency / Highpoint Center for Printmaking, Tyler Green, 7 hours
This week I attended two classes at Highpoint; on Tuesday a class of eighth graders from Franklin Middle School came in and learned stencil mono printing, a technique in which you use plastic plates coated in gum arabic (dish soap works too!), watercolor paints and water-soluble crayons. We used wet paper when running it through the press, which activates the dried watercolors and transfers the image to the page. For the majority of class I ran the press, meaning I brushed crayon crumbles off the plates before prepping the damp paper, laying the newsprint and blankets down, and instructing students on how to use the wheel!
One important part of this process is that when using watercolor inks from the tube, it’s important to water down the pigment so it is thin enough to transfer onto the paper. Many students want the tube ink to work like acrylic paint, and will use too much on their plates. Beyond just learning how editions work, I think students learn how to experiment and properly use materials in this process. Having one print turn out not as good as you were expecting is an easy fix when you can just clean off your plate and start over, and this technique is perfect for practicing patience (drying time), experimentation with materials, and planning a painting with the printing transfer in mind.
After the dozenth time telling a student they need to thin out their pigment for it to transfer properly and them not listening, I wonder how better to communicate this kind of materials-based help. For some students it’s useful to do it wrong to see how working differently can improve their next piece, but for others it leads to a drop in enthusiasm and willingness to try again. Could showing the “wrong” way of using a material in the beginning demonstration help?
Shadowing / Chiaki O’Brien, 2.5 hours
This weekend, Chiaki was leading a class at the Weaver’s Guild in Minneapolis on Saori weaving; this technique is about embracing “happy accidents” and working off intuition, not rules. Chiaki came with looms with the warp already set up, each with a different color of yarn, and a large tote bag full of yarn spools which I helped her lay out onto a table. The class was a range of adults from 25-85, some (like Bonnie) who was there for her eighth time, and others who were there for the first time accompanying a friend. It was a small group, only nine people but we filled the space. We all went around the room introducing ourselves and what we do and our experience with weaving before this class. Chiaki then explained how to use the looms, and laid out what Saori is all about. In short, Saori is a type of weaving that embraces “flaws” and gives each weaver room to discover themselves and express their creativity.
Right off the bat, one of the first-time students had questions about what it should look like, how she should choose colors and yarn weight and patterning, all of which Chiaki smiled and reminded her that we were supposed to make our own rules. One returning student would beat her weaving tightly (creating tighter weaves by compacting them together), which Chiaki lovingly described as that student’s “tendency”. Some returning students came with plans, many came with their own yarn. It’s a technique that makes more sense once you get started, which can be frustrating to planners or people new to the technique. What makes this an exciting and accessible process is that it’s able to be used by all ages, and by anyone of any experience in weaving. It’s not an art that is judged by the perfection of a certain pattern, or by its uniformity; the final work is celebrated by the class for its individuality and how it speaks to the intuition and influences of its creator.
There are many times at Highpoint where students have questions of what to do next and I find myself offering suggestions, and after observing Chiaki and this method I’m wondering how I can support students in following their intuition outside of the loom, and into other methods and techniques.