Printmaking Camp, Day 5

Day 1.
Day 2.
Days 3, 4
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The Participants
Tim McDowell, master printmaker and painter
Marcia Wood, gallerist and all around muse and support
Kim Anno, Kate Javens, Don Pollack, Katherine Taylor and me, the artists making prints
Brown Sanders and Clara Euam, technical assistance
Ellen Barnard and Lucas McDowell, producer and cameraman, respectively

A couple of Don's proofs. Which will he print?

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By now (Friday, June 25) everyone had printed except Don Pollack, so a lot of things were going on in the print studio. Prime among them: Don and Tim, aided by Don’s son, Anders, were producing Don’s edition. In another part of the vast studio, the artists were signing their prints, as Kim photographed an example of each. (I'll show you Kim's images in the next and final post). At the end of the day Tim printed two more of his--a welcome opportunity to see the master at work on his own edition--and we discussed and prepared the colophon page.

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Above, Tim prepares the ink for Don's first plate

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Below, blue will go at the top and bottom of the image
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Don about to pick up that first plate

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Above, Anders Pollack turns the press wheel on the second plate; from left: Clara, Don and Tim
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Below, Don's print. It's different from both of the proofs in the image that opens this post--so interesting this process .

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Tim spent five days inking plates. Now we get to see him print his own--well, two more to complete his edition
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Above, mixing inks

Below, inking the first plate
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Placing the first plate . . .

. . . and cranking

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I love the moment when the print is pulled from from the plate
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Fast forward to the completed print
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Marcia and Katherine preparing the prints for Kim to photograph . . .
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. . . and guess whose print she's shooting?
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Katherine signing her edition
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Kim . . .

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Tim . . .
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. . . and Kate signing theirs
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Discussing the colophon: Katherine, Don, Tim, Clara and Kate
(The final post will open with the colophon page)
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Outside the Studio

I spent a good part of Friday working on these posts, reflecting on everything we’d done together in and out of the studio during the past few days. I didn’t tell you about any of what we did when we left the studio at the end of the day, because I’ve been focusing on the print project, but I think this is a good time to offer you a peek at what else went on:
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Monday evening: Welcome to Ocean Beach in New London

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On Monday evening after working all day, we drove to Ocean Beach in New London, with its honky tonk of a boardwalk. Who knew that muscle cars would be on parade and that doo-wop would be blasting? (Have you ever seen a 70-year-old greaser? There’s not much hair left to grease. The women still had plenty though, and it was still big.)

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On Tuesday evening we went to Ortega’s in Groton, the town across the bridge, for Mexican food. The pop-mariachi band was great fun. We couldn’t decide what was bling-ier: the gold teeth of one of the musicians, or the silver trim running down the legs of their costumes. In an update on tradition, the group’s leader tuned his guitar with an iPhone app.

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Tuesday evening, above and below, comiendo y disfrutando--eating and having a good time
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On Wednesday evening we went to Tim and Jule’s beautiful New England home for some art and food: a succulent spread of kabobs and salad, and plenty of time to view Jule's spectacular sculpture and Tim’s downstairs studio. Mary Sanders, that would be Jule's mom, pulled out her wild crocheted hats, which we viewed on a table illuminated by a Murano glass chandelier; fabulous excess is the phrase that comes to mind.
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The food . . .
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. . . the partakers (Marcia, Amy Pollack) and preparers (Tim, Jule Sanders McDowell, Mary Sanders)

This photo: Brown Sanders
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Katherine and Marcia in the living room with one of Tim's paintings behind them
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Jule with her bronze and wood sculpture, installed in an L in the dining room. The solid bronze objects, many cast from household objects, are lashed to the armature. The piece was conceived with an Amazonian back story: women's weapons for defense. There's a novella here, just waiting to be written

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Below, detail of the installation

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Tim's studio on the ground floor. I love his paintings, which combine botany and landscape in celebration of earthly delight. You can see more here

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The handiwork of Mary Sanders, above in paisley . . .

. . . and her hand, with the earthy bling of turquoise, wood and bone

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On Thursday evening we went to Abbott’s for seafood and watched the clouds turn pink. Then we went back to the dorm, and because the wifi was available only outside the building--Anders made the discovery when he stuck his iPhone out the window--we had a midnight cyber picnic on the quad. You'd think we were junkies, so itching were we for that internet fix.
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If it's Thursday, it must be New England lobstah . . .

. . . followed by wifi on the lawn

That's me in profile. I commandeered an empty newspaper display rack as my desk and worked on some of what you are reading now

This photo: Kate Javens

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On Friday evening, our work just about finished, we went back to Tim and Jule’s for a final goodbye dinner. You wouldn't know from the names "McDowell" and "Sanders" that each is half Italian. That may explain the great food that seemed effortlessly prepared. And did I mention the fireflies were dancing just off the porch and the moon was almost full? How many ways can you say “bittersweet”?

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Tim and Jule made foccaccia on their grill. I'm impressed
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Since our project commenced on the solstice, we had the longest evenings of the year. This is close to 9:00 pm on Friday

Above, Anders, Don and Amy Pollack talking with Brown Sanders; Lucas McDowell in foreground

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Below, me, Kim Anno, Anders and Don

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In the next and final installment, I'll show you images from the edition and announce the title of the project

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