Brian Fisher Print, Paint and Sculpture Blog

Brian Fisher, assisted by Debi Shandling Crawford, will share the art of Collagraphy plate and print making tomorrow, April 14, in the Vashon Center for the Arts, Koch Gallery at 1:30 pm.  Art and printmaking enthusiasts please join us to learn about this very simple way to make and print a collagraph. Collagraphy refers to a collage of materials glued to a substrate to create a printable plate.  Ink may be applied to the high surfaces of the plate with a brayer, like a relief print, or ink may be applied to the entire plate and then removed by wiping from the upper surfaces leaving ink between and around collage elements, resulting in an intaglio print.  This demo is the first of many scheduled events (check out the VCA link above for dates) in celebration of the Quartermaster Press Studio's 25 Anniversary.   Collagraphy Plates 1&2 (left) and Prints from plate 2 (right)

Joan Wortis began printing at Quartermaster Press soon after she arrived on Vashon Island.  Her career and background before she came to print was in fiber arts.   She says that her experince at QMP has been the cornerstone of her working method of experimenting with combining monotype and collage and she has continued to do that through many different iterations for the last 20 plus years. Joan's wonderfully textural monotype collage "Whispered Secrets" 15 x 12 in. is one of the works showing at the Quartermaster Press 25 Retrospective Exhibition in the Koch Gallery at Vashon Center for the Arts April 6 - May 25, 2018. "Whispered Secrets" monotype collage by Joan Wortis

Marian Wachter will display several images in the Quartermaster Press 25 Retrospective Exhibition at Vashon Center for the Arts, April 6 - May 25, 2018.  Featured here is “Garden Symphony” a mixed media relief and intaglio print. 17 3/4 x 23 1/2 in. Marian’s work is beautiful, graphic and innovative. If you are a print artist looking at her work you will constantly be asking “What the, How the” questions?  Watching her hand print from carved leather-hard clay plates, for example, opened my eyes to yet another realm of printing possibilities.  She experimented with collagraph, printed in relief and intaglio, relief printing using wood, linoleum and un-fired clay. All her prints were layered with these and other techniques and frequently finished with collaged elements, photo transfer or drawing/painting directly on the prints.  Garden Symphony, mixed media relief and intaglio print by Marian Wachter  

Bonnie Wilkins's approach to monotype print is unique and inspirational.  Her work has a timeless quality that embodies a joyful calmness and meditative stillness.  Bonnie says about her work- "The appeal of making monotypes is, for me, the joy of being surprised and delighted by the intricate complexity and beauty that shows up as a result of layered process."  "The collage aspect of the work gave me the opportunity to indulge my love for the “treasure hunt.”  I was always seeking the exquisite fallen leaf, or the beautiful accident on a piece of my disassembled monotypes."  Below is Bonnie's pieced monotype, "Pastorale", 30 x 31 in. "Pastorale"  monotype by Bonnie Wilkins

"Art for Sale" Donna Romero and I share a venue during the Vashon 1st Friday Art Walk, August 4th, 6PM-9PM courtesy of Rachel Waldron at Waldron Design Studio (17530 Vashon HWY SW).  You will find us a short flight up the stairs in the former law offices of Bergman and Pageler.  So, if you want to buy our wares, follow us and climb the stairs, "Art for Sale"

Morning, Monotype/Collage 26"x 20" Robi King Galleries on Bainbridge Island has selected  Americana as subject and tittle for its' July Exhibition.  Above and below are three Monotype/Collages that will be my contribution to the exhibit.  
Each image was created with 40‘s family ephemera; cards and letters from my Aunts, Grandmother and Great Grandmother, written to and about my brother Harvey in the late 1940‘s and are the foundation imagery for my Monotype print process.  Americana will be on display from July 1-30, 2011. Noon, Monotype/Collage 26"x 20" Night, Monotype/Collage 26"x 20"