Brian Fisher Print, Paint and Sculpture Blog

Last night Quartermaster Press Studio kicked off it's 25th Anniversary Celebration and retrospective exhibit with a talk by Valerie Willson.  She spoke about QMP's founding in a potting shed on Quartermaster Drive in 1993, the subsequent move to it's present location at Beall Greenhousese in 2010 and the studio's group history and the evolution of printmaking at Quartermaster Press.   Many of the founding members were present to hear Valerie briefly describe the experimentation and complexities of making fine art prints.  The Koch Gallery and Vashon Center for the Arts Lobby walls are filled with almost every kind of print process.  Valerie pointed out with explanation to examples of  etchings, viscosity monotypes, monoprints, collagraphs, linocuts,... and more! Co-curator Pat Churchill introducing Valerie Willson at QMP 25 opening April 6, 2018   Print enthusiasts and QMP fans listen to Valerie Willson speak at QMP 25 opening April 6, 2018 QMP 25 Spec

Artist Valerie Willson shared her approach to collograph in a couple wonderful workshops at Vashon's Quartermaster Press.  We attached thin materials like paper and cloth to plexiglass plates with gloss acrylic medium and created texture with modeling paste.  The result was a very sturdy collograph plate. Inspired by what I learned, I've been exploring the process in a series of prints about myth in nature.  Here is a drawing and collograph plate of "Atticus," from my Green Man series. Collagraph, collograph, no matter how you spell it, 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.  I now employ both methods when making my own collographs.  Below is a detail that

Each month a small community of Vashon Island artists meet in one another's homes to feast, to converse about art and share where their creative paths have taken them since last they met.  The group has been meeting since 2005. In some measure each gathering represents the cycle that defines Journey.  The dinners have come to represent conclusions and beginnings, demarcations that round the individual's creative search for expression that is somehow more fully realized when shared within this community of friends.  In recognition of our shared paths, I am one of nine artists this show represents, we decided a year ago to create new work that would express our personal interpretation and exploration of Journey as subject.   On Tuesday, October 30 I will help gallery director for Vashon Allied Arts, Janice Mallman, hang and mount our show in the Blue Heron Gallery .  I have seen some of the work in progress but I anticipate the thrill of seeing th