Public exhibition - Showcasing the printmaking created by elementary school age artists

In a recent blog entry I outlined a little about some classroom based projects I have undertaken with two elementary school classes. This is through a program called Artists in the Fifth, which is offered annually to our regional schools through CAHEP. This means Community Arts and Heritage Education Project.

Artists are given the opportunity to work with teachers and their students in a predetermined number of arranged visits and we deliver interesting projects in the visual arts, written and spoken word, music and performance based artistic endeavours.

The results are presented each February in a half day event called the Arts Fiesta. This public exhibition and live performance event is hosted at our local community auditorium.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to set up the display of the projects that were created by the two grade five classes I visited through the Artists in the Fifth program.

Here are some photos that I took today at the Fiesta and the accompanying project outlines for both.

The first three are photos of a project titled Impressions 2 (the 2 should actually be smaller and floating higher as it represents the symbol for squared)

 

Project #1

Title : Impressions squared 

This project combines relief block printmaking together with sculpture. The images explore the principles of design in each of the learner prints. Sculpture is also incorporated using geometric cubes as surfaces to display random arrangements of hand printed images. The prints are not only repetitive in composition but each learners design has been printed in different colour combinations. The theme Thinking Outside the Box has been taken both literally and figuratively. Two forms of art have been fused together to create one colourful, visually interesting deconstructed larger scale cube made up of smaller cube/hand print components.

Learners were encouraged to think about the concept of repetition as it could be applied to a basic design. They were also challenged to think about the principles of design in the artwork. During the project they learned about such important areas such as line, shape, positive and negative space, rhythm, repetition, texture, composition, contrast to name but a few. Using linoleum cutting tools they were able to carve their images into a soft composite material and apply ink to the relief surfaces and print these in two colour combinations on paper using traditional hand printing methods.

An emphasis was made on focusing on complementary and split complementary colour combinations in the hand prints allowing for stark contrasts and impact in the images.

The learners printed a solid colour square first and then the cut side of the block with their design was printed over top in a contrasting colour.

Special recognition is extended to educator Terry Cano who spent many hours after class constructing, affixing prints to the cubes and assembling everything to create the sculptural part of this project.

Project #2

Project title: Construction

This project uses relief block printmaking as the basis for the creation of hand printed imagery that utilizes several stages of process from start to finish.

Learners were given the opportunity to use two surfaces to create a two colour print on paper.

One surface was left solid and the second surface was carved into using special cutting blades to produce a relief design. Prints were produced by using careful registration of paper and application of ink to both sides of a block in two separate printing sessions.

To begin the project, the learners were encouraged to think about and share dialogue revolving around the concept of the word structure.

Using photo reference they focused on a particular section of either a manmade or nature made structure. They enlarged the chosen area and proceeded to develop it and construct a colour print that would allow it to be viewed in an entirely different way.

This is where adhering to the theme of “thinking outside of the box” came into play.

Learners were also challenged by utilizing the principles of design in their respective works of art. During the project they learned about such important areas such as line, shape, positive and negative space, rhythm, repetition, texture, composition, contrast to name but a few.

Using linoleum cutting tools they were able to carve their images into a soft composite material and apply ink to the relief surfaces and print these in two colour combinations on paper using traditional hand printing methods.

An emphasis was made on focusing on complementary and split complementary colour combinations in the hand prints allowing for real contrasts and impact in the images.

They printed a solid colour square first and then the cut side of the block with their design was printed over top in a contrasting colour.

Cost of printmaking papers could be affected by an increase in cost of cotton

This topic was discussed recently with some retailers who sell printmaking papers. I was warned to expect a big jump in the price of fine art printmaking papers in early part of 2011 due to a sharp rise in the price of cotton.
Here is an item I found recently online related to this:

LAHORE: World cotton prices continued rising trend during January, nearing the two-dollar-per-pound territory, a statement said.
According to the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC), cotton rates increased between December 31, 2010 and January 28 by 25.5 cents per pound to 197.5 cents per pound.
“Very low world stocks of cotton, limited supply, robust demand and depreciation in the dollar value may have caused surge in prices during 2010/11,” the statement said.


Another more recent factor that may also influence the cost of cotton has been the floods and Cyclone that recently hit in the northeast of Australia. Cotton is an export from that country and the weather may certainly have made an impact with growing and production there this year.

Another Enviromentally Friendly Alternative to Cotton paper to consider
Anyhow this got me thinking about possible alternatives to using papers that do not use cotton in their makeup.

One that I discovered was bamboo. Awagami is a company from Japan who make paper in the traditional sense of washi papers. They are manufacturing a ph neutral 250 gsm weight paper made from bamboo and mixed recycled content. Here is an excerpt from their website.

TOKUSHIMA, JAPAN, November 07, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Bamboo is deeply rooted in Japanese culture and has touched every aspect of daily life from art and literature, to design, food and crafts for many centuries. Bamboo utensils dating from the Jomon Period (ca. 10,000 B.C.-300 B.C.) have been discovered in both Honshu and Kyushu indicating that bamboo has been used in Japan ever since the earliest years of its civilization. In keeping in line with Japans rich and time honored bamboo legacy, Awagami Factory has now proudly created Awagami Bamboo Paper.
Awagami Bamboo Paper is a fine organic choice for artist and designer alike exhibiting notable benefits and advantages over cotton based papers. Awagami Bamboo papers' luxurious texture is similar to silk while softer than cotton making it an excellent choice for both letterpress and relief printmaking. Available in sized sheets, Awagami Bamboo paper contains 70% bamboo fiber and 30% mixed recycled* content and sheets are available in a standard basis weight of 250gsm.
About bamboo:
Known as the fastest growing timber plant on earth, bamboo is found in abundance throughout Asia and has numerous environmental benefits. Bamboo is biodegradable, requires little attention during its growing cycle and (unlike cotton) does not require fertilizers or pesticides for a successful crop. Furthermore, bamboo produces 35% more oxygen and consumes four times the CO2 than trees. Bamboo is truly a sustainable and renewable resource; a self-replenishing "miracle plant" which grow exceedingly fast and will continue to do so through many seasonal harvests.
For further information about Awagami Bamboo Paper or about any of our other fine washi papers, kindly visit our website at http://www.awagami.or.jp/
*The recycled content may be a mix of hemp and bagasse (sugar cane and/or sorghum stalk fiber).

For those of you from Canada you can purchase the Awagami bamboo paper from the following retailers:
Woolfitts (Toronto Canada - http://www.woolfitts.com/fulfill/ )
Island Blue Art Store (Victoria,  British Columbia - http://www.islandblue.com/store/ )

If you live outside of Canada you might have to perform a Goggle search to see if any retailers in your respective countries sell this product.

There is a European manufacturer producing a line of bamboo based paper for the US market under the company name Smock. However I think this is mainly aimend at use for the Letterpress market.