ART PRINT RESIDENCE – a paradise for printmakers

ellypResidencies and travel, Studio, Uncategorized

Four wonderful weeks!! They passed so quickly, and suddenly I am back to normal. I have to arrange everything alone, get all materials, solve every little problem – and the bigger ones, keep my studio clean….all these things which were handled so wonderfully for me at Art Print residence in Catalonia. Ariadna, Claudia and Jordi are there, arranging the studio …

The winding road to a finished print.

ellypartworks, Uncategorized

There are so many choices to be taken before a print is done. Often I spend days just preparing bits and pieces of Japanese papers to be used for chine collé, without using them…until later. I paint, twist and fold, or I punch and burn them. Sometimes I can tell immediately that this little piece is just what I need …

Pulling a print

ellypartworks, Uncategorized

Making one of a kind prints is an intense process. Sometimes the picture is created on the surface, by working in the ink. Other times I am using drypoint, collagraph and chine collé, or a combination, like here. The plates can be turned around, and printed on top of each other, each choice giving several new possibilities. Or as here, I …

The trap of intensions

ellypartworks, Uncategorized

If I have an intension, a vision of how my work is going to look when finished, I am limiting it´s possibilities to what I already know. Often when I fall into that trap, I will not be happy about the result. The image does not look like something I could imagine in beforehand. On the contrary, if I just let go, …

Back on track – searching for the core

ellypartworks, Uncategorized

For me printmaking is the best way to explore the possibilities of the visual language. Mixing printing processes from drypoint to linocut, adding inkjet prints, trying to make it all dissolve into a unity, not achievable in any other process. The result is one-of-a-kind prints. From the same plate totally different images can be built, layer by layer. There are layers …

To explore rather than to explain

ellypartworks, Uncategorized

Through printmaking I get the tools to explore the visual language based on it´s own qualities. Not as a way to present a written story, some extern idea, but on it´s own right. The story of lines, textures, and colors meeting, mixing and building up – layer by layer. The history of the print is based on craftsmanship, invented for bringing a message …

Breaking down – building up

ellypartworks, Uncategorized

In my last post I showed one of my latest works, drypoint printed in 4 monoprints with chine collé. It was time to move on, new areas to explore. I cut the plate in four. Could I make each part work as a separate image? Worth a try I thought. I started out with two of my new plates, combined with …

A print is a journey

ellypartworks, Uncategorized

I love surprises. When travelling I like to explore the place I visit, to find stuff I could not read about in advance, the unexpected. For me every print is like a journey. It can be a short visit, but still leave strong impressions, or it can be a long lasting stay, forcing me to dig deeper. Some times it feels …

Forgetting about my intensions

ellypartworks, Uncategorized

Last night I finished this monotype/collage. I started it when I was an artist in residence at Zea Mays Printmaking in Massachusetts more than a year ago. Some pictures just need time to mature, to get their message through to me. Or may be it is the other way around, I have to forget about my intentions, to see the picture as …