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The Print Workshop: SUMMER COURSES 1999

INTRODUCTION

The summer courses provide the opportunity to spend five days making prints in a very special environment under expert instruction. The courses are intensive and aim to give students a thorough grounding in the particular technique. With no more than eight enrolled on each course, students receive plenty of individual attention and both beginners and those with previous experience will benefit. Specialist equipment and materials are provided: all that students need bring is some basic drawing materials (pencils, pens, crayons) a selection of brushes, a craft knife, and most importantly, a sketch book full of ideas.

The cost is £165 for a five-day course including all materials except paper and plate which are available at very reasonable prices (amounting to between £10 and £20 per course). Courses run from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm Monday to Friday and the workshop is also available to students in the evening when they can work alongside regular users.

COURSES

MONOPRINTING
19 to 23 July

The term monoprint can refer to any print of which there is only one copy. However what makes monoprinting special is that there is no need to create a permanent block. Instead, spontaneous effects can be produced by applying ink directly to the printing surface using brushes, rags, rollers, torn paper and other materials. Monoprinting provides an excellent introduction to other forms of printmaking. Many of the greatest artists of this century and earlier have revelled in the freedom and spontaneity which the medium allows.

Caroline Wendling, from France, makes work in many media and exhibits widely. Earlier this year she staged a remarkable exhibition of monoprints based on Mash Lance, a garden near Harlow. She is part-time workshop technician at Gainsborough's House and has taught at colleges in Braintree and Cambridge.

LITHOGRAPHY
26 to 30 July

This course will explore the rich graphic textures obtainable from both lithographic stones and plates. The principles of drawing, processing and printing will be explored and students will be able to produce at least one finished lithograph. Facilities for lithography at Gainsborough's House have been much improved by the refurbishment of the workshop.

Paul Croft, currently lectures at the University of Ulster, Belfast. He studied at Edinburgh College of Art and later at the world-famous Tamarind Institute of Lithography in New Mexico. We are pleased to welcome him back to Gainsborough's House after his highly successful course last Summer.

JAPANESE WOODBLOCK PRINTING
2 to 6 August

The course will begin with an introduction to the materials and methods of traditional Japanese Woodblock printing. Demonstrations of black and white and colour methods adapted to suit materials available in this country will be given. Students will be encouraged to combine their own creative ideas with the unique qualities of Japanese methods. Special Japanese papers and cutting tools will be provided and may be purchased by students who are inspired to continue to explore the techniques.

Rebecca Salter, who studied at Bristol Polytechnic spent several years in Japan in the early 1980s. Originally travelling to study ceramics, she became engrossed in woodblock printing and assimilated the traditional techniques. She has exhibited extensively in Japan, the USA and in England (including Gainsborough's House in 1996). She has a unique perspective on the subject and we are delighted to be able to offer this course for the first time at Gainsborough's House.

RELIEF PRINTING: WORKING WITH LINO
9 to 13 August

Students will be shown the potential and flexibility of lino. They will be encouraged to use various methods to get the best results: attacking the lino with machine tools, manual tools and caustic soda. Good studio practice will also be encouraged in order to maximise efficiency. The aim is to create a suite of at least six images during the five days. This target should be achievable by energetic and ambitious students, irrespective of previous experience. You will require stamina, a scalpel, and a sense of humour.

Dale Devereux Barker, a graduate of the Slade, makes lino prints and screen prints at his studio near Ipswich. He has taught at Leeds and Harrogate Art Schools and at Suffolk College. Earlier this year he completed a mammoth project developed from designs executed as prints; a series of enamel panels 45 m long by 3 m wide installed at St. Katherine's Dock, London.

SCREEN PRINTING
16 to 20 August

The set-up for screen printing at Gainsborough's House has been improved enormously by the refurbishment. This course offers a complete introduction to the medium and covers the production of hand-drawn and photographically generated stencils. Like many other studios, Gainsborough's House now use only water based acrylic inks, eliminating the unpleasant and hazardous fumes produced by solvents.

Michael Carlo has taught a highly successful course in screen printing for several years. Educated at the Royal College of Art in London, he grew up in Sudbury and his own prints focus on the landscape around his home in Suffolk.

ETCHING
23 to 27 August

A draughtsman's medium, etching highlights the importance of line whilst at the same time introducing a range of marks creating great tonal range, depth and space. This course covers everything from preparing the plate, putting on a ground, drawing on it, and biting in acid, laying an aquatint, inking and printing. Students will be encouraged to work from a sketch book, developing ideas through initial observation to a complete etching.

Anthony Farrell trained at Camberwell and the Royal Academy Schools, in London. He has always made etchings as a parallel activity to painting, treating his subject in a more intimate and immediate way than is possible in his large-scale oils. Both paintings and prints were included in his impressive solo show at Gainsborough's House last year.

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