bridget stewart - hand print press

EXPLORE  -  CREATE:  CELEBRATE 

UMKC Hand Print Press

When we get together we ask: what ink did you use? We sit around and endlessly talk about the ink and paper, and what kind of brayers are being used. We think about different color combinations. Always keeping our eyes open for textures. Textures we might want to use. It is experiments, trying it out, seeing what happens, this is what draws us into the process. As print makers we are a curious and an excited bunch. We all do love the process.  Bridget Stewart

Twelve members from The Print Society of Greater Kansas City visited the Hand Print Press facilities Sunday afternoon.

Ink and texture, like this.  I like the collagraph because it gives me room to experiment. The ones you see on the table have all been done by building up a surface -- and then inking and printing the surface. The reason I chose this one is it really is a process you can do at home.  Bridget Stewart

Everyone who explores this kind of creativity comes to appreciate the process and the quirks of that process.   Things don't always dry as fast as you think it might.    You think that trimming off the materials that stick out is well, but in doing so, other portions you don't want to disturb get bumped or worse, fall off. It is better to let the whole thing dry first.  You can always go back and trim it later.

It's all a part of the magic of it. I always think it's a bit like alchemy. You have a piece of metal. You put some ink on it. Some paper on it. You put some felts on it. You run it through the press and when you lift up the felts and the paper. you either had gold or you have lead. You lift it up ----- "Oh, gold today. I have gold today."    Bridget Stewart

 Eleven minute video.  Stewart shows how to create with simple materials to make homemade collagraphs. =*/=  The Heavy Golden Gel Medium can be built up and help make the textures one wants. When the plate is complete -- it must cure up for at least 24 hours. =*/= 

 Stewart says that anytime she has tried to cut corners, the end result does not work. Even if she wants to do it a fast way, doing it the right way has best outcome. All who come to love this medium respect the step-by-step procedure. =*/= 

Visitors with The Print Society of Greater Kansas City were invited to PLAY with their materials and CREATE their own collagraph at home.

A celebration of sharing is asking working professionals, amateurs, students, and everyone else to submit a 4 by 6 inch print for the upcoming Print Exchange.

^^^ Call For Entries ^^^

25th Anniversary

Print Exchange 

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CLICK HERE

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Working professionals Laura Kuchynka  and  Katherine Torbett shared their excitement. Both use the facilities at the UMKC Hand Print Press.

EXPLORE


 

I was using regular intaglio ink but I couldn't get it to work. Bridget taught me that litho ink actually worked better. I had to print everything all over again. But with it I was able to get much finer detail.      Laura Kuchynka

Two minute video. You can see what her exploration produced. Click on this link and scroll down on that page to see her work called Agaricus. ++++++  Agaricus by Laura Kuchynka

CREATE

Four minute video. Katherine Torbett passes the clear poly vinyl plate around the table along with her selected linoleum cut print. Click the following link and scroll down on the page to see Torbett's linocut.  Elegant Terms by Katherine Torbett. The bird beaks were hand painted.

We'll see what happens.

UMKC HAND PRINT PRESS
https://www.handprintpress.org/home

nan chisholm - art appraiser

Before selling your art treasure at auction --- you must have papers and the assurance from respected historians that know specifics on the given artist.

Using stories and humor, Nan Chisholm unlocked the process of discovery. 

People finding something thought to be an original piece of art......
The hope that one might strike it rich....... 
The idea that something valuable can be found laying around......

At the root of it, one must do their own research and seek out experts who know specifics about a particular artist. 




There are respected art historians who can tell whether a fine art print or a painting is genuine. They have studied a particular artist's work. They know what materials were commonly used to make the work. They know the places that artist created their work at. And they can tell you YES or NO -- whether the work is what it claims to be.

Provenance is the paperwork that will back you up when you go to sell off your art treasure. Your diligent homework has experts giving your item their blessing, their reputation written on paper. Not just a verbal claim that someone said that it was such and such.















Light heartedly Chisholm admitted changed the title of her talk from   "What to Know before Purchasing Prints and Other Art"  to  "What to look for when buying Wholesale, Retail or Garage Sale."

"What appraisers look for to determine the value of something. Appraisers and auction houses subscribe to data bases online."

[She showed a page from Artnet.com on the screen.]

"This gives auction prices that go back to the late 80s. It has auction prices from all over the world. You can type in the artist's name, You can select the medium that you what to investigate, whether it be painting or prints. If you happen to know the title of the work you can enter that as well."

Chisholm has appraised fine art for Sotheby's for more than 20 years, valuing paintings from the old masters to 20th-century artists, before leaving to start her own appraisal/broker business. She can also be seen on the PBS series "Antiques Roadshow" offering her expert opinion on paintings from around the world. 

Bill Cashman and speaker Nan Chisholm

The talk was given Sunday afternoon, March 31, 2019 at Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, Missouri. Chisholm spoke to the Print Society of Greater Kansas City Sunday afternoon. Forty in attendance.