The last time I was in Cleveland was in 2014 to take a workshop given by Aimee Lee and Velma Bolyard at Morgan Conservatory (click here to see posts from previous visits to Cleveland). Actually, if you scroll back through that link far enough, you'll arrive at my posts about taking a class with India Flint in 2012. Oh! And getting to experience Martin Creed's Work No. 965: Half the air in a given space. Now that was the experience of a lifetime...especially for someone who is somewhat claustrophobic.
Back to present day! Well, a few weeks ago...
Christine has been spending time at Zygote Press printing tessellations and hand marks that echo hand stitches on paper. If you haven't seen them yet, stroll on over to Christine's Instagram page. Her artistry and creativity are exquisite.
As I've been printing on gel plates, we thought it would be fun to get together and spend a week working the presses. Thankfully, the good people at Zygote were kind and allowed me to rent work space/press time for the week.
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| Zygote Press 2019, photo by Jennifer Coyne Qudeen |
The sentiment of the very top sign was cause for a big belly laugh at my own expense
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| printing plate, work in progress, Jennifer Coyne Qudeen, 2019 |
after I not only prepped, but printed this plate asking What does home mean to you?
In my excitement to see how my cursive writing would print, I totally forgot that all text must be laid out in reverse so that it prints correctly. The posted reminder had gone unnoticed until I, shaking my head at myself in disbelief after running the plate through the press, turned around and leaned against the work table. And there it was...right in front of me. I wanted to crawl under the table.
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| work in progress, monoprint on newsprint, Jennifer Coyne Qudeen, 2019 |
Instead, I decided to switch to asemic writing.
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| stencils cut on drafting velum, Jennifer Coyne Qudeen, 2019 |
After cutting a few new stencils,
it was time to get to work, bring out the Golden Opens and
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| work in progress, monoprint on recycled tea bags, Jennifer Coyne Qudeen, 2019 |
the tea bags to see how they would play with a printing press.
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| work in progress, monoprint on recycled tea bags, Jennifer Coyne Qudeen, 2019 |
Quite nicely, as it turns out.
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| printing plate, work in progress, Jennifer Coyne Qudeen, 2019 |
Toward the end of the week, I found my stride and simplified the images,
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| work in progress, monoprint on recycled tea bags, Jennifer Coyne Qudeen, 2019 |
allowing the houses and asemic writing to be the focus.
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| Zygote Press 2019, photo by Jennifer Coyne Qudeen |
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| printing plate, work in progress, Jennifer Coyne Qudeen, 2019 |
There were times when I wished it were possible to let the inks dry on the plate and have it be the finished piece. Has anyone done that? Anyone know how long it would take for the inks to dry thoroughly? If they will at all? Hmmm...sounds like a good experiment for another day.
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| work in progress, Jennifer Coyne Qudeen, 2019 |
At some point, I started getting monoprints of the stencils on other printmaking papers in order to clean the inks off. This was cause for another round of shaking my head at myself for not having done it sooner. This idea is getting filed under things to remember to do in the studio. Or perhaps I should print a sign to hang as a reminder...
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| Zygote Press 2019, photo by Jennifer Coyne Qudeen |
The week at Zygote ended as all wonderful times do - way too soon. Many thanks go to Christine for not only being such a dear friend, but for wearing the hats of travel guide, chauffeur and dining companion during my visit. Thanks are due as well to all at Zygote who gave tutorials, accepted my intrusion and treated me as one of their own.
