Nick wroblewski

Nick Wroblewski is a woodcut printmaker based in Viroqua, Wisconsin. His work is born from the aesthetic of the Japanese masters and the imagery of the Driftless region just outside his studio window. In this video brief portrait, we meet Nick and witness the start to finish creation of his print “Sway”.
Nick Wroblewski Website (CLICK HERE)

13th Annual Day of the Dead Steamroller Print Project (2013)

Keep watching at the end for the outtakes of the parade.

How to graduate from Art School

Sean Star Wars

During his week at MATRIX Press in November 2013 Sean produced a beautiful four block color woodcut entitled "BASH" (edition of 44)

Sean’s work offers the viewer a broad view of contemporary satire.   His numerous woodcuts, cut in a rough, expressive style, reflect on everything from traditional images of Americana, to kitsch, southern culture and our 

own humanness.

This event is sponsored by the Jim and Jane Dew Visiting Artist Program, with additional funding provided by MATRIX Press and The Montana Museum of Art & Culture.

"BASH" 26"x36", 4 block color woodcut (edition of 44)

Beth Huhtala, Jason Clark and Tressa Jones punching paper for registration.

The Man at work.

Talking with printmaking class.

Sean cutting key block.

Sean with finished key block.

Key block inked up.

James Bailey rolling up the magenta block.

Printing magenta block.

Jason and Beth proofing cyan block.

Magenta and cyan blocks printed together.

Tressa and Beth printing yellow block.

Magenta, cyan and yellow blocks printed.

Eva, Jason and Beth printing yellow block.

Individual block proofs.

The Rack.

Printing the key image. (First finished print off the press)

Sean with first print.

Eva, Jim, Sean, Jason, Beth & Tressa.

Eva and Beth printing final key.

A thing of beauty to behold.

I would also like to thank the great print assistants we had on this project for without their dedication and long hours this project would not have been possible. - James Bailey, Professor & Director of MATRIX Press.

Jason Clark, Tressa Jones, Beth Huhtula & Eva Stone 

Artist Statement

You know what? I love making woodcuts!  The explosive energy I put into carving a woodcut suits my energy charged, caffeine induced, aggressive approach to image making. Charles Bukowski, Ms Pacman, Phillip Guston, and Neil Blender are my main influences.  Last night I finished a new woodcut. In the morning I’ll get started on a new one. On Christmas Eve, after the kids are in bed I’ll be cutting a block, I really do love it. I don’t spend a lot of time deliberating over what to draw next. I drink a lot of Mountain Dew, so I include Mountain Dew bottles in my artwork. I like ice cream cones, hot dogs, snakes, guns, alligators, goats,  and girls, so that’s what I draw. My primary concern is to create a strong visual infused with a sense of satirical humor. In other words, I like to tell funny stories using funny pictures.

-Sean Star Wars

Education 

2008   Certificate in Graphic Design.  Savannah College of Art and Design.  Savannah, GA.

1999   M.F.A.  Printmaking.  Louisiana State University (LSU).  Baton Rouge, LA.

1996   B.F.A.  Printmaking.  Old Dominion University (ODU).  Norfolk, VA.

Permanent Collections

New York Public Library System                                                   

HF Johnson Art Museum

Amity Art Foundation                    

Philadelphia Print Center

Northern Illinois University Art Museum                                       

University of Mississippi

New Orleans Museum of Art                                                          

Iowa State University

Parsons’ School of Design                                                                           

Pratt Institute

Spencer Museum                                                                            

Kennedy Museum

University of Kansas                                                                         

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Ohio University                                                                                  

Louisiana State University

Old Dominion University                                                                  

West Virginia University

Georgetown University 

Collagraph Printing (via Jack Christiansen)

Here's a video from Jack, It looks like Crocodile Dundee's older brother doing a print demo.

Sean Starwars (Visiting Artist)

CLICK HERE TO SEE PHOTOS OF HIS WORK WITH MATRIX PRESS.

Ink Bandits Portfolio

Ink Bandits

Print Portfolio Exchange

This is an open theme portfolio where printmakers are welcome to use their diverse ideas to create an

edition using any traditional printmaking technique, i.e.; woodcut, intaglio, lithography, screen-print etc.

(Digital prints are not acceptable) for the second annual Ink Bandits exchange.

One print from each artist’s edition will be reserved for the collection of the University of Texas of the

Permian Basin and a second for an exhibition at Dee’s Bistro on December 18th, 2013. The full portfolio will

also be published in an online gallery at inkbandits.blogspot.com. Any additional exhibitions will be

announced on the Ink Bandits web page.

Details

Deadline: November 30, 2013

Paper Size: 11” x 14”

Edition: 16 prints (14 returned)

Fee: $20.00

Each print should be editioned and protected by a sheet of glassine or newsprint the same size as the

paper. All prints must be hand pulled and original. Please include the entry fee in your package, with

checks payable to the University of Texas of the Permian Basin (UTPB). Prints should be shipped in a reusable

package to:

Callie Cothran

Visual Arts Building

University of Texas of the Permian Basin

4901 E. University Blvd.

Odessa, Texas 79761

Exhibition

Dee’s Bistro

622 N Lee Ave

Odessa, Tx 79761

Opening Reception: December 18th, 2013

December 18th-20th, 2013

Contact

If you have any questions you can contact Mario Kiran at

kiran_m@utpb.edu

432-552-2291

Please include the following information with your package:

Name:

Title of Print:

Medium:

Year:

Address:

Phone:

Enclosed Fee: $20 (cheque/cash)

2014 PRINTFEST @ the ZACC

Chemistry 2014 Last Best Printfest Portfolio Exchange Portfolio Information

(http://www.zootownarts.org)

As part of the upcoming “Last Best Print Fest” the ZACC Printshop is hosting it’s forth annual

portfolio exchange. All local printmakers are invited to submit an edition of prints based on the theme

Chemistry. Of the edition of twelve, ten of the prints will be redistributed to other participants in a random

selection process, and one print will be available for sale at The Printfest Portfolio Exchange Opening on

February 14th, as a fundraiser for the ZACC Printshop, and the last will be retained as part of a complete set for

the ZACC Printshop Archive. The prints from the portfolios will be exhibited at The ZACC from February 14th

through March 9th as part of Printfest. For more information contact Patricia Thornton at

misfitsmonstersandprettythings@gmail.com

Chemistry

For this exchange we invite you to interpret the word as narrowly or broadly as you want and submit your

strongest and most compelling print with Chemistry in mind.

Specifications:

The exchange is open to any printmakers in Montana. Editions should consist of twelve impressions numbered

1/12 to 12/12, using any archival material.

Paper size: 11”x14” - prints can be full bleed

Edition size: 12; numbered 1/12 to 12/12 (no proofs or editions larger than 12)

Media: All forms of printmaking are accepted.

Labeling: In pencil, clearly print artist’s name, title, and media on the back of

each print.

Prints must be the original artwork of the submitting artist, and must be dry at the

time of submission. The portfolio organizers reserve the right to refuse entry of any submission that fails to

conform to the portfolio guidelines.

Registration:

To participate in the Portfolio Exchange we require that you register through Submittable.
CLICK HERE TO GO TO SUBMITTABLE:
https://zootownarts.submittable.com/submit/18637

Due Date:

Portfolios will be due by Dec. 15th, 2013. They can be submitted to The Zootown Arts Community Center, 235

North 1st. Missoula, MT. 59801.

Linocut Boy

A Synthetic Spring: Jack Metcalf

Informercial for MFA candidate in Printmaking Jack Metcalf

Pinball Machine Creates Lithographs

from: "Wired", by Liat Clark

Bored of the standard printing process, artist Sam van Doorn has created STYN, a playfully chaotic design tool made from lithographic ink and a pinball machine.

The idea struck van Doorn while he was printing off a poster. “I realized the printer did exactly what I told it to,” van Doorn told Wired. “What would roll out of the printer would be predictable; every program and machine has its own aesthetic, which is easily forgotten when working as a graphic designer. Everything was too predictable, I wanted to be surprised.”

Van Doorn wanted to create a design tool that combined the control of printing with an element of chaos. The answer dropped into his living room when a roommate persuaded him to adopt an old pinball machine their friend was throwing out. “My roommate convinced me to pick up the machine and use it as a decoration in our home. So I did. We fixed it up, and while playing on it I realized that it had all the elements I was looking for; control, chaos and a load of fun.”

The prints are made on a poster that is placed under the pinball machine’s flippers. It has a grid printed on it outlining the field in which a 26mm ball, covered in ink used for lithography printing, will move. By playing the machine, the balls leave behind a trace of their path, creating an unpredictable pattern.

It took van Doorn hours of research to create the right ink mix to make sure the ball retained the ink for as long as possible, without making it too sticky to move.

“The challenge was to get the right paper and ink for the project, as well as the right rubbers to let the ball have a good bounce. The ball has to be able to move smoothly across the surface of the machine, to create a good game environment — the project wouldn’t be interesting if the machine wasn’t fun to play.

“If the ink was too thick, the ball would stick to the paper. But if the ink was to smooth, it would simply slide off the ball. The paper had to be smooth for the ball to create good patterns, but not too smooth so it would lose grip.”

After much trial and error, van Doorn was able to find a balance that allowed a single ball to be played with for hours and still leave a pattern. The resulting experience of play and print is an engrossing one.

“I underestimated the attraction of a pinball machine. Once people started playing they were dancing behind the machine to keep the ball in control, completely focusing on the game. Everybody wanted to play, not just for a print but for the fun of the game.”

Such is STYN’s design, that prints betray those players who struggle to keep the ball in play. Van Doorn was surprised to find the players to emerge with the best prints during the interactive exhibition were the 40 to 60-year-old men. “Man they could play that machine like I never could. After years of experience in pinball, damn they made that ball fly.”

Rubber Stamps & Politics

Escalation Final Battle Documentation from Scott Kolbo on Vimeo.

2012 Block-tober Fest

BLOCK-tober Fest: Steamroller Print Project; Wednesday, October 24th, 2012

THIS WEDNESDAY STARTING AT 10:00

John Buck Studio Visit

On Friday, October 19th, 2012 we will be visiting John Bucks Studio.

Click here to see images of his prints.
Shark's ink (more images of John Buck's Prints)

John Buck : Born in 1946 , Iowa : Lives in Bozeman, Montana

John Buck is both a sculptor and a printmaker. He works with two interrelated bodies of work: carved wood, assemblage and bronze sculptures, and large, multicolored woodblock prints. Since beginning his collaboration with Bud Shark in 1983, Buck has explored the expressive possibilities of woodblock in more than 40 different prints.

Using a pen, a nail or his fingernail, Buck incises the wood planks that form the base and background of his prints with images and symbols drawn from the daily news, from his own sculpture and from nature. Embedded in this active visual field is a large, carved image, often a figure, but he has also depicted a jar full of fireflies, an eagle, or a subtly colored moth. The relationship between these two elements first engages the viewer in an appreciation of the beauty of the graphic quality in the print and then begins a conversation about our world and our place in it.

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John Buck lives in Montana and Hawaii and has shown his woodcuts and sculptures widely. He created a major bronze sculpture commission for Lewis and Clark College, Portland, Oregon. His work is in the collections of The Art Institute of Chicago, The Brooklyn Museum, The Museum of Modern Art, The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, The Seattle Art Museum, The Library of Congress and many others.

Visiting Artist Steven Holloway

Steven will be talking about his printwork and how it relates to cartography.

Steven is an experienced printmaker, educator and geographer. 

He has been worked at Kala Art Institute in Berkeley , CA , as an artist-in-residence, instructor of lithography and in the artist-in-the-schools program. Previously Steven taught cartography for many years at The University of Montana.

Steven's Website: http://www.tomake.com/responses.html

MATRIX PRESS: Master Prints Exhibition opens October 2nd, 2012 at the Gallery of Visual Arts

(above images:  Richard Mock's, "Deleted" & James Todd's, "Greed" from his 7 Deadly Sins Suite)

This exhibition includes approximately 40 prints created through MATRIX Press, by nationally recognized artists over the course of the past twelve years. The prints from the MATRIX Press collection represent a broad range of artistic and technical approaches to the print.

This touring exhibition will finish up at:  

The University of Montana, Gallery of Visual Arts, Missoula, MT

October 2nd-November 1st, 2012

OPENING RECEPTION: Thursday, October 4th, from 5:00-7:00 pm.

Artists represented in this exhibition include those who have continued the activist tradition of printmaking such as Richard Mock, best known for his cutting political prints that appeared in the New York Times Op-Ed section from 1980-1996 and Miriam Schapiro who was one of the pioneering artists in the Feminist Art movement to Tom Huck, known for his intricately cut woodcuts inspired by the likes of Albrecht Durer. In addition, Colorful abstractions by Arizona artist and past UM alumni John Armstrong show a softer approach to the medium with his whimsical forms, which often reference the landscape. Chicago based artist Tony Fitzpatrick utilizes 50’s style tattoo art in his color etchings, while Canadian Artist Peter Von Tiesenhausen’s boat forms float mysteriously on metallic fields.

-James Bailey

Exhibition Schedule:

Emerson Center for the Arts & Culture-Bozeman,MT

(January 10 - February 28, 2011)

Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art, Great Falls, MT

(June 9 - August 13, 2011)

Hockaday Museum of Art, Kalispell, MT

(September 1 - October 15, 2011)

The University of Montana-Western, Dillion, MT

(November 1 - November 30, 2011)

Professor James Bailey will be giving a gallery talk on Matrix Press and the artists included in the exhibition on Wednesday, November 9th at 6:30 pm in the gallery.

The University of Montana, Gallery of Visual Arts, Missoula, MT

(October 2 - November 1, 2012)