Three artists celebrate the wonders of printmaking at The Upstairs Gallery in Peddler’s Village.
By: Anthony Stoeckert
The piece of wood is about half an inch thick, 18 inches wide and three feet long, with curved lines incised into its surface. For the untrained eye it seems unlikely that these indentations represent the first steps in the creation of a work of art, but David Hoke has a vision and a plan. When it’s finished, "Pink" will consist of two bodies a pink woman and a blue man with the male and female symbols placed throughout.
"Pink" is a wood reduction-in-progress. Mr. Hoke makes it in steps by carving into the wood, printing the image, then carving into the wood again.
"Eventually I’ll print all blue, this will all be gone," he says of the grooves in the wood. "I’ll take this all out and I’ll print blue and I’ll start carving away (another) area." When completed the whole image will be removed from the wood and he’ll use what’s left for the green background.
Mr. Hoke, who lives in Furlong, Pa., is one of three artists whose work is being shown in The Printmakers, an exhibit at The Upstairs Gallery in Peddler’s Village in Lahaska, Pa. In addition to displaying (and hoping to sell) their work, the artists want to educate the public about printmaking, which artist Barbara Zietchick describes as a transfer from a matrix to a paper.
"The matrix may be a woodblock, a piece of linoleum, an etching plate of zinc or copper, or a Plexiglas plate," Ms. Zietchick of New Hope, Pa., says in an e-mail. "Lithographs are a whole genre of printmaking, called planographic, or smooth, based on the premise that oil and water do not mix. Either a stone or aluminum plate is treated so that ink can adhere to some places, and water to others, and thus the print is made."
As Mr. Hoke explains it, there are four basic mediums used in printmaking: intaglio, where grooves in metal plates are printed; wood cutting, in which the surface beneath the lines is printed; lithography; and silk screen. The artist has to decide which medium to use, what he or she wants to create and how to use the medium.
Mr. Hoke is particularly fond of woodcutting. His abstracts are defined by their colors and swirling shapes. Two pieces, titled "Pulsate," have the same pattern and were made from the same piece of wood. After making the first one, he used different colors and carved it out more to create a different effect within the pattern.
"It’s a process and you can change your mind as you’re going along," he says. "If you don’t have a total idea of what you’re doing, as you’re working you can come up with ideas."
Mr. Hoke’s "Movements," made from two woodcut reductions, features orange and green tubular swirls flowing over a sea of circles, pinwheels and string-like lines. The piece consists of numerous colors, and each was carved into the wood separately. Creating it required a vision of the finished piece and lots of patience. Most of Mr. Hoke’s pieces take between six to eight weeks to complete "Movements" took two and a half months.
Liz Gates uses woodcuts to express her personality and sense of humor. Two of her works in the exhibit are signs sharing the message, "Let an umbrella be your smile." The words "umbrella," "be" and "smile" are represented by images of an umbrella, a bumble bee and a smile. A similar sign asks people to keep their "sunny side up" (a sun and upward-pointing arrow helping to spread the message).
These images are carved into two pieces of wood, which Ms. Gates placed on a wooden stand, a piece of wax paper between the pieces and the stand. She hand-rubbed the images using a wooden spoon.
"I took them out of my kitchen and if it has a piece of masking tape around the handle that means it’s not to be used for stirring," she says. Gotta keep the oil paints out of the sauce.
Ms. Gates, who lives in Doylestown, Pa., raised children and started taking art classes when they were in high school. Discovering ways of using wooden spoons and wax paper in her art obviously comes from the time she’s spent in her kitchen. She also has "eureka" moments when she comes across common objects and sees opportunities for creation (she has plans for a doily she found). For these artists, an old piece of wood is a thing of beauty.
"That’s what’s good about being an artist, you can take the medium and develop your own ideas. And there’s always an idea," Ms. Gates says. She works in other mediums as well: watercolors, oils and pastels. "But I always go back to printmaking," she says.
Some of Ms. Gates’ work combines lithography and painting in a way that resembles stained glass. The lead-like black border of the pieces are lithographs and the details were hand-painted with gouache. One of these is a tulip, the other features butterflies that are somewhat abstract in shape.
Among Ms. Zietchick’s most popular works are her renderings of ocean life, fitting for a self-described avid snorkeler. The exhibit features colorful images of fish, lobsters, turtles, starfish, seahorses, even mermaids. These are monotypes, which Ms. Zietchick creates with a plate of Plexiglas and oil-based etching inks.
She starts by painting her image onto the plate and removing excess ink with a rubber tip. Then she’ll use a paintbrush, Q-tips or sticks to add detail and design to the image.
"Then, I dampen printmaking paper, which is very soft and strong," she says. "When the paper is damp, I place it over the Plexiglas plate. I put the sandwich of the plate and the paper on the flat press bed of the etching press and place some thick blankets over it. I then roll it through the press." The painting is then transferred from the Plexiglas to the paper, resulting in a monotype. "It is called a ‘painterly print’ because the brushstrokes and other details are so evident in the print," she says.
"It’s different from painting," Mr. Hoke says of printmaking. "Everybody kind of understands painting, but with these different techniques it’s harder to describe. If I don’t have a piece of wood and somebody asks me, ‘What’s a wood cut reduction?’ it’s hard to describe for them so that they can understand how you’re pulling away a little at a time."
The Printmakers is on view at The Upstairs Gallery, Peddler’s Village Shop #10, Route 202, Lahaska, Pa., through May 4. Hours: Sun.-Thurs. 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 10 a.m.-9 p.m. (215) 794-8486; www.theupstairsgallery.com