Why is it that making prints in a new place is so invigorating? I really don’t know, but I love it. Perhaps it’s something about mixing the familiar with the unknown. The excitement of something new and different, amidst the universality of the smells, the tools, the equipment etc. is both challenging and comforting.
I’ve been teaching and making prints at the Hui No’eau Visual Arts Center in Makawao, Hawaii for a week. It’s a beautiful art center on a gorgeous property on Maui, on the slopes of Haleakala crater. It’s green and lush, with strange bird sounds, crazy vegetation, nearly constant rainbows, a plethora of spider webs and a resident toad the size of a large man’s fist! The printshop is in an old carriage house. Walking in, the exotic mixes with the familiar as I notice the three massive presses are perfectly to scale in the space. The shop is run by the incomparable Tania Arens. Under her stewardship, the studio is nearly fully non toxic. The old solvent smells have been replaced by the aroma of vegetable oil and coffee, used in non-toxic coffee lift ground.
Working in the shop late at night, I am the only person on the grounds. Inside, my music is blasting, my Caligo Safewash Inks are loving the humid environment and my prints are delighting me as they come off the press. Outside, the Hawaiian night is luminous with stars and just the sliver of a moon. It is breezy and the birds are still singing. There is the soft scent of ocean water and rich earth. The toad stares up at me before hopping away.
Thank you to printmaking, for the unforgettable experiences. This year, for Print Day in May on May 4th, we will get the chance to peak inside print shops around the globe. Please post pictures of your print space, be it a university art department, community studio, garage, driveway or kitchen. We want to see it all!
Register at www.printdayinmay.com Upload a blog post of your own! Share on social using #printdayinmay2019
