Giving the press a workout at Djilpin Arts

During the workshop at Beswick, a dozen artists participated. Most have been part of previous series of prints and were familiar with etching, so we concentrated on hard ground line and aquatint, with the artists blocking out using BIG ground (an acrylic-based acid resist substitute for smelly bitumen). Djilpin has a small Equinox etching press, so I was able to run a proof of most of the plates with their 3 aquatinted tones by the end of our week there. The work all featured locally sourced plant material – traditionally used for bush medicine or as a food – and senior members of each family worked with younger ones on this handing-on of knowledge.