Merrepen Arts Workshop in the Territory in June

It was great to reunite with the Merrepen Arts gang again after a few years’ break. We have concentrated on completing older editions in recent years, but now it’s time for new images and a whole new medium. Since I’m doing collagraph workshops in a number of places this year, I thought I’d see what these guys would make of it. They are great designers and the “new” medium proved to be very accessible. Within a day or so, the artists were inventing ways to make tones, textures and lines with lino tools, squeeze bottles of PVA and gesso, to name a few things, and I was able to concentrate on proofing the plates as fast as they were made. No nasty acid, no solvents, no expensive etching plates…it can all be brought on the plane (as long as the planes are running). This beautiful print by Kieren Karritpul was made by cutting out the mat board shapes and working over them with a fine needle and glue. Watch out for more. We did 30 new editions/images!