PAWA – new web address
The PAWA – Printmakers Assocation of WA website has moved to a new permanent home.
Please take a moment to visit and update your bookmark: http://www.pawa.org.au
President’s Letter
Edward Lear
Edward Lear was an English author and artist. Most people know of him via his nonsense verse. Most readers will be familiar with his poem which begins ‘The Owl and the Pussycat went to sea/in a beautiful pea green boat’. (see Lears drawing below)
He was an accomplished lithographer. He drew and prepared lithographic prints of birds for John Gould’s ‘Birds of Europe’ and ‘Birds of Australia’, although he is rarely given much recognition for this work. However, his master work was a series of lithographic prints of parrots. He published these lithographs in series, intending that they should make up a monograph. This was a work of extraordinary virtuosity, given that he was only a teenager when they were produced. A search in Google ‘Images’ of ‘Edward Lear’s Parrots’ will show you some of them. Like most printmakers, he struggled to make money out of his prints and in the end he gave it up for lack of financial support. This was very sad because he was head and shoulders above all the other bird illustrators of the 19th century and first half of the 20th century. In my opinion, he was much more talented that Audubon and Elizabeth Gould. He would have been startled at the enormous prices now demanded when a volume of the parrot prints comes up for sale at auction.
I became interested in his bird illustrations when I came across them in the 1970s. In the 1980s, whenever I found a good reproduction, I copied them to learn from his drawing technique. Attached is a portion of my copy of Lear’s ‘Eagle Owl’.
Lear’s ambition was to make his living and gain recognition as a landscape painter. His landscapes are pleasing but he never succeeded in his ambition. He was an inveterate traveller and he published several volumes describing his travels. One of them ‘A Landscape Painter in Southern Calabria’ describes his journey around the toe of Italy. This, and his other travel books relating to Albania and Corsica are highly readable even today, and reveal his whimsical sense of humour. He also illustrated his books. ‘Southern Calabria’ is illustrated with lithographs of towns that he visited. One of them is an illustration of ‘Gerace’ which is reproduced below from my copy of this book. In 2009, Sally and I set out to follow in his footsteps in Calabria. We visited Gerace, which is a beautiful hill town frequented by very few tourists, but which has a very comfortable hotel. While there, I had the good fortune to meet one of the descendents of the Scaglione family which provided accommodation to Lear in Gerace in 1848. He is an expert on Edward Lear and has a considerable collection of Lear material. He pointed out to me the room where Lear stayed in his family’s home more than a century and half ago. Lear’s work and Paul Wunderlich’s lithographs fostered my interest and naturally I attended the demonstration weekends organised by PAWA a couple of years ago where we were taught the process of stone lithography.
Until next time, happy printmaking.
Chris Pullin
President’s letter
Paul Wunderlich
Paul Wunderlich died last year on 6 June. He was 83. In my opinion he was one of the great printmakers of the second half of the 20th century. His imagery carries echoes of the surrealists and particularly the slightly hyperreal aspects of Salvadore Dali’s work. He began printmaking as a student in Hamburg in the 1940’s just after the second world war. He has produced etchings, dry points and monoprints, not to mention paintings and sculptures, but his great strength was as a lithographer. Using many, but appropriate adjectives, his lithographs are characterised by confident, delicate, sinuous and graceful lines and curves, subtle shading and an interesting mix of monochrome and colour. The subtle shading in his lithographs, was achieved, I guess, by applying tusche onto the stone with an airbrush. He perfected his technique in the 1960s.
I first saw his work at a solo exhibition at Magda and Doug Sheerer’s Dusseldorf Gallery in 1980 when it was located in Allendale Square. Displayed in the exhibition there were several lithographs, taking motifs from Manet’s “Le dejeuner sur l’herbe”. A portion of one of those prints is reproduced below. It provides an excellent example of his crystal-clear imagery subtle shading technique and graceful linear work.
In the 1990s he worked on a series of dry point etchings. Although these differ from his lithographs and lack colour, they still display his fluid linear style. You will find many examples of his work by searching in Google ‘Images’. He became an important and well recognised figure in Germany and in 2007, Chancellor Merkel opened a new administrative centre in Eberswalde – Wunderlich’s birthplace. The centrepiece of the new complex is the “Paul Wundelich-Haus” in celebration of one of the city’s great sons.
Until next time, happy printmaking.
Chris Pullin. President.
President’s letter
FUTURE ENGINEERING
Alex Ardizzone is the owner of Future Engineering which has been a long time supporter of PAWA. I took the time to call on Alex soon after my election as President. His company is a thriving engineering business, carrying out manufacturing work for the oil and gas industry. It also manufactures etching presses for artists.
Alex’s first contact with PAWA was about 20 years ago when a now deceased member asked him to design a printing press. Starting from scratch, Alex worked out a design and after various improvements now manufactures two standard printing presses. They are the equal of or better than many presses manufactured in Europe or elsewhere in Australia. One of the standard presses is the full sized version which can be seen at the PAWA premises at Tresillian. This a geared model and can be operated by even a slightly built person. The other is a smaller bench press which Alex has donated in the past for acquisitive first prizes in exhibitions sponsored by PAWA. In Alex’s office he has many of the prints acquired from PAWA in past exhibitions.
Alex’s donation of printing presses in the past has provided extremely generous support for our Association and I thought that it was time to thank Alex and Future Engineering, on behalf of all our members, for their long time support. Thank you Alex.
While I was with Alex he showed me images of his presses on one of those splendid software packages which allows an object to be shown and then repositioned to be viewed from any angle by a mere click on the mouse. The drawings are works of art in themselves. If you would like to obtain details of the printing presses which Alex can manufacture, go to the excellent website of Future Engineering at www.futureeng.com.au
If you should want to buy a printing press, then Alex is the person to speak to. And when doing so get him to show you the drawings on his computer
Until next time, happy printmaking.
Chris Pullin. President.
Presidents Letter
JACKSON’S DRAWING SUPPLIES
Jackson’s Drawing Supplies has been, in terms of art supplies, my Aladdin’s cave for over 40 years. I have had some connection with Jacksons for that whole period. My family lived opposite Harry Jackson the founder in the 1960s. I worked at the Subiaco store in my University holidays about 43 years ago. I knew Kevin Jackson who took over the business after his father died and I recently spoke to Michael Boercamp, who is the new owner, and who bought the business from Kevin.
Jackson’s Drawing Supplies has been a supporter of PAWA over the years. The business is now making a special effort to support printmakers by introducing a range of printmaking products and by employing Kathy Borona, who is an accomplished printmaker in her own right.
On 25 September at the Subiaco store, Kathy demonstrated some of the new printmaking products. They included Gamblin relief and etching ink. Also demonstrated were Charbonnel inks, both oil and water based. This latter ink is very adaptable and can be used for both relief and intaglio methods. A copy of the Charbonnel brochure is attached. Jacksons also supply a range of attractive papers which can be used for printmaking, including Arches,BFK Rives, Magnani, Stonehenge and Hahnemuhle. If you want to know whether Jacksons are able to supply products for your particular needs, then you should contact Kathy at the Subiaco store. She will be pleased to hear from you.
Until next time, happy printmaking
Chris Pullin
President
President’s Letter
I mentioned in an earlier letter that I would say something about non toxic waterless lithography.
Non toxic waterless lithography is a planographic printing method. How non toxic is it? And how waterless is it? The answer to the first question is “to some degree”. The answer to the second is “nearly”.
It is certainly less toxic than traditional stone lithography. Traditional lithography employed toxic substances like nitric acid which could burn your fingers down to the bone or blind you in no time. Waterless lithography uses silicone, odourless solvent and acetone. I wouldn’t like to swallow a spoonful of these but at least they don’t cause any noticeable immediate effect on skin. However, gloves should still be worn. Traditional lithography employed thick stones weighing many kilos which could break your back. Waterless lithography uses aluminium sheet about 0.1mm thick weighing a gram or two depending on your plate size.
It is waterless in the sense that silicone, rather than water, is used to repel ink in the areas where you don’t want ink to stick to the plate. The very great advantage of the method is that it is clean to use. Inking up the plate is done on a sheet of MDF or plywood or other material which is coated with silicone. As the roller comes off the plate the ink is repelled by the silicone on the base plate and picked up again by the roller so that there is no messy excess ink around to contend with.
In short, the method involves cleaning up an aluminium plate using water and “Jif” and then
(a) Drawing on the aluminium plate using, inter alia, Sharpie felt tipped pens (which can be bought at Officeworks) or Staedtler Omnicrom pencils.
(b) When the drawing is complete the plate is coated with a mix of silicone (gutter and roofing from Bunnings) and Art Spectrum odourless solvent( from Jacksons Drawing Supplies), buffed off using a roll of tissue (ie toilet paper) and then dried on a hotplate.
(c) When it is dry, acetone on tissue is wiped over the plate and it magically removes the image exposing bare aluminium where the lines were drawn.
(d) The roller is the loaded up with Vanson rubber based ink (which can be bought from MES) and the plate rolled up. The ink sticks to the exposed aluminium (where the drawing was) and is repelled by the silicone mix which remains elsewhere on the plate.
(e) The plate is then placed in an etching press and printed in the usual way. Voila! A print.
Actually, as simple as it sounds (and it is) a demonstration helps to master the technique. If enough interest is shown a demonstration day might be organised sometime in the future. Or you can go to Florence next year and learn from the masters, Annie Day and Robin Ezra. (see my previous letter in PrintNews.)
Until next time, happy printmaking.
Chris Pullin
President
President’s letter
In my first letter I mentioned Il Bisonte. ”Il Bisonte” is a graphic arts school located in Florence where traditional printing methods are taught. The Il Bisonte building is in the Oltrarno (meaning “across the Arno”). It offers long and short courses. An acquaintance of mine told me that she booked a one day course a few weeks ago (although having done so, she then wagged school because she wanted to see the horse race in the square in Siena).
The school was established in the 1959 by Maria Luigia Guaita a woman who was active in the Italian resistance movement in WW2. If you Google her name there is a You Tube clip of her. She died in 2007. In the 1960’s the building was badly damaged in the Arno flood. The refurbishment was supported by a number of international artists…Picasso and Henry Moore to mention just two. Lithographic stones drawn by those two are hanging casually, not to say carelessly, one in the open courtyard and the other in the foyer which is often open to the street.
I went to Il Bisonte in April this year. One of the studios had been hired by the Sydney printmaking sisters Annie Day and Robin Ezra. They are great artists, great printmakers, great teachers and great fun. Over two weeks, under the sisters tutelage, the small group of Australians in the class mastered the technique of “ waterless” lithography, non toxic etching and, equally important, the technique of ordering lasagne and mellanzane from a nearby Forno during the lunch break. I particularly liked the walk to work each morning which took me past Perseus holding up the head of Medusa, along the banks of the Arno and across the Ponte della Grazie looking back at the Ponte Vecchio. I preferred it to my usual journey to work along Stirling highway.
Below is a lithograph printed on one of the Il Bisonte presses from an aluminium plate. I will mention something about the waterless lithography technique in a future newsletter.
Il Bisonte has a website. See www.ilbisonte.it.
Annie Day and Robin Ezra have their own excellent website.
See www.annieday.com.au
Until next time, happy printmaking
Chris Pullin
New President for PAWA
The PAWA committee is delighted to announce the appointment of Chris Pullin as the new president. We would also like to thank all those members who took the time to attenThe PAWA committee is delighted to announce the appointment of Chris Pullin as the new president. We would also like to thank all those members who took the time to attend Saturday’s Extraordinary Meeting, the support and show of commitment to the association are very much appreciated. It is clear that PAWA will be continuing on a strong and enthusiastic footing which will include some exciting new workshops and other initiatives which will be announced at a later date.
In the meantime we will allow Chris to introduce himself…
Letter from the new President
It is a little surprising that I should have been elected President because I have only been printmaking for 3 years. However, in that short time I have managed to produce some etchings, lithographs and silkscreen prints. My interest was stimulated as a result of attending some PAWA workshops. In April this year I spent two weeks in Florence at the Il Bisonte studio working with two highly skilled printmaking sisters from Sydney. I will tell you more about them and about Il Bisonte in future editions of this newsletter.
The first resolution passed at the meeting at which I was appointed President, was that each committee member should do a self-portrait and publish it in Print News along with some notes about themselves or their work. My self-portrait is attached. You should not assume that you will recognise me as a result of seeing it. When I showed it to Sally, my wife, and asked her who it was she said, “Is it Edward Fox?”. Although I have been printmaking for only 3 years I have been drawing, painting or sculpting on and off since the 1950s (which tells you something about my age). Art is a leisure activity for me because my day job keeps me occupied pretty well from dawn to dusk.
PAWA has a strong core of dedicated workers and many of them are on the committee. You will be introduced to them in coming weeks (I hope in each case with a self-portrait). I wish to immediately single out one member of the committee for special mention, and that is Amanda Williams. Amanda is the webmaster and producer of Print News. Without her work PAWA would not be known to many people. Thank you Amanda.
I also have in mind introducing you in due course to some of our commercial backers. Some have supported PAWA for many years with only occasional recognition. They deserve more.
I close by also thanking our immediate past President Sarah Robinson for her fine work during her term in office. Sarah will be continuing on the PAWA committee.
Until next time happy printmaking
Chris Pullin
2010 in review
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this website did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall health:
The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is doing awesome!.
Crunchy numbers
A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 3,100 times in 2010. That’s about 7 full 747s.
In 2010, there were 3 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 31 posts. There were 31 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 7mb. That’s about 3 pictures per month.
The busiest day of the year was January 13th with 52 views. The most popular post that day was Press Hire.
Where did they come from?
The top referring sites in 2010 were pawa.iinet.net.au, mail.live.com, collaboration.det.wa.edu.au, mail.yahoo.com, and search.conduit.com.
Some visitors came searching, mostly for empty heart, printmakers association of wa, kati thamo, empty, and collagraph.
Attractions in 2010
These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.
Press Hire September 2009
Print Media Winners 2009 August 2009
About PAWA August 2009
Members’ Pages August 2009
Becoming a member August 2009
