Torpedo Factory Art Center
September 10, 2011
On Saturday, September 10 a group of Chesapeake Chapter members toured three artists' studios at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, Virginia, and got an up-close and personal view of printmaking, adding to our experiences with ink on paper.
The Torpedo Factory Art Center is home to over 165 artists working in 82 artist studios which are open to the public.
A Torpedo Factory studio is truly unique. In one space, an artist creates, displays, discusses, and sells his or her artwork. Not only can you shop for original artwork in the studios, you can also get a first-hand look at the artistic process.
Rosemary Covey / wood engraving
Rosemary Covey was our first studio stop and she talked about her work which stemmed from wood engraving. The studio was a mixture of artist studio and gallery which gave a good impression of how the Torpedo Factory space was used by the 80+ artists in the space. Above you can see Doug Ward, Rosemary, Chris Sweterlitsch, Jackie Coleburn, Jim Wilder, Jill Cypher, and Mike Denker.
Covey's engravings can be found in major museum and library collections around the world, including the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the New York Public Library Print Collection, the National Museum of American History, Harvard University, the National Library of Australia, the Papyrus Institute in Cairo Egypt, and many others. Covey has lectured on wood engraving nationally and internationally and she has illustrated books for children and adults.
In the background you can see Rosemary's Vandercook press used to make her prints along with a variety of applications of her wood engravings, including framed prints, wall murals, book illustrations, and decorative boxes.
John Johnson and Mike Denker pay close attention to the discussion.
A block of boxwood and two burins used in wood engraving which can achieve a very thin line in the image resulting in an amazing level of detail. Various fruit woods are also used for wood engraving.
Rosemary talked about her interest in combining multiple wood engravings to create a new single image. A nice sense of history was evident in the library shelf of wood engravings in Rosemary's studio.
Penny Barringer / stone lithography
Discover Graphics Atelier, Inc., a nonprofit workshop founded in 1983, is a fully equipped printmaking studio under the direction of Penny Barringer. The workshop has two etching and two lithographic presses and all the necessary equipment for quality printmaking. Classes are offered in a wide range of printmaking techniques through the Art League School. Workshops are offered year round.
Penny, on the right, addresses our group while passing around samples covering a wide range of lithographic techniques.
Penny demonstrates a levigator using a mixture of water and abrasive grit (carborundum) to grain a stone which also removes the former image.
Learning to ink the stone with the right balance of ink and water to make a consistent edition of prints takes experience and the right touch.
One of the interesting elements to the demo was inking the stone with too little water which caused the entire stone to be covered with ink. A 'quick' swipe with a damp sponge and the roller and it was gone. That was a very strange moment to those of us who had never seen it before.
Doug Ward and Chris Sweterlitsch look like they are comparing printing stories.
Carolyn Witschonke / printmaker
For over 20 years Printmakers Inc. has been a workshop/gallery where professional printmakers share facilities, materials and ideas while interacting with and educating the public about this artform. The studio is distinguised by a wall of soaring windows overlooking the Potomac River.
Joan Boudreau, who set up our Torpedo Factory visit, is second from the right.
And this is that view.
Currently nine award-winning printmakers make this place the center for their creativity; a place that stimulates both friendship and art as well as technical expertise. Art by Printmakers Inc. members has been collected by numerous museums, organizations and corporations, including the Library of Congress, Johns Hopkins University, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, British Airways, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, IBM, Dickenson College, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
An interesting hands-on experience, hunched over a tray of bubbling nitric acid (not nearly as dangerous as that sounds), swishing away bubbles with a feather to let the acid eat away at the copper plate that had been drawn on by everyone present.
Around the Torpedo Factory there were a gazillion places to eat and wonderful places to sit and spend the rest of our day. Someone must have known we were coming because they set up a street fair for us.
This is a view of the 6-block street fair with artists covering every imaginable media going on the same day. It was a nice art day all around.
Special thanks go to Joan Boudreau and the Progam Committee for setting up this nice view of the Torpedo Factory for the chapter.
Photography and text by Ray Nichols & Jill Cypher.
