I am excited and honored to be Wichita State University’s visiting artist October 22nd to 24th, including this solo exhibition complete with a presentation at 4pm in room 210 on Thursday October 24th followed by a reception in the gallery from 5 to 6pm.

I am a collaborator at heart which is probably why this is my first solo exhibition in 20 years – wow, where did the time go?? I am thrilled to share these bodies of work that reflect a reverence for nature, narrative, place and history. The exhibit features 105 objects in series that span topics from animal terrorists to beneficial insects, to land conservation, to rural, agrarian, and city histories entwined with folk tales and literary works.

I would be most grateful for your attendance at the presentation and reception on October 24th!

Many thanks to Marco Hernandez and everyone at WSU who have helped make this happen – I’m so thankful.

Read the insightful review that Kevin Kelly wrote about the exhibit online at THE SHOUT.

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The Ruling Machine: Wood Engraving’s Secret Weapon (live online) Monday October 25, 1pm EDT

Wood Engraving course Saturday, (live online) October 30, 10:00 am – Noon PDT (1-3pm EDT)

Join Joanne Price for this interactive wood engraving introduction — from sketches to finished proof, all in two hours! Part discussion, part demonstration, this edition of Long-Distance Letterpress will examine how miniature imagery can make a big impact. Participants are encouraged to ask any questions and receive a print of the demonstration block by mail. It’s going to be BIG!
Register today!

I was thrilled to be a participant in Bernheim Arboretum & Research Forest’s Bug-a-Palooza events in September:
The Beauty of Bugs panel discussion lead by Bernheim’s Jenny Zeller with guest artists Joanne Price, Shannon Amidon, Angel Yoon Kyung Cho, and Bob Drake. My section starts right about the 33:40 mark.

On September 18th I led an in-person Insect Mural Collaborative Project – free for anyone attending Bug-a-Palooza at Bernheim. It was loads of fun!

Watch for When Children Ruled the World, by Sena Jeter Naslund (Ahab’s Wife), published by Larkspur Press. I worked long and hard to get 9 wood engraved illustrations (8 shown above) finished this summer (and into autumn). The book is printed using hand-set type and illustrations printed directly from the original woodblocks. It’s a gem of a child’s Christmas story at remarkably reasonable prices for such artisan work.

Thanks for reading!
Joanne Price

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Craa-ack! As relief print artists we don’t talk often about the mistakes, accidents, or failures that lead us to a final composition, color choice, or resolution. Or how those accidents sometimes have nothing to do with aesthetics, rather they were hard lessons about materials, physics, chemistry, patience, and/or common sense. So, I’m going to share my most embarrassing wood engraving mishaps with hopes that we can have a great discussion, learn from others’ mistakes, and swap disaster stories! – Joanne Price

Anyone is welcome to join the conversation (you don’t need to be a WEN member) — bring your disaster stories and your questions — this should be a cracker!

If you missed this exciting event, WATCH THE RECORDING: https://youtu.be/PCPx51ni1E4

Find out what disaster struck this reductive self portrait…

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Wood engraving creates fine details with bold woodcut characteristics, perfect for adding illustrations to letterpress cards, artist books, graphic novels, comic books, broadsides, or as stand-alone images. Learn to cut your own original drawings into miniature end-grain hardwood blocks and print them in a limited edition. Instruction will cover materials, creating and transferring images, tool sharpening, engraving and proofing. It is the perfect at-home print process – portable, meditative, no printing press is necessary and now with water soluble oil based inks, clean up is safe and easy at home.

Join me in a way that meets your level of comfort and needs in 2021: year 2 of a global pandemic:

In-Person Wood Engraving Intensive at John C. Campbell Folk School August 1 – 7, 2021

Join me for a week-long wood engraving workshop at the John C. Campbell Folk School August 1 through August 7, 2021.
We will use the Folk School’s printing presses and airy, spacious, and light-filled print classroom among the mountains of North Carolina.
This is a great course for beginners and intermediate skill levels. No previous experience is necessary, but it is helpful to previous drawing experience.

This will be an in-person course with precautions taken for Covid-19. Register by calling 1800-365-5724. OR visit the course listing online to register: https://classes.folkschool.org/class_details.aspx?pk=23617

Wood Engraving: Virtual Live and Recorded Instruction (8-hours total), 4 Wednesdays: June 2 through June 23, 2021.

Learn to cut a design into end-grain hardwood blocks through a combination of pre-recorded video demonstrations and live meetings via Zoom. Each participant will receive a class kit prior to the workshop. Instruction during 4 sessions covers material basics, creating and transferring images, tool sharpening, engraving, DIY printing, plus Pro tips and tricks.

This is a great course for beginners and intermediate skill levels. No previous experience is necessary, but it is helpful to have some previous drawing experience.
Perfect for those who have difficult schedules – all live class meetings will be recorded and available for viewing (streaming only) during the workshop and a couple weeks after until July 11, 2021. So you can watch any classes you missed at anytime!

Held via Zoom Wednesday nights 8pm–10pm ET: June 2, 9, 16 and 23

For specific supplies information and to register < click the underlined text

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Wood engraving creates delicate, fine details with bold woodcut characteristics, perfect as stand-alone images, or as illustrations to letterpress holiday cards, artist’s books, or posters. Learn to cut your own original drawings into end-grain hardwood blocks and print them in a limited edition. Instruction will cover all parts of the process – materials, creating and transferring images, tool sharpening, engraving, and proofing. All levels welcome – some drawing experience helpful, but not required.

This class is designed for beginners and intermediate students of wood engraving — you’ll learn everything you need to know to cut your own original drawings into end-grain hardwood blocks and print them in a limited edition. Frogman’s Print Workshop is an institution — an organization that is known as a crossroads for print cross-pollination and print networking.

You’re not just learning a new print skill at Frogman’s – you’ll have a FULL in-person experience including special activities including a faculty lecture series, open portfolio viewing sessions, gallery crawls, and costumed bowling tournaments. Expect barbecues, pool parties, karaoke, fireworks, and free concerts. The workshop will culminate in a very special final banquet. More information regarding these activities will accompany your confirmation packet. Be prepared for anything!

Sign up today on Frogman’s website: http://frogmans.net/workshop-info/#price

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After finishing the engraving, the block was printed on the very same printing press that Melanie VanHouten (JSP Artistic Director) helped me move into my studio on a frigid day in January 2017! The “Thank you” cards received the same royal treatment as the engraving – going through sketches, color and font selections – before a final design was selected. While the card was digitally designed, the printing process is the same as the engraving — printed on my 1925 Chandler & Price clamshell press. For a sculpture park, I wanted to get a really nice embossment of the design in the paper — creating a sculptural relief — from relief printmaking! The card’s paper, Flurry, is made using wind and hydro energy — responsible environmental choices are the default for Starpointe Studio and JSP.

Photograph of the old tobacco barn – ant’s eye view. (Photo credit to Joanne Price, June 7, 2018)

Panoramic photo with newly planted trees and soon to be planted native flowers and grasses for prairie restoration on the south side of the driveway to Josephine Sculpture Park. Photo credit to Joanne Price, June 7, 2018.

One of several sketches first submitted to Artistic Director, Melanie VanHouten, for approval.

After making some changes to the drawing/composition, a final sketch is ready to be transferred to the 3 x 4 inch endgrain Maple wood block for engraving.

The end grain block with drawing transferred and engraving process begun. The surface of the block is toned with black printer’s ink to help my brain remember that what I carve away will be white. Some elements of the drawing are further clarified and/or decided as I engrave.

Further progress on engraving. The white is a chalk I use to help me see the lines better. In wood engraving, the block is cut by hand with tools called burins – one tiny line/mark at a time.

The finished print displayed above the engraved block. Notice that the image is reversed.

And finally the green part of the “Thank you” card being printed on my 1925 antique printing press.

And then, 2019’s end of the year thank you note to donors (who gave over a certain amount) received a handsome bookmark with part of this image — printed directly from the woodblock with some hand-set metal type. Josephine Sculpture Park is a favorite place of mine — supporting art in Kentucky, serving a largely rural area, creating a space where science and art can come together (ie: NASA Museum Alliance Night Sky Tours, Frankfort Audubon Society programming), and JSP’s commitment to nature and art education, and sustainable land stewardship. JSP supports all the things that I love and believe in! If you’ve never visited JSP before — you should visit now — they are open everyday, 365 days a year. Find the sculptures I used in the print! Hint — they are not where I have drawn them.

Illustration with hand-set metal type.

Front and back of the 2019 “thank you” bookmark.

The post Josephine Sculpture Park Special Commission Project! appeared first on Starpointe Studio.

I started by drawing directly on the block.

This print was originally printed with a construction steamroller at the Portland Museum in Louisville, Kentucky. The free public event was organized by Rachel Singel of the University of Louisville and supported in part by a grant from Burning Man.

The edition was printed on a large Takach Press at the University of Kentucky with printing assistance from Charles VanMeter.

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Cutting the block is very physical and obviously there is a huge amount of wood chips created from a block this big!

These prints take a lot of work and planning and sometimes I don’t get things right the first time, which is easy to forget when I’m only posting the finished pieces and not every step of the process. As I was cutting the 18 x 24 inch woodblock, I realized I should have included a prey animal to allude to the hunting tradition. So, I decided that I would add a little rabbit as part of the screen printed colors.

3 of the 5 screen printed colors complete – the 6th color comes from the woodblock.

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This class is designed for beginners and intermediate students of wood engraving — you’ll learn everything you need to know to cut your own original drawings into end-grain hardwood blocks and print them in a limited edition. Instruction will cover all parts of the process – materials, creating and transferring images, tool sharpening, engraving, setting printer’s type by hand, and proofing. Finish the week with two engravings and a collaborative book — the perfect way to start your own art collection! All levels welcome — some drawing experience helpful, but not required.

Register today!

This class would make a great primer for anyone also interested in going to the Wood Engravers’ Network (WEN) annual conference — celebrating 25 years of this exciting graphic medium at Hamilton Wood Type Museum  July 29–August 3, 2019. The Wells Book Arts Summer Institute boasts an impressive line-up of WEN connections — you’ll be in good company with this Book Arts Dream Team no matter what workshop you take!

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