This newsprint could have been thrown in the trash. In the process of clay monoprinting the clay slab is blotted with newsprint every time a new layer gets inlayed into the design. I spent Saturday June 17th with Mitch Lyons, the originator of clay monoprinting, at his Open Studio in New London, PA.
The images transferred to the newsprint were too interesting to me to just throw out. I decided to save a selection, glue them into a notebook and coat them with gloss varnish to keep them from fading, hoping they will serve as a journal of the prints made that day, a reminder of some of the imagery.
This fragment includes beautiful Chinese decals. Today, our handyman finally installed the air conditioner in my studio, so I am ready to roll (pun intended), and zero in on clay monoprinting for the summer. In addition to moving forward with a new prints, I will hand finish prints already made before photographing and posting them. I got a second slab from Mitch at Open Studio, so I will be able to work on two slabs at once. I will spend another day at Open Studio with Mitch in August, and a three-day workshop with him over Labor Day weekend at Peters Valley School of Craft, but mostly I will have fun with it in my own studio.
It's not only that I am preparing for a solo show of clay monoprints for the Tree Rooms Gallery at Pendle Hill, a Quaker retreat and conference center, that will run from October 5, 2017 through February 1, 2018. It's that I love making clay monoprints! It combines my love of monoprinting and image transfer with the tactility of clay, and offers possibilities for depth and layering that is unique to the clay process. It's wonderful to be able to make prints without a press. I suspect this process will be an important part of my art practice for years to come...
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