printmaking | Beth Emmott

This is the archive for the ‘printmaking’ Category

Documentation

March 13th, 2023

This has been a very difficult time personally and I haven’t been in my studio for a while. In one month, I both broke my tibia and worst on March 4th lost my brother, Senter, to cancer.

I still haven’t been able to work but have started to document some smaller work I’ve done this past year in a small sketchbook. Mostly mark making, collage, and simple printing, resulting in mixed media books and other explorations. Some of this work was done in courses lead by Lorna Crane and by Sally Tyrie through Fiber Arts Take Two. Revisiting work is calming, a chance to slow down and think about my direction – how will this work influence future projects. I still have a ways to go with this documentation but here are some results to date. It’s a work in progress.

Image of Mark Making Book Image of Marks on Fabric
Mark Making Explorations: 1. Mark Making Book, 2. Painted Fabric Samples

Image of Print-Incoming Tide Image of Marks and Prints
1. Print: Incoming Tide, 2. Small collage using various types of simple printing

Image of Nature Studies Image of deconstructed explorations
1. Prints, acetate images and machine stitches, from a series of 14, 2. More explorations, didn’t go with these

Image of Artist Book-Closed Image of Artist Book-Open
Three earlier fabric books, combined together with a leather cover. I’m still working on the cover.

Reveal and Conceal

February 24th, 2023

Very happy my project was featured on the cover of the Fiber Arts/taketwo “Reveal and Conceal” exhibition online catalog. Titled “Forest Floor”, this piece consisted of a monoprint cover tied with handspun wool. Inside is a semitransparent page with a collagraph print on dyed teabag paper. Concealed under this page is a small print from acetate which is revealed when open. It is one of a series of eight.

Image of Forest Floor Project
“Reveal and Conceal” exhibition catalog cover

Acetate Printing

December 29th, 2022

I’ve been exploring using images printed on acetate with a solvent to print the image on paper – by hand, no press. A bit tricky, need a light touch and some luck so the solvent doesn’t smear yet the image does transfer. Here are a couple of my first images that I’m happy with – after lots of unsuccessful tests. Now to register an image on the paper and create a clean print – while keeping a light touch etc…

Image of an acetate transfer
“In Coming Tide”

Image of an acetate transfer
“Debris”

Layers

December 6th, 2022

My second course was with Sally Tyrie. She focused on developing a body of work with a single theme. Here is one of my series. The base layer is mono printed on paper with acetate layers on top. I digitally printed the acetate with my photographs I had manipulated in Photoshop. The final layer is machine stitched to add texture and to hold it together. The concept for this group was taken from walks at both the Jersey Shore and the Wissahickon Creek. This was very fun!

Image of group of layered work
“Mixed Media Layering”

Sweet Gum Prints

July 23rd, 2018

Spent the afternoon a few weeks ago in the Eastern Neck National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland. Didn’t have a lot of time but we walked around, some photography and I collected leaves of Sweetgum Trees. I love their long pointy shapes and when I got home I made this little book of leaf prints.

I haven’t made the cover yet but I’m thinking of a series of leaf books from travels this summer. We’ll see…

In the mean time I did make a sketch book from watercolor paper… and did start working in it. Small sketch of hostas in our back garden.

A simple cardboard cover, closed with a rubber band, with accordion pages of Archers Watercolor paper. My plan is for the simple cover to contrast with a plethora of sketches inside. This is a start.

Monoprints with plants

May 23rd, 2017

I’ve been wanting to do something with leaves etc that I saved from last spring and summer and now that my eyes are on the mend I decided to try some mono printing. I have previously printed from natural objects that were glued to a base and ran through a press but I don’t currently have a press and I wanted to try various ways of using the same material more than once. These leaves have been sitting in a pile on my table all winter and finally ended up in a bag hanging from my bulletin board so the time had come.

First tests of monoprinting with plants

Some were used alone, some in combination with each other, and some repeated in the same print. I used a mix of red, green, and yellow inks as well as straight black. Some results are more successful than others but I really am excited about the whole process and may combine this with some of my rusty bit prints.

I love the look of these leaves after they were used for printing.

Here are the leaves I used (and the “helicopters” from the maple trees). Think they will have a future life as well!