A great group of local artists, many but not all from Port Townsend, who use some level of printmaking in their work. Some members are experienced print makers, art school or print shop trained in a variety of printmaking techniques, others have learned from workshops, books, watching, and most of all working in the print shop. Some members focus on printmaking as their primary art medium, and many members incorporate printmaking in mixed media work, or as an alternative to other media.
The range of printmaking techniques provides for considerable variety in process and result, and the potential for that element of surprise is a good part of the satisfaction. Printers inks (oil or water based) have a richness and saturation of color not readily found elsewhere, and the tactile sensory aspect of printmaking is an excellent counterpoint to an office environment or other more abstract processes, such as digital photography.
Enjoy some of the prints by Corvidae printmakers on our Artist Page.
The print shop is a wonderful space in Bldg 205, Fort Worden State Park that we lease from Centrum (thank you Centrum!). Find more information and photos of the print shop on our facility page.
Corvidae Press is a member run non-profit group with an elected board of three officers and up to four members-at-large.. Officers are president, treasurer and secretary. The Board meets monthly at the print shop and all members are welcome to attend. We rent our facility from Centrum: members pay annual dues that cover our rent and the cost of some basic supplies supplied at the print shop. Our membership year matches the calendar year, so the Guild orients new members in January. We encourage interested printmakers to contact us at any time.
Guild members run and maintain the print shop. We are all volunteers. Members volunteer to purchase supplies, coordinate and run workshops, train new members, staff the studio during events, coordinate print exchanges and exhibits. In addition, members have the less glamorous duties of sweeping the floors and taking out the trash: we do it all.
Most Guild workshops are for our membership, but are opened to the public as space and enrollment permit. We will publicize such openings in our workships, and we hold occasional introductory workshops designed for non-members. We provide orientation training for new members as required.
Printmaking techniques are generally divided into the following basic categories:
Relief, where ink is applied to the original surface of the matrix. Relief techniques include: woodcut or woodblock as the Asian forms are usually known, wood engraving, linocut and metalcut;
Intaglio, where ink is applied beneath the original surface of the matrix. Intaglio techniques include: engraving, etching, mezzotint, aquatint, drypoint, and photogravure;
Planographic, where the matrix retains its original surface, but is specially prepared and/or inked to allow for the transfer of the image. Planographic techniques include: lithography, monotyping, and digital techniques.
Stencil, where ink or paint is pressed through a prepared screen, including: screenprinting and pochoir.
Other types of printmaking techniques outside these groups include collagraphy, viscosity printing, and foil imaging. Collagraphy is a printmaking technique in which textured material is adhered to the printing matrix. This texture is transferred to the paper during the printing process. Contemporary printmaking may include digital printing, photographic mediums, or a combination of digital, photographic, and traditional processes.
The print shop and the big press have been at Fort Worden for many years (yes, a better history of the print shop would be nice to have!). Many artists used the print shop through the Centrum Artist Residency program, and other local printmakers gained access through occasional workshops and by renting the facility for a few days at a time. In 2003 Centrum encourage some of these printmakers to organize and make more use of this great studio, since the presses were getting so little use.
In November 2006 Corvidae Press was founded, and contracted with Centrum to lease the print shop. Activities and equipment were consolidated, and new darkroom created in one of the two rooms. The significant equipment included the large American French Tool press, the smaller Ettan press, a locally built vacuum exposure unit, a large photographic sink, and the wonderful space with work tables & shelves.
Since then the Guild has acquired a third (Whelan) press and a commercial vacuum exposure unit, along with flat files and a print drying rack. With 24 hour access to the studio, printmakers enjoy good use of the facility; they come and go at anytime.
We have sponsored a regional juried printmakers' exhibit at Northwind Arts Center, The Printmaker's Hand, and coordinated several exhibits of prints by Guild members at local venues, including the Undertown Coffee Bar, the Salal Cafe, and in our own printshop during APT Studio Tours.
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