Get Your Art on Buffet, Part Deux
with Traci Bunkers
September 12-14th, 2008

Get Your Art on Buffet: Part Deux is a 3-day workshop buffet of experimental printmaking and mixed-media art gluttony. I'll be fueling your hungry souls with an art diet full in protein to keep you energized long after you leave. All 3 courses are intertwined, building on and taking from each other to make a weekend full of tasty treats! We'll use the prints made from our alternative methods to make a Printable Matter artist's book and also as collage material in our self-portraits. My method of teaching is fun, inspirational and easygoing, making each course stress-free and enjoyable for everyone. No experience is required! You'll go home with a "Printable Matter" mixed-media artist's book, original printed collage material, a funky-sugary-sweet self-portrait, handmade printing blocks, and gocco screens to continue printing with at home using the techniques you learn in class. Because this gluttonous workshop buffet has so much to offer, you might get full before you are finished. Never fear! You'll go home full of the knowledge and information-filled handouts to be able to finish up the leftovers at home. After a weekend with me, you will look at the oddities from dollar stores, thrift stores and garage sales in a whole new light, and you will never be able to pass one up.

There is a materials fee of $20 to cover gocco screens, inks, and bulbs; blocking material, and lots of other goodies used in class, most of which you get to keep.

(Some of the Gocco machines used in class will be available for purchase. Please let me know in advance if you are interested in buying one.)

       

First & Second Courses, Friday & Saturday: Printmaking à Gogo
I'll introduce you to the world of experimental printmaking using ordinary & not so ordinary tools. You will learn to use various monoprinting methods, including building your own printing blocks to create multiple layered pages through repetition and patterning. These printed pages can be used as collage materials for our self-portraits, the pages in our artist's book, and also as the foundation for our next process: the Print Gocco (pronounced go-ko).

The Gocco is a portable, self-contained Japanese silk-screen gadget that combines screen-printing with rubber stamping. It's easy to use, you can print several colors at the same time on one piece, and make multiple prints that are all alike or different-- it is immediate gratification at it's best!

I will teach you the basics of gocco printing and also alternative gocco printing methods. You'll learn how to burn a screen using photocopies of your own images or drawings, and how to print it on paper, all using the gocco machine. And, I'll take you outside of the box, showing you various alternative methods using the gocco as the foundation. With these methods, you can create multiple prints of the same image, and one-of-a-kind monoprints through layering and stenciling. The wonderful prints that you made can stand alone as works of art, and can also be used as collage material for our self-portraits and as pages in our artist's book.

After creating our prints, we’ll alter a book to house our pages in a hinged format, making it a book like you’ve never seen. We'll also develop the book cover in the same experimental printmaking manner. These techniques and tools can be used as backgrounds that are a spring board to take your artwork to the next level. When finished, your Printable Matter Book will be a unique printed book that is a work of art in itself, the groundwork for an artist book or visual journal, or a valuable reference book for future printmaking projects.

 

  

Third course, Sunday: Uber Self-Portraits
Even if you have no painting or drawing skills, in this process & project oriented class, you can create a mixed-media self-portrait that is larger than life and out of this world in coolness. Not only will I show you how to make this 16”x 20” work of art, I’ll also show you the beauty in looking big and working big. We’ll paint, draw, collage and stamp on top of blown-up photo copies to create a piece of art that blurs the line between a photograph and a painting. Some of the alternative prints made in the first two courses can be used as collage material. The process is started in pieces and then joined together to be finished as a whole. It can be mounted in class on a stretched canvas or canvas board so it’s ready for framing. Or, you can mount or frame it when you get home. This project is also great for experimenting with different coloring materials or mark making techniques. (Note: you don't have to use a self-portrait, but . . . )

   

(Note: A few years ago, Riso, the company who makes the print gocco machine, stopped distributing them to the U.S. and the machines and supplies were hard to find. But now they are available again! So don't listen to the rumors. They are gaining popularity so you can easily find the machines and supplies through mail order and some art supply stores.)

Supply List:
• Basic Tools: Scissors, Glue stick, Exacto knife & sharp blades, straight-edge/ruler at least the height of your book
• roll of clear packing tape
• small, plastic palette knife
• a few old credit card type cards (these will get ink on them!)
• A thin, hardback book without a glossy cover (kid's books are great) that has at least 40-60 pages. (20-30 actual pages if counting front & back of page as 1)
• paper about the size of your book. The paper can be anything that is absorbent and will hold up to getting wet--no glossy paper. At least 20 pages. The more you have, the more you can experiment on. You can also use the pages IN the book if they aren't glossy. The paper can be all different: printed, watercolor, etc.
• Copies of several designs you want to print using the Gocco. (NOTE: Must be black and white TONER copies or prints (NOT ink jet). And, must be no larger than 4"x 6". High contrast, bold images work best. Photos with gradual shading don't work.)
• 1 large sheet of fun foam
• Various coloring materials: Acrylic paints (cheap craft paints are fine), water soluble oil pastels, watercolor crayons, markers, etc.
• a few cheap, fat, round stiff paint brushes--like stencil brushes. Cheap kid's brushes work fine. Also a cheap 1” and small round for detail.
• collage materials for yourself
• a small bag of collage material to share
• permanent stamp pads (Staz-on works best!) and stamps
• gel medium
• Brayer
• Small roll of permanent double-sided tape
• small cutting mat
• water container
• apron
• self-portrait photograph prepared and copied as listed under “Homework”

Optional items or suggestions to enhance the class project:
• Hair dryer or heat gun to speed up the drying process.
• Anything with texture that you want to try to print with or use as a stencil
• Small paper brads & eyelets (and tools to use them)
• needle, thread & beads if you want to sew/embellish
• decorative tapes
• 16” x 20” stretched canvas or canvas board (I prefer to mount it on either stretched canvas or canvas board to finish working on it as a whole, but for ease in packing, you might choose to do it at home.)

Instructor will provide:
I will supply plexiglass, foam core, paper towels, wax paper, the Print Gocco Machine(s), screens, bulbs, inks, blocking material, blotter paper, screen cleaner, gloves, baby wipes, and the wonderful and weird materials for the printing blocks.

Homework:
This is easier than it sounds! I’m just being very explicit!

Mark your self-portrait photo on the back at the center of the lengths & widths. Cut in half each way: this gives you 4 equally sized quadrants. (Example: 4” x 6” photo would have 4 pieces 2” x 3”; 8” x 10” would give you 4” x 5” pieces)

Take to Kinko’s-type place to make color copies (must be toner based on medium-weight paper because we will be getting them wet! No Inkjet prints.). Copy each section, enlarging it enough to be anywhere from 7” x 9” to 8”x10”. The size is approximate and it might not meet those measurements both directions depending on your original size. Be sure all sections are enlarged the same percentage! (Example, with your 2” x 3” pieces cut from previous step, enlarged 333% would make an image 6.66” x 10”. The size is loosey goosey, just be sure they are all enlarged the same percentage and each section isn’t bigger than 8” x 10”.) If you need help figuring out the percentage, e-mail me, or the Kinko’s person should be able to help you.

If you want “back-up”, have 2 copies of each section, just in case. . . . But 1 of each is fine!

Black and white toner copies can be used instead of color, but make sure the paper is heavier than standard copy paper. The paper used in Kinkos' color copy machines works great.

If you have any questions, please e-mail Traci at info@TraciBunkers.com. Also, please visit Traci's website.

  

Please review Carol Parks' Class Policies.