Studio Visit: Elvia Perrin

I stopped by Elvia Perrin's studio the other day. Holy moly! I dream of my own space, and this is one to emulate. Her husband is very supportive and is handy to boot, so a lot of her studio perks are due to his prowess with a hammer--though I have to admit ingenuity points go to Elvia for her aquatint box (keep reading, you'll see...). Like any fabulous printmaking studio, one must have an awesome press. Elvia does, and here it is in all its glory.

Elvia makes the most out of a small space. Everything has its place. Her husband/framer has a table saw set up in one corner, but otherwise the space is all printmaking. Elvia has flat files, sheetrock, light table, exposure unit, screenprinting station, hot plate, and an annex for her vertical acid bath.

Look here--Elvia is using an old picture frame with glass as her inking station. Clever!

Elvia's using all available space. Check out the rafters.

Here's Elvia's aquatint box. She uses a hair dryer to activate the powdered resin. There's a hole on the side of the box--you can kinda see the tape flap on the lower right--and she'll place the nozzle of the hair dryer in the hole, turn it on for a few seconds, then place her plate on the rack. Pretty sweet.

Here's an inside view of Elvia's aquatint box. You can see the rack where she places her plate and the resin resting on the floor of the box.









I had a chance to peek at Elvia's new plate.

Here's a glimpse of the resulting print. Elvia is one of those super productive artists and has lots of success selling her work on her Etsy site. I encourage you to click the link since this angled pic doesn't do her work justice. And there's more. You can buy a reproduction of Elvia's work at Crate & Barrel. No kidding. Look here.