So, about this workshop I teach at Griffin school. I teach it once a week and today was the day, and before I walked out of there, I snapped a picture of the press. This is the print lab. It lives in the hallway on a cart until I roll it into the classroom that's shared with other teachers. You can't see the cardboard box where I keep full sheets of paper, but besides the paper and the T-bar that live in the paper box, everything lives on this cart. 12 brayers are nestled behind the blue tub. The wooden thingy in the front is a bench hook (not much carving going on plus the kids take turns). There's a cubby of space under the press where I have finished prints stacked up waiting to be curated and signed. On the top of the press I have a pad of newsprint and some large pieces of plexi that I pull out for inking stations. I have two towels for when students need to spritz water on paper for intaglio. The box and tub hold ink, plates, tools, and clean shop rags (yes, the dirty ones come home with me so I can wash them). Water bottle hanging off edge? Soapy water. (Man I love Akua inks. Easy clean-up. Expect for the Phthalo Blue! The blue takes the orange citra-solve stuff to clean off any white surfaces.)
I know you've been questioning the press since you began reading. It's a Dick Blick 999, Model II.
Trading Cards
Today I started the kids off on a trading card project with an edition requirement in the hopes that students finish enough to trade with classmates. I cut Cel-Tec into 7 x 2.5 inch pieces so that we can print both sides of their cards simultaneously, then fold the cards in half so they make a finished card that's 3.5 x 2.5. The theme they chose is "Abstract." I'm participating too, so I'll be working on mine in the coming days. I immediately thought of abstract math so that's what I'm gonna do. Time to google Plato!
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