after the monks are gone...... printmaking continues

Dear Printmakers!

First of all thank you to all the students who actively participated in this years prayer flag exchange. The prints are exceptional this year and the monks where also a most wonderful group.

Also special thanks to The Trammell Crow Collection of Asian Art.

We have prayer flags prints on paper in the Sky Gallery. Approximately 25 in total and should be on exhibition for the next two months.

http://www.crowcollection.org/

And to the Mystical Arts of Tibet Tour and the Drepung Monks.... we take our hats off! WOW!

http://www.mysticalartsoftibet.org/

Our monk group was the west group.. their names.. Geshe TSulak Gyatso, Tenzin Tashi, Lobsang Pajor,Yeshi Palden(yapa),Phuntsok Dawe and Geshe Wangden Tashi who said he would send us a traditional woodblock, and last but not least the spokesperson and monk Thupten Tendhar.

please visit the BTWPrint on facebook page for more.

now back to printmaking...

http://www.printmakers.info/index.php

http://www.printeresting.org/

these are two fabulous sites..great research place

(thanks to our alumni Krystal Read)

Now to the this 6 weeks... all students have individual projects that the are working on.

If you are a first time printmaking student you are required to do a reduction print. ( minimum of 4 colors plus white!)

We have a video on u-tube that really explains the process well. Please google reduction printmaking and the site will come up. This printmaker also has different videos of process for intaglio printmaking which is a four part series and takes about a half an hour in total to watch. I highly suggest you check these out on your own time.

Since we only have 2 more weeks till the end of this six weeks you will be graded on your progress on the prints you are individually working on, however full editions will be due before we leave on Christmas break.

Please check out these two websites... great printmakers from all over the world.

I will add them to our links also.

check out the new slide show....

Hope

While researching prayer flags I learned that different items, plants and animals have symbolic meanings in Buddhist culture. With the discovery of the lotus flower I discarded my previous idea involving pineapples, the symbol of hospitality that originated in the United States, and graduated into the Tibetan symbol of purity and spiritual unfoldment. The significance of the lotus comes from its stalks, which rise from muddy waters and blossom once above the surface. My print expresses simply, a person, weak and fallen, being lifted out of a cold, bleak place by a pure soul who has given a helping hand in a kind gesture of peace. The horizontal lines in the background reflect this peace and the lotus stalks spell 'Hope'. Unfortunately a lot of my lines were too thin and disappeared quickly under the thick ink. This was, for the most part, resolved in later prints but I prefer the look of the lines in this one even with the darker arm mistake.

~taylor b

katy wood

my prayer flag is more traditional with a snow lion in the foreground and the tibetan flag in the background.

Om Mani Padme Hum

Jennifer Ng

My inspiration for this was the traditional Tibetan prayer flags. I wanted to have the prayer flag still have the traditional elements of the traditional ones but make it more simple and to have a single image take the place of the Tibetan writing, focusing the viewer and prayer more on abstract scale, allowing for more room for interpretation.

Rachael Davis

The message I wanted to put forth with my prayer flag is "happiness is best when shared", a quote inspired by Chris McCandles' last written words. I chose to depict the quote figuratively and carved a self-portrait of me taking in everything in that society and nature share with me by using my five senses.

Emily Sizemore

"Cherish Your Day" is the name of my print. In this i decided to use the god Ganesha who is mainly known for being the lord of beginnings. Coming out of his mouth are words that say cherish your day. This piece is basically ment to tell people to cherish every day.

Amy Seabolt

In my print I used the sri vasta, which is the tibetan symbol for infinity and I used a tiger because in Tibet it is a symbol of strength and part of the four dignities. so basically, strength forever.