Let’s Take an Art Walk!

My stories grew out of a desire to pass along what I feel is essential for everyone to know about art. These topics are not routinely found in literature for young children. Recognizing the value of self-taught artists and folk arts is the primary theme in Bearie Goes for a Walk. Taking time to look at art, subject matter chosen by artists, using natural materials and found objects, engaging in art discourse and becoming inspired by experience are other themes. Other stories explore different ways of seeing, different points of view, looking at reproductions and actual art objects and two dimensional and three dimensional ways of envisioning ideas.

-Martha Savage, CAW Co-Department Head of Young People’s Program


Enjoy Martha's story, Bearie Goes for a Walk:
(use the controls to stop and go through the story)

Martha’s stories come to life this summer through Adventures in Art week-long programs for young people at Creative Arts Workshop with themes like Art Safari to Kenya, Native Americans through Animals and Storytelling, Far Out! and more. Look for details in the Summer Brochure or visit http://www.creativeartsworkshop.org/html/classes/youngpeople.html#weeklong.

Printing with the Sun: A Talk with the Master

A painter, printmaker, and educator, Dan Welden developed the solarplate printmaking method in 1972 and has been working with this technique ever since. As a master printmaker, Dan has worked with prominent artists including Willem and Elaine de Kooning, Dan Flavin, Eric Fischl, David Salle, and Lynda Benglis. He is co-author of the book, Printmaking in the Sun and has had 60 one-person exhibitions. He is known for his hybrid works on paper, combinations of print, paint and drawing techniques. Dan directs a summer program in Italy and offers workshops all over the world, including at Creative Arts Workshop.

We spoke with Dan about solarplate printmaking:

CAW: How does "etching with the sun" work? How long does the process take?
DW: It’s a very simple procedure. When exposing the solarplate to the sun, the material hardens. If you block out areas, those areas remain in their natural state, which is water-soluble. Therefore, you can take an image on film (a drawing, photograph, painting, or photocopy), place it in contact with the plate and expose it to the sun, bring it in, wash it in water and voila, you have an etched plate – no acid, solvents or grounds. It’s really safer!

What if the sun is not shining? Can other light sources be used?
Sure, we use a light box with a mini sun inside – just plug it in and the UV light hardens the plate.


What issues did you come across when you were first developing this process?
Technicians told me it couldn’t be done. That was the biggest issue. Of course, one never tells an artist what they can’t do.

What are the advantages of the solarplate method?
There are so many, but my favorites are the safety factors. The ease and speed of plate preparation, and the printing is a snap. Since it’s so fast, it becomes much more reasonable in price than other techniques out there. It also has the ability of producing the highest quality results!


Do you find any disadvantages or boundaries?
I guess the major factor is the size limitation to some people. Plates are limited to 30 x 40 inches. That’s a little joke – not many printmakers work that large. Furthermore, I would recommend anyone starting out, to work small first.

Should you already know something about printmaking before trying this method? Can other mediums be incorporated?
Of course it’s helpful to know basics. However, I’ve taught this technique to little kids. They love it as much as big kids.


Between leading workshops across the country and abroad and working with professional artists as a master printmaker, how often are you able to spend time on your own work?
Great question. There is never enough time to do my own work. Although I love doing workshops and collaborations with other artists, especially when it allows me to squeeze in some work during the time away from home. When I arrive back in my own sanctum, I have to play ‘catch up,’ face the music and get the mundane projects done. It would be nice to have an assistant, an organizer or even a wife! What else is new for any artist? I try and work on a daily basis. In reality, I work very hard and long. Having 6 solo shows in this year alone, can attest to something – certainly not to sales as of late.


Can you talk a little about process versus end result in solarplate printmaking? Is one more important for you?
I like to say, process vs. image. Image takes more of a priority with me. Otherwise, I would not be as active with drawing and painting. Process, however, is extremely important – something I get a real kick out of. I love watching and waiting for surprises to happen. I think I can be very young at heart, especially when it comes to ‘playing’ with process.

With environmental concerns rising, do you find that more people are looking for alternatives to traditional printmaking processes? Do you still use any traditional techniques?
Absolutely yes, especially with schools being more concerned with health and safety issues. Solarplate is one of those contributors to keeping printmaking alive. Yes, I still use acid, knives, stones and those lovely, sensuous materials. In fact, that may be the one disadvantage of the solarplate – it’s a piece of plastic, mounted on steel. Unlike copper it has little aesthetic love of material. It’s just plain practical.

As the originator of solarplate printmaking, what advice do you have for someone who is just beginning to explore this process?
Listen, watch and learn all the rules. Once you know all the rules, learn how to break them.



Dan Welden will be teaching a week-long workshop Solarplate… Etching with the Sun at Creative Arts Workshop from June 8-12, 10-4. Look for details in the Summer Brochure or visit http://www.creativeartsworkshop.org/html/classes/workshops.html#solarplate.


All images are from Dan Welden's recent workshop at Nimbus Arts in St Helena, CA. Courtesy Nimbus Arts.

A Visit to Chelsea

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Chisato and I are on our first spring visit to Chelsea. It’s a gorgeous 72 degree day and we leave our jackets in the back seat of the car we parked on 27th Street. I’m carrying a crisply folded list of exhibitions that I had compiled a couple days before from viewing gallery websites on the net.

I’ve been a gallery hound for many years beginning in Soho, 57th Street and the East Village in the 80s. As an artist, I have found the experience of viewing new art, first hand, enjoyable, stimulating and essential to my own work.

On my list, I jotted down more than a dozen “must see” shows for this month: Jacqueline Humphreys at Greene Naftali, Michael Raedecker at Andrea Rosen, Dana Schutz at Zack Feuer, and Louise Fishman at Chaim & Read among several others. There have been plenty of painting exhibitions lately and my list is primarily comprised of works by painters. No matter the vanguard, as much as such exists, people will always paint, look at paintings and hang them on their walls. There’s so much talent out there.

We start at Greene Naftali and board the old elevator, instructing the operator to raise us to the 8th floor. The scissor, then steel, doors open to reveal one of the loveliest galleries in Chelsea. Light floods across a sprawling space of large pillers and aluminum silver abstractions. Chisato and I exit the elevator and take in the work.

I am an easy audience for dense, painterly, gestural images, however after viewing much of the work, I come away a bit uneasy as the paintings remind me of the glossy pages of the Metropolitan Home magazine I flipped through at the Laundromat the day before, depicting the interior designs of the rich and complacent. Nonetheless Jacqueline Humpreys’ paintings are savvy, seductive and polished. It’s generally a good start for our gallery tour.

Chelsea is a rather large neighborhood located on the lower west side of Manhattan above Greenwich Village. Until the early 1990s it was mainly comprised of taxi depots and warehouses. Now it is the setting for most of New York’s major galleries exhibiting the works of artists from Brooklyn to Bejing. Chisato and I generally stay within the area between 18th and 27th Streets, 10th and 11th Avenues where the majority of galleries are concentrated. There’s easily a days worth of viewing here.

Our tour does not disappoint. I’ve known the work of most of the artists on my list for some time. Some are younger: Dana Schutz (a whimsical painter and marvelous manipulator of surface and color juxtapositions) is still in her early 30s. Louise Fishman, whose gestural abstractions of broad, thick, richly colored strokes of oil on canvas would surely make DeKooning hum and rock back and forth in admiration, is of my parents’ generation.

Michael Raedecker (originally from Amsterdam) composes his images with various types of thread deftly drawn over subtle washes of muted color. They are gritty yet superbly delicate and nuanced. Chisato and I greet the work at the entrance with a harmony of “Wow’s.” Although I’ve seen his work in a previous show, his restlessness and innovation continues to impress.

In addition to following my itinerary we look in the doors and windows of additional galleries and discover some unexpected gems. Chisato and I are sucked into a group show at Betty Cuningham and view some lovely abstractions by Susan Frecon among other terrific works by artists including Jake Berthot and John Lees.

At 5:00 we decide to conclude our tour as we have seen much and the day has seemed to pass quickly. Hunger gets the best of us and I’ve become impatient to return to my own work with a head full of big ideas that I would like to realize before their luster fades. We are an hour and a half from home and with a stop at the deli on the corner near 10th Avenue and 25th Street for a quick sandwich – Cabo Rojo, incidently, is a Spanish joint next door that serves an ox-tail stew with rice and beans that is not to be missed – we head to the car with satiated tummies and full minds.

The galleries in Chelsea are generally opened from September through June, Tuesdays through Saturdays during regular business hours. My source for links to individual gallery websites is Art-collecting.com.

-Steven DiGiovanni, CAW Department Head of Drawing & Painitng


Steven will be hosting a Tour Through Chelsea trip during the Summer Session at Creative Arts Workshop. Look for details in the Summer Brochure, which will be available in mid-May.