CREATIVE KIDS CAMP
Soon after Spark Box opened its doors we began receiving inquiries about hosting a children’s art camp during the summer. However, the thought of a bunch of paint-covered kids running around our small studio space was enough to keep us up at night. When we expressed our dilemma, our supportive community stepped forward to provide us with a camp location! Mia Lane, and her daughter Becky Lane, offered to host the camp on an amazing wooded property by Fish Lake. During the week of August 16 – 20, 8 kids from all over the world came to print, paint, draw and sculpt in the woods.
Not only did we have a great location, we also got great help. Becky Lane, a local designer, helped Chrissy Poitras plan, organize and run the camp. While the kids had fun creating their art, they were also taught and inspired by the art history each of their projects was drawn from. The campers learnt about the impressionists while painting en plein air, the earth art movement in the 1960s by creating sculptures out of natural materials, and the history of street art when making their own graphic text pieces, to name a few.
By the end of the camp the kids had created an impressive array of remarkable art works, installed their own exhibition in the woods, titled and priced their work, and made personalized invitation for their family and friends. They had a great turn out and some even sold some work!
SWOON
With an upcoming day workshop in relief printing (July 29) and the screening of the Bansky film “Exit Through the Gift Shop” at the Regent tonight it seemed appropriate to do a short blog about a pretty amazing relief printermaker /street artist in NYC. Her name is Caledonia Dance Curry or better known as Swoon and she has taked the art world by storm with her wheatpaste drawings, large scale installations and fleet of make-shift pirate ships that made sailed down the Mississippi River and crashed the 2009 Venice for the Biennale.
I first found out about Swoon through The Run Up interview series. Her interview was really inspiring because not only is she amazing and talented but you can really feel the passion she has for what she is doing. I think that Swoon is one street artist that illustrates the power of taking art to the streets and making art an experience for everyone to enjoy.
On top of everything else her relief work is absolutely stunning. Each piece is a highly labored portrait of someone she saw in a park, met on the streets or has known for years. These relief prints are detailed, captivating and remarkably well executed!
ETCHING WITH DEVON
Here are the images from the most recent private etching workshop. Devon took a three part etching workshop from Chrissy where she learnt how to do ‘hard-ground’ and ‘soft-ground’ etchings and the basic chemistry behind the process. Here are images of Devon inking up one of the plates she produced using the ‘hard-ground’ method.
SQUARE2 LAUNCH PARTY
Join us for a night on the town! We will bring Prince Edward County’s newest arts & culture magazine to life June 10th starting at the Regent Theatre at 6 PM.
Performance art, poetry readings, live music and visual art will be occurring throughout down town Picton.
Participating locations include:
Spark Box Studio
Purchase a numbered limited launch edition of Square2 that night!
Event will be free of charge.
Sponsored by Angeline’s Inn and Restaurant
RSVP: info@sparkboxstudio.com
LETTERPRESS AND TYPOGRAPHY
In the mid-15th century the printing press was invented and with this piece of machinery came the first rapid production of mass-produced books in history . It is not uncommon now for someone to either have a relative or know someone that has worked with type and a letterpress. Type is used in the printing industry to describe individual lead letters (a key component in letterpress printing). In this form of printmaking hundreds of individual characters are arranged, making up the final printed book, newspaper, essay, etc. Between each printing the characters would be washed and a whole new set would be arranged for the next page.
In the past two weeks I’ve met nearly half a dozen of people who had actually hand-set type at one point. Emerging from this labour heavy printing process came the automated printing press. These mechanized machines further increased productivity by introducing plate printing techniques apposed to hand-set type. They have become more complex over the years and are still in use at commercial printers.
I highly suggest taking a tour of a commercial print studio, you’ll probably find a few old and wild looking machines. Generations today will likely not get to experience lead type used for an off-set printing press or a clunky typewriter. Unfortunately, like many things today I feel the inkjet version of type just isn’t as fascinating as the original handmade, hand-set, hand-inked, hand-printed quality of letterpress.
We’re proud to announce the most recent addition to the facilities at Spark Box Studio a 1928, 3″ x 5″, letterpress and three font sets. Set the font yourself, mix your own ink, hand-print every piece and feel the power of type.
ART OF WOODCUT
For those who do not understand what woodcut is, it is when an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood. The parts which you carve out remain white while the parts that are not carved will later be inked up and printed. Woodcut is the oldest printing technique which dates back hundreds of years, actually well over a millennium ago. Originating first in East Asia and it is not until the 15h century did Europe begin to really develop the technique.
For our workshop with Peter and Norm, we discussed the history, the practice, the tools and the techniques. A major portion of the workshop was dedicated to the practical experience of carving the block where we could troubleshoot problems while carving and discuss the conceptual issues that come with working in a medium that is naturally high contrast.
BABY PRINTMAKERS
Back in November our baby niece came into the studio looking to make a birthday card for her grandpa. She was just too cute and we thought we should share the pics of the youngest person to participate in the studio!
She decided to use a very basic printmaking method of stamping. Using her hands and feet she created an abstract image for the birthday card.
RESIDENCY AWARD: JUSTIN STEINBURG
Our second recipient of our 2009 residency award was Justin Steinburg, fourth year BFA (bachelor of fine art) student at Queen’s University. Justin came to stay with us at Spark Box Studio for a weekend in mid January 2010. He arrived with a car full of waterless lithography plates and woodcuts ready to print. When attending a residency it is always best to try and maximize your time printing by preparing material ahead of the determined residency.
His first day of the residency was spent printing plates and printing a three color separation woodcut. Using little ink to a fair amount of transparent base Justin’s woodcut shows the potential for color change when using transparent inks. This woodcut is from his thesis year at Queen’s university which focuses on color theory.
The second day of Justin’s residency with us we experimented with powdered pigments that he had bought from a supplier in Ottawa. He brought with him a wide range of different pigment colors, everything from primary colors to metallic bronze, silver, gold and iridescent pearl white (which was comically named ‘super sparkle’). We spent the day mixing up pigments into transparent base and testing the results. The basic colors mixed and print really well and printed just like inks out of a can. The metallic colors were a different story. We tried to mix the bronze and everything seemed to go alright but when it was printed it ended up printing splotchy and transparent. The obvious result was to add more pigment and stiffen up the ink, this produced better results. Out of the metallic colors the ‘super sparkle’, iridescent pearl, worked the best, producing a tinted white that had a great shine was we considered a success.
CHESTERFIELDS T-SHIRTS
Recently we completed an order of silkscreened t-shirt order for Chesterfields Cafe. Awhile back, Graham, owner of chesterfields, came into the studio and commissioned us to do small run of Chesterfield Cafe logos printed on t-shirts. The designs were made by local artist Nella Cassen. One night we burned a few screens with her images and started printing white colored logos onto nearly a hundred shirts. We worked into the wee hours of the night finishing with great results! Nell’s super cute illustrations looked great on the t-shirts. If you’re interested in such a service please contact us by email or by phone. We’d be happy to discuss the possibilities of silkscreening items for you.
WINTER SILKSCREEN WORKSHOP
Our first silkscreen workshop took place in November and we were surprised at the amount of interested this class generated. Both adults and youth attended the several hour class and learnt about the process of turning almost any image into a lovely three colour print. By the end of the class many of the participants became natural production houses and were turning out large edition print runs. Everyone walked away with at least one multicolored print. Check out additional pictures from this workshop on our flickr site: Spark Box Studio Flickr Site. This workshop was such a great success that we will be running another one early in the new year.
BUSY HANDS
BUY HANDMADE THIS HOLIDAY!
Spark Box Studio is going to be part of this years Busy Hands Craft Sale. The Busy Hand Christmas Craft Sale is a presented by Vicki’s Veggies and Honey Pie Hives and Herbals, it will be located on the upper floor of Books and Company. The sale is one weekend only, December 12-13 from 9 am-6 pm.
Spark Box is going to be sharing a table with home town crafter/artist Becky Lane, the one and only Nella Casson and a few super creative youth crafters! Be sure to stop by our table to get your hands on some exciting handmade goods including holiday cards and tags, knitted neck cowls, silkscreened stuffed animals, sock creatures, birdhouses and more!
LOYALIST COLLEGE TALK
Robert Kranendonk and Sherry Martin are the teachers of a new Art Fundamentals course offered at Loyalist college. The course topics ranging from graphic design to fine art. As part of their course we were invited to teach a print demonstration. We brought down linoleum blocks, prints from our archives, and some printing supplies. This qualified as our first real teaching demo at an institution and we had a lot of fun. We began with an overview of different printing techniques and their associated histories. The class gathered around us on the floor as we spoke about printmaking and studied the many different prints we had bought with us. This was followed by a demonstration in lino-block printing. A fantastic day of teaching and we would like to thank Sherry and Robert for this opportunity.
KIDZ PRINTMAKING
This past weekend we hosted a kid’s printmaking workshop. The first of what we hope will be many others of its kind. The class went really well with several kids signing up, ages ranging from 3 to 12. We begun the class with food stamping and painting. The kids also drew images onto lino blocks and carved out the blocks themselves, with a little supervision of course. Afterwards the blocks were rolled up and the kids printed the blocks using the etching press.
OPEN STUDIO PROGRAM
Recently Spark Box has had many people coming through the studio for workshops or continue their visual art practice. Several Open Studio participants are focusing on silkscreen with good results. Lis Gare had not done silkscreening for many years and was eager to re-learn the medium. She quickly realized how much silkscreening has changed over the years. Silkscreen used to be oil based and was very toxic. In fact it was at one point the most toxic art medium available. As many of your know at Spark Box Studio we use a water based silkscreen system. This method is far less toxic than the traditional oil based system.
Also working in the studio a local artist, Mia Lane. Mia has been taking the high realism technique often seen in her paintings and translating them into the etchings with superb results. Local printmaker and owner of Blizzmax Gallery Peter Mennacher has also started coming in to use the studio to print his etchings. Peter’s studio, located in a barn is unheated, as the temperature gets colder inks become stiff and unusable but lucky for him Spark Box Studio is heated and open through the winter!
CHRIS SABA AND LAURA CLAYTON
This past weekend our good friends, recent Queens University BFA grads and fellow printmakers Chris Saba and Laura Clayton came to stay and work in the studio. Chris traveled from Hamilton, where he has been participating at The Print Studio, and Laura Clayton came from Pickering. The weekend brought a lot of printing, Chris worked on a hard-ground etching while Laura braved the soft ground.
We are learning from the artists coming to the studio that community studios are uncommon and Ontario residency programs even more rare. It is with great pleasure that we are able to share our studio space.
STEVE NEWBERRY
Spark Box Studio had its first resident artist, Steve Newberry. Steve currently lives in Hamilton and came to focus on his next set of ideas and concepts. Steve primarily works in sculpture, installation and new media, but more recently he has become interested in printmaking. It was fantastic getting to know Steve over the course of his one week stay. In addition to focusing on his independant work, we taught Steve how to silkscreen. Steve had brought some old post cards of Belleville that he wanted to transfer into prints. We gave steve a complete crash course in silkscreen and talked about the posibilities for mixed medium work. In the end he decided to silkscreen onto plywood and will later integrate other elements such as woodcut, found objects, screws, paint and many other interesting processes.
Two of the images we printed are posted. It should be mentioned that when printing onto plywood one should consider that the surface is not 100% uniform. The wood has both divits and grain which will alter the final printed image, for better or worse.
Check out his website at–www.Steve Newberry.com.
RADIO RADIO
Spark Box Studio was recently featured on the Queen’s radio station CFRC. The three part interview was broadcast through their E-file and Alternative Frequency programs.
The interview was conducted by our friend Irina Skvortsova. Irina, along with Queen’s University student Cecily Taylor and Kingston silkscreener Julian Berry, owner of Ironclad Graphics, came to the studio not only to conduct an interview but also to use the space. Part of the interview included a short etching for the three visitors. By short we mean several hours.
We explained our hardground etching process from start to finish. Although the plates were prepared ahead of time we still talked about the importance of plate preparation. After carefully executing their imagery each individual was able to ink up their plate and leave with an original print.
During the coarse of the day Irina engaged us with discussion about Spark Box Studio, our education, experiences and how we had come to build up our business.
Watch our website for the posting of the interview clips.
MIDNIGHT ETCHING
In the dead silence of our living room our current housemates Paul and Hannah work diligently on their etching projects along side Kyle. For nearly an hour the atmosphere was focused and nothing could break their concentration, not even their grumbling stomachs. Both Paul and Hannah had never done etchings before and in the end they turned out fantastic looking prints. Paul drew the image of the crow while Hannah drew the heart image. After working in the living room we adventured to the studio and printed till midnight.
GOOD FRIENDS & NEW PRINTS
This weekend we were very excited to have two of our good friends come down from Ottawa for a visit. We met Tamara Sponder and Adrian Carpenter when living in Kingston. Both Chrissy and I had the good fortune of going through the BFA program with Tamara who is now beginning her Master of Fine Art at the University of Western.
During their visit to Prince Edward County we walked them through our non toxic etching process, which finished with more than satisfactory results. Neither have had an opportunity to do etching in the past so it was a fun new experience. Adrian, who is studying to become a doctor, had never done print before and was surprisingly good at inking up and wiping the plate. It is always exciting to see a print peal off the press bed and even more pleasing to see it well printed.
FALL/WINTER ARTIST RESIDENCY AWARD 2010
Applications are being accepted until Sept. 30, 2010
Awards will be announced in early October, 2010
Beginning your career as an emerging artist can be tough, which is why Spark Box Studio is offering FREE RESIDENCIES to fine art students and emerging artists. This residency opportunity is a unique way for young and emerging artists to cultivate new ideas, access a rich library of arts resources, learn about career-building opportunities, and develop an understanding of the art world from a business perspective.
About the Award
Four emerging artists will receive a one-week residency, 10 will receive a two day residency and 30 will receive one day at our Open Studio in Prince Edward County. The selected applicants will be able to work in the studio using Spark Box Studio’s equipment and resources, and have access to career guidance from local community members.
Spark Box Studio has created these awards as a career building opportunity for young emerging artists.
Participating in a residency is of value to you as it builds on your artistic career, gives you time to focus on a project in a professional artist studio and allows you the opportunity to connect and learn from other artists.
Getting Started:
Below is what should be included in your application:
- A current Curriculum Vitae
- An Artist Statement – 1-2 paragraphs explaining your work
- Digital samples of your work – Please provide 10 images of your work. Please include with the images a list which includes the title, medium, dimension, year of each one.
- Images should be MAC compatible in JPG, TIFF or PSD file.
- Images should be no smaller than 200 DPI and should measure 8” x 8”. If sending through email please compress files.
- Writing samples should not exceed 12 pages and should be sent with cover page stating your name and title of work.
- $15.00 CAD application fee payable to Spark Box Studio.
Check out our Emerging Artist Guide for information to help you prepare these items.
Once these items are ready:
-Complete and submit the Application Form below
-Pay your Application Fee. You can mail a cheque, or PAY ONLINE. Note: you must pay your application fee in order for your application to be processed.
-Send you Application Package to us.
By email: email your package to us using the email subject line “Residency Application – your full name” to info@sparkboxstudio.com
By Snail Mail: Mail your package to: Spark Box Studio, P.O. Box 9002, #7 Bridge St., Picton, ON, K0K 2T0
Making your Application:
Once you have prepared the items above you are ready to fill out the application form below.
Please note that we will use the information you provide to process your application and will not share your information with any other companies.
