PRINTMAKING
AND PHOTOGRAPHY IN ITALY
SANTA
REPARATA
INTERNATIONAL
SCHOOL
of
ART
Florence,
Italy
May
1-13, 2006
Ron
Pokrasso and David Hoptman have come together to offer two spectacular
workshops and the opportunity to live and create in Florence, the cultural
capital of Europe. As the home of the Renaissance and the birthplace of the
modern world, Florentines championed democracy, science, literature as well as
painting, sculpture, and architecture. The Tuscan countryside offers rolling
landscapes, pastoral farms, vineyards, and medieval towns clinging to the
hills.
Santa
Reparata is a fantastic facility to use as a home base with all that is needed
to experiment and evolve in the creative process of image making. There is a
well ventilated comfortable black and white darkroom and a fine digital lab
well equipped with scanners, printers and up to date Macintosh computers. Santa
Reparata is located in the heart of Florence within walking distance to just
about everything - the Duomo, the Uffizi Museum and the Accademia, the Mercato
Centrale, Santa Croce, and dozens of fabulous restaurants. The air-conditioned,
spacious, well-lit multi-room facility surrounds a private center courtyard.
COURSE
OFFERINGS
Monotype,
Collage, and ImageOn/Solarplate
with Ron Pokrasso
This
workshop begins with monotype but is essentially about mixed media printmaking.
Students will learn various methods of mixing, modifying, layering inks, using
and abusing mark-making tools, exploring the limits of paper, and techniques
for accurate registration. The workshop will include a wide range of uses for
chine colle/collage and drawing. ImageOn and Solarplate will be taught, both as
means in themselves or as integrated with other techniques. Multi-plate
printing methods will open the door to just about any combination of
traditional printmaking forms.
The
emphasis will be on the Artist as an Inventor since each participant is
encouraged to stretch his or her methods of expressing and breaking barriers
into new and uncharted territory. The information presented is cumulative, and
students will have the opportunity to revisit works developing over the course
of 2 weeks. An optional series of lessons in Photoshop will be taught by David
Hoptman to expose students to production of digital ink jet images for chine
colle and transparencies for ImageOn and Solarplate. The program will culminate
with an informal critique and discussion to serve as closure and celebration on
the final day of class.
Photography
and Polymer Gravure
with David Hoptman
This
workshop is designed for photographers interested in learning alternate
printing processes and innovative approaches to producing photographic imagery.
Workshop participants will be introduced to the full compliment of printmaking
techniques that will help to facilitate the creation of beautiful fine art
prints. We will cover polymer gravure processes and materials, including
ImageOn and Solarplate, as well as other creative means to affect imagery. The
polymer gravure printing process offers the artist the ability to create a
fixed image on a photo sensitized plate after which the printing is finalized
using an etching press, archival printing inks and fine art papers.
During
the digital stage of the workshop, students will learn PhotoShop methods
enabling them to print full tonal range gravure-like imagery, fine tuning their
images, and outputting them onto transparency materials that will be utilized
in the plate making process. Hand coloring techniques using pastels,
charcoal, watercolors and collage will also be introduced during the workshop
as additional possibilities for those looking for new modes to compliment their
photographic vision. Two photo-shooting excursions in the Tuscan towns of Lucca
and Cortona are also available. An optional series of lessons will be taught by
Ron Pokrasso on how to infuse creative printmaking techniques into the polymer
gravure process.
THE
PROGRAM
Both
workshops include a minimum of 54 hours of instruction, the use of the studios
from 8AM to 11PM throughout the program, access to the digital lab and
darkroom, various tools and equipment, (including presses and an exposure
unit), and most printmaking materials (such as inks and solvents). Solarplates,
film, and paper must be purchased by participants. Students have access to
email and the internet.
The
program also includes a welcome dinner at the school, an introductory slide
lecture of Florentine history, two half-day guided walking tours of Florence,
and a farewell dinner.
The
fee for the program is $1500. A deposit of $500 should be sent immediately to
secure a place in one of the workshops. The deposit is fully refundable until
January 31, 2006. Full payment is required by March 1, 2006. Checks should be
made payable to XXXXXX
HOUSING
To
be filled in later.
AIRFARE
Participants
are responsible for their own travel arrangements to Florence from their
country of origin.
PROGRAM
INFORMATION
Ron
Pokrasso
505
984 0827
pokrasso@shaening.com
David
Hoptman
39
0763 710 228 (Italy)
dhstudio@mac.com
REGISTRATION,
HOUSING, AND PAYMENTS
MaryAnn
Shaening
2319
Old Arroyo Chamiso
Santa
Fe, NM 87505
505
983 8243
maryann@shaening.com