Press Works Artists Gallery Up and Running

Press Works is pleased to announce the opening of our online Gallery. For those who cannot make it to our exhibits or are too far away to schedule an appointment you can now select and purchase a print online.

All prints are unframed and subject to local sales tax and shipping. If you are from the Los Angeles area you can pick up your print at our Upland shop. You can also arrange to have the print framed for a reasonable price through Bunny Gunner Art Services in Claremont, CA.

Follow the Gallery link to peruse the artwork of Chris Trueman and Erin Morrison. We will have more artists up within the next few months as well as more work from Chris and his collaborative prints with Todd A. Smith.

Thank you for your interest. Enjoy.

Thanks for Attending

Press Works thanks all the people who came out to our exhibit for Chris Trueman on Saturday. Good turnout and those who attended were able to meet with Chris and Todd who were glad to talk about their work together and the printing process. Most of the work will be on the Press Works site for viewing and purchase.

Framed Print for Dec 13 Opening

Just opened up the framed print by Chris Trueman and Todd Smith. We will be raffling off this piece at our opening at Press Works on Saturday, December 13, from 6-9pm. Framed by Claremont business Bunny Gunner Art Services. Thank you Suzie and Juan. Beautiful job!

Hope to see you there.

Claudia Morales McCain prints at Press Works

Press Works is proud to be working with another Southland painter and artist, Claudia Morales McCain.  Claudia arrived to the Press Works shop mid-morning Saturday, November 15th and worked with Todd to print two beautifully scrumptious monotypes.  She started several others and will be returning for a second and third and possibly fourth visit before finishing her monotype suite.  We hope to be exhibiting all her prints sometime in early 2015.

Claudia Morales McCain working the monotype plate before printing at Press Works.

Claudia first creates a watercolor/gouache painting on BFK Rives print paper.  Todd then rolls out a flat of ink to Claudia's specifications.  The ink is transferred to the plate via a roller and the watercolor painting laid down over the plate and put through the press.  Claudia adds another element, this time painting ink onto the plate and transferring it onto the print.  Todd and Claudia finished the above print by creating a stencil with geometric shapes and rolling the ink directly onto the print through the stencil.  The underlying layers of watercolor, gouache, and printing ink create a beautifully layered image. Below are a series of images loosely documenting the process.

One of our test paintings and prints.  Ready to scale up.

20"x26" painting with pink overlay.  Two more layers to go.

Claudia paints her signature shapes in two different colors onto the monotype plate (acrylic glass).

Claudia draws and cuts the stencil shapes.

The final print with printed stencil shapes.  20x26 inches.  Finished!

Every artist brings her own energy and spirit to the shop and Claudia is no exception.  Her drive and determination to create engaging and thoughtful imagery added a special feeling to the day.  It is a pleasure to work with her and we cannot wait for the follow up visits to complete this series.

Press Works is now on Instagram.  Follow us out for more frequent updates, photos, and videos.

Final print no.2. Thanks everyone for the love and have a great nite. Press Works signing out.

A photo posted by Todd A. Smith (@pressworksart) on Nov 11, 2014 at 5:08pm PST

CHRIS TRUEMAN MONOTYPE PRINTS ON EXHIBIT AT PRESS WORKS

Official Announcement and invitation to Chris Trueman's first exhibit at Press Works, Saturday, December 13th from 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm. Attendees to the exhibit will be eligible to win one of Chris's prints in a free raffle.  If you cannot make it to the opening you can always schedule an appointment to view the prints.   Call Todd at 562.208.1283 or email him at tasmith1966@yahoo.com to make a viewing appointment.

Saturday, December 13th, 2014.  6pm-9pm at Press Works 1495 West 9th Street, Upland, CA 91786

Leslie A. Brown Studio Visit

Southern California hills.  Avacado groves in the distance.

Friday, November 7th Todd traveled to avacado country, Temecula, to visit the home and studio of artist Leslie A. Brown for inclusion in the CCMA print exhibition, "Under Pressure" slated for summer 2015.  Todd went to see Leslie's work and discuss what they would like to include.  Leslie's work is mainly figurative and focuses on the the female figure as a mythical construct placed in contemporary settings surrounded by images and places that represent our modern world.  The Greek goddess Aphrodite is one of her favorite figures, often emersed in water to symbolize her origin story. Leslie is currently mixing digital prints with traditional monotype techniques, Pronto lithographic plates and gesso transfers creating a series of portraits of women. 

Detail from Wild Spirit.  Painting by Leslie A. Brown.

“My work has evolved to be purely figurative in nature. Years of study has delivered me to a place where the work has become completely intuitive. Nothing is pre- planned and the large pieces especially, develop in process, usually beginning from vision during a meditative state or dreams. I have been called “a mystic” in my approach to artmaking and I feel as though I am in some way a vehicle for expression of the unconscious or at the very least a voice for something much larger than my ego.”  Leslie A. Brown

Leslie breaks out the prints. Can't wait to show them.

Leslie uses drawings and original photographs to build her images. The graffiti in the background is taken from a wall in Mexico.

Chris Trueman & Todd A. Smith Collaboration at Press Works

On November 4th Chris Trueman returned to Press Works to work on some small scale prints with artist and printer Todd A. Smith.  Chris used his distinctive mark making style using scrapers and squeegees while Todd overlaid torn pieces and hole punched dots from the pages of a 19th Century music cyclopedia.  The results will be on display at Chris's exhibit on Saturday, December 13th at Press Works studio, 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.  Official announcement soon to follow.

Press Works studio work table. Music cyclopedia and Chris's tools of the trade.

Monoprint magnified.

Finished?  Maybe, but if we go further it may take multiple drops.

More Prints from Chris Trueman

Press Works is finishing up the monotype/screenprint overlay series began with Chris Trueman in June of this year.  We hope to have about twelve prints ready for exhibit sometime in early December at the Press Works studio.  We will also have the prints available for purchase through our online gallery that same month.  Stay tuned for more info and official announcements concerning Chris's work.  Below are a few teaser images.  We are very happy with the progress and outcome of this collaboration with Chris.  The contrast between the gestural elements and the geometric patterns creates a dynamic sense of movement and layering.  We can't wait to have the entire series up for viewing.  See more of about this series and images of Chris working here.

20" x 26"

20" x 26"

Press Works Workshop at 36th Annual Very Special Arts Festival

Press Works printer Todd Smith attended the 36th Annual Very Special Arts Festival on Friday to run a monotype workshop.  "The Very Special Arts Festival is an annual admission-free event celebrating the artistic achievements of students with disabilities and their mainstream peers."  In other words, amazingly creative students from all over Los Angeles schools.  The festival took place at the Music Center Plaza between the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and the Mark Taper Forum.   http://www.musiccenter.org/education/Students-at-the-Center/Very-Special-Arts-Festival/

There were a number of other Music Center teaching artists running art workshops as well as visual arts displays and a main stage for students to perform everything from rap to opera.  The buses roll in at about 9am.  The students disembark and the organized chaos ensues with drumming circles, dancing workshops, center stage performances, face painting, and numerous visual arts workshops. The festival continues til about 1pm when everyone boards the buses for their return home.  Music Center staff and security manage the entire day from the unloading to the venues to the loading and send off with remarkable organizational skills.  Thank you to all the volunteers who came down to help out.  There is no way Todd could have managed this workshop on his own.

Before the madness.

It didn't take long for students to sit down and get to work.

 The basic process is coloring on a sanded acrylic glass sheet with watercolor markers then transferring the color image onto damp watercolor paper using a brayer.  Photographs of animals, flowers, and landscapes are taped to the back of the acrylic glass for people to "copy."  The finished print often comes out looking a little different depending on each person's style and individual interpretation.  Some students chose to forgo the image and created an original image for printing.

Even the teachers get involved.

In the process and finishing up.  The jaguar was a favorite.

Todd's deputized print assistants.

This little Picasso decides to create an original print.  The brayer, to the student's right is used to add pressure and transfer the ink to the paper.

And here it is.  As we say in print parlance "Very cool."

Students were great at interpreting the images in their own style.

The final touch.  Signing the print.

Erin Morrison's Second Visit to Press Works

Mixed Media artist Erin Morrison returned to Press Works this week to continue working on her series of large-scale monotypes using gouache, watercolors, and printing inks.  The prints are beautiful and we can't wait to put them up for viewing and purchase.  Erin decided to work with a new palette of printing inks which kept Todd busy mixing inks.  Erin tried her hand at it too and created a beautiful muted transparent green seen below but not nearly as apparent in the photograph than in person.

Erin tests one of her colors.

The new color palette.

Don't ask. Oh, the clean up!

Inks printed over gouache and watercolors.  22"x30"

Erin's Green.  The layering in this print is amazing and the blacks? Delicious. 22"x30"

Every printer has their secret bag of tricks or so they think and make a big deal about keeping it a mystery so although we have told you our approach let's just say the magic is in the process. Until next time.

Visit to Adeola Davies-Aiyeloja's Studio

Todd visited the studio of mixed media artist Adeola Davies-Aiyeloja this afternoon for the upcoming print exhibit he is curating for Chaffey Community Museum of Art (CCMA) set for summer 2015.  Todd found out about Adeola from CCMA coordinator Jenelle Lowry and was pleased and grateful to meet Adeola who graciously opened her studio up to Todd and his mother who came along for the ride.  Adeola showed Todd her SolarPlate etchings of train photographs she has taken over the years as well as some of her mixed media monotype prints.  Adeola told Todd about her trip to South Africa and how she is going to turn some of her train photographs into SolarPlate etchings.  Although they are of contemporary South Africa they have a look of the past with a train conductor stamping tickets in antique rail cars.  We can't wait to see her final prints.  These future prints combined with Adeola's large, colorful monotypes will present a powerful coalition on the museum walls.

Todd with artist Adeola Davies-Aiyeloja and some of her intaglio prints.

Some of Adeola's mixed media monotype prints.

Detail of one of Adeola's prints.

Adeola's first printing press.  It's not for sale!

Erin Morrison at Press Works

22"x30" Montoype by Erin Morrison.

Press Works is pleased to announce its latest collaboration with visual artist Erin Morrison. She stopped by the shop on Sunday and dove right in. Erin was exposed to printmaking while an MFA graduate student at UCLA under the direction of Jacob Samuel so she was not timid about approaching the process. Erin began by painting directly onto the paper with a set of watercolor and gouache paints. After creating a number of colorful gesture paintings, Erin subtracted flats of ink from a large acrylic sheet prepared by Press Works' printer Todd Smith.

Before coming to Press Works, Erin had experimented with creating monotypes by hand on panes of window glass. That material however precluded the use of a printing press. By using acrylic glass, we were able to utilize the press's pressure and squeeze more pigment into the paper fibers and allow a broader range of color saturation and layering.

Erin Morrison working on the plate. Behind her are the gouache paintings we will monotype over.

Erin subtracts ink from the acrylic sheet.

The final print with gouache under-painting and printed overlay. The subtle layering of tone and color is beautiful.

Erin and fellow painter and UCLA alum Jonathan Apgar

Erin finished seven 22" x 30" prints in one day at Press Works and lucky for us, she left two more unfinished prints. We are scheduling a follow up visit and will have all of Erin's prints available by the end of October. Our video editing department is working on a short of Erin working and we hope to have that up for viewing real soon. And after seeing the Japanese prints in Denver and how Erin works creating wonderful shapes and forms, we think a multiple woodblock print may be in order

Thank you for visiting Press Works and stay tuned for more featured artists, more workshops for the general public, and more artists printing.  Thank you Erin.

Vacation Sightings

Press Works took a short break in the dog days of summer while Press Works printer, Todd Smith spent a little time in Denver visiting family and friends. Todd visited the Denver Art Museum and marveled at the Japanese print exhibit "At the Mirror: Reflections of Japan in 20th Century Prints." Unfortunately there was no catalog to accompany the show so Todd documented it as best he could in low light - with permission of course. Here are a few of the images - poor photo quality notwithstanding.

Motosugu Sugiyama. Sumida River, Late Autumn. 2001.

Most people who haven't been to Japan or seen many contemporary Japanese movies may have visions of a country populated with small 19th century-style villages. Sugiyama's portrait of the Chou Owachi bridge (built in 1993) in modern day Tokyo takes care of that misconception. The print seems to be photo-realistic in nature. However upon closer inspection, we discover that like the Impressionists or better yet, current inkjet printer technology, Sugiyama uses small dots and dashes of color to intimate form and atmospheric perspective.

Detail of Motosugu's Sumida River, Late Autumn. 2001.

Shinsui Ito.  Eyebrow Pencil. 1928.

Shinsui Ito was part of the Nihonga movement (Japanese-style painting) of the early 20th century and excelled at images of feminine beauty.  The pose of the young woman is no different from people today using an eyebrow liner to enhance their features.

Reika Iami. Water Note C. 1971

Reika Iami, who turned to printmaking after spending most of her career as a dollmaker, created many beautiful prints based on abstracted water patterns and geometric shapes. She often worked in black and white with additions of gold or other metallic colors.

Junichiro Seikno. Kiyoto Hillside. 1971

Although Todd's camera lens distorted the print a bit, it was already somewhat convex which have led some to speculate that the artist probably used a photograph as the basis for the print and intentionally left the distortion bringing this ancient form of media into a contemporary context.  Notice the slanted piece of "corrugated metal" on the bottom left-hand side of the print. This is a pee-guard for stray dogs intent on marking their territory.

Visit to Dirk Hagner's Studio

Owner of Press Works, Todd Smith visited the studio of print artist Dirk Hagner today.  Todd is visiting print artists in the OC, RC, and SB counties for a future print exhibition set for summer 2015 at Chaffey Community Art Museum in Ontario, CA that will highlight printmakers east of Los Angeles.  Dirk teaches printmaking and drawing at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, CA and was gracious enough to allow Todd a visit to view a number of different print projects he is working on or just completed.  

Dirk Hagner with one of his prints from his LA Maps to the Stars or L.A. Tabulae Ad Astra

Dirk showed Todd his just completed project L.A. Tabulae Ad Astra (LA Map to the Stars), his Disasters of War series, and his Haiku Broadsides.   Dirk used a variety of etching and letterpress techniques for the LA series.  Dirk printed on drawing paper that he soaked in the Los Angeles river itself.  For a more complete explanation of Dirk's process and intent as well as better pics of his prints visit http://www.dirkhagnerstudio.com/index.html.

The blue stains were printed letterpress style using photopolymer plates.

Dirk worked with a professor of Latin to get the terminology correct

Haiku Broadsides. Dirk's students helped to abbreviate the translated haiku poems.

Dirks's Disasters of War title taken from Francisco de Goya's 19th C. print series with a 21st C. spin.

 Thank you Dirk.  We look forward to seeing more work in the future.