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Etching Workshop – Changing States
March 16 @ 10:00 am - March 17 @ 4:00 pm
Dates: Sat 16 – Sun 17 March, 10am – 4pm
Tutors: Ian Chamberlain RE RWA & Amy-Jane Blackhall
Fee: £250
Places Remaining: 3
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A workshop of exploration and development focusing on the continual transformation of the etching plate.
Join us for this special opportunity to work with two experienced printmakers, Ian Chamberlain and Amy-Jane Blackhall, who will bring their breadth of knowledge on this versatile and creative form of printmaking.
This is not just your ordinary ‘how to’ workshop. Participants will be required to bring along a pre-existing worked copper plate to develop further on the course. This will be used as a basis to explore new techniques and approaches in both platemaking and printing, with the aim of pushing individuals practice forward. There will also be the opportunity to develop a new piece of work on the course.
There will be refreshers in fundamental traditional etching techniques, but the focus will be geared towards developing new ways of working. We hope to encourage conversation and problem solving within a small, nurturing group of up to 8 people.
This is an opportunity to try things out with support and guidance, and have use of the INK on PAPER PRESS printmaking facilities. Come away with confidence and feel encouraged to make further developments post the two-day workshop.
Materials will be provided – surplus materials available at cost.
We require the participant to bring an existing copper plate.
Due to the nature and timescale of the course, we will only be able to accommodate copper plates within a maximum dimension of A4 (21 x 297mm / 8.3 x 11.7ins).
Plates must be copper as we will be working with a ferric chloride set up.
Things to note:
Processes will be demonstrated, but this workshop is not aimed at complete beginners, as emphasis is on developing and pushing process forward from initial explorations.
Pre-course information will be sent out prior to the course.
Your Tutors
Ian Chamberlain RE RWA
Ian Chamberlain’s work reinterprets manmade structures as monuments placed within the landscape, acting as architectural metaphors of past and current technological achievements. He has had a longstanding fascination with technology and architectural forms, these have included structures within industry, agriculture, science and the military.
The traditional print process of etching enables Ian to record his subject matter and offers a freshness and originality to the work, taking it away from mere direct representation and embraces and accepts the idea of the artwork evolving and shifting throughout its creation. The etching process becomes a natural extension of Ian’s drawing practice, offering a diversity of mark making and tone that can capture the form, volume and surface qualities of the structures recorded. The continual erosion of the plate is echoed in the subject matter themselves and in the process used to record it.
Ian Chamberlain has exhibited nationally and internationally, his prints and drawings are held in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Tate Modern, London; Bristol Museum; Royal West of England Academy, Bristol; Pallant House Gallery, Chichester; The University of Chichester collection; The Ashmolean, Oxford and Chippenham Museum.
Ian Chamberlain lives and works in Bristol, UK. In addition to his studio practice he is Senior
Lecturer in M.A Multi-Disciplinary Printmaking at The University of the West of England, Bristol, UK.
Amy-Jane Blackhall
Amy-Jane Blackhall is an artist and printmaker. Her work is inspired by the ritual and rhythm of the printmaking process. Underlying structures are central to her imagery; derived from sacred places, she frequently references archetypal symbols, Oriental art and Eastern ideologies.
In 2015 Blackhall established her own Fine Art print and editioning studio, INK on PAPER PRESS, now based at The Stores Studios in Wiltshire, UK where she works with artists on a one-to-one basis to originate and edition prints, alongside developing her own art practice. The studio specialises in intaglio and relief processes and offers creative solutions from origination to editioning, including print hand finishing. INK on PAPER PRESS is currently the main print editioning studio for Royal Academician, Emma Stibbon.
Blackhall trained under Master Printer Jack Shirreff at 107 Workshop, where she worked on editions for Howard Hodgkin, Gillian Ayres & Patrick Hughes. She also has teaching experience and worked as Studio Printmaker for Rabley Drawing Centre and continues to collaborate with Rabley Gallery on projects and editions.
In 2022 The Golder-Thompson Gift established an archive at Chippenham Museum of prints made at the studio. This documents the span of work made at INK on PAPER PRESS to the present day, it includes a print made by each of the artists that have worked with Blackhall and the collection will continue to grow on into the future.