Artist Bio:
Grace Morris is an emerging artist currently residing in Aurora, CO. In May 2021, Grace received her BFA in Printmaking and a minor in history from Colorado State University. She primarily focuses on traditional print mediums, such as relief and intaglio prints. Her work portrays architectural forms, styles and structures and their relationship to society, history and personal experiences. Grace’s work has been shown in various exhibitions throughout Colorado, and she was a resident artist from May to July 2022 for the Art District on Sante Fe’s Emerging Artist Program in Denver, CO.
What is Printmaking?
Printmaking is the process of printing an image from a plate to another surface such as paper and fabric. There are multiple ways to create a printing plate (carving wood, etching metal, etc.). The printing plate is inked up and transferred to paper usually with a printing press. Even though they are multiple impressions of the same image, prints created with traditional printmaking methods are considered original pieces of art since they are hand-printed by the artist.
What is a Relief Print?
An image is cut or carved away from a linoleum or wood plate. The areas carved away will become the negative space of the image while the remaining areas will be the positive space of the image. The remaining, uncarved surface is then rolled up in ink. The ink from the surface is transferred to the paper using an etching press or by hand with a baren or wooden spoon.
What is an Intaglio Print?
An image is engraved or etched into a flat surface, such as copper, zinc or plexiglass. Ink is then rubbed into the incisions while the remaining ink left on the surface is wiped away. The image is transferred to paper with an etching press. While printing, the paper is pressed into the engraved lines of the plate.
What is a Lithograph Print?
Lithography is based on the principle of water and oil not mixing. An image is drawn on a flat, smooth surface usually limestone or a metal plate, with a greasy substance such as a crayon or tusche wash. The surface is then etched with a mixture of gum arabic and nitric acid to make areas without grease more hydrophilic. While printing, the surface needs to be moistened so water will repel from the image and oil-based ink will stick to the image. The image is transferred from the surface to paper using a lithography press.
What is a Screenprint?
An image is transferred to paper, fabric or other surfaces by pushing ink with a squeegee through a mesh screen. Stencils of your image are created on the screen either through photo emulsion, screen filler or vinyl. The stencil fills the holes in the mesh preventing ink from transferring.
What is a Collagraph?
A collagraph print is created by glueing different materials to a plate. Depending on what materials are on the plate, the print can either be printed as relief or intaglio or both.
What is a Cyanotype?
Cyanotypes are alternative photographic prints that are blue and white. The emulsion is a mixture of potassium ferricyanide and ferric ammonium citrate. After the emulsion is painted and dried on paper, a negative is placed and the print is exposed to UV light. The print is rinsed with water to finalize the image. The blue color can be manipulated with an extra step called toning. The toner needs to contain tannic acid. Tannic acid interacts with the iron in the cyanotype emulsion which changes the color.