FALL 2024 classes beginning MONDAY evening, SEPTEMBER 30.
1 Evening & 1 morning class and one workshop this session!
Scroll down to see basic info for classes and workshops, registration information, examples of past classes/workshops, and Annie Silverman’s bio.
CLASSES
THE LAYERED PRINT (Live in the Layers, not in the litter — inspired by a Stanley Kunitz poem!)
DATES: 9 Monday evenings — SEPTEMBER 30,OCTOBER 7,14,21, NOVEMBER 4,11,DECEMBER 2,9
TIME: 6:00–9:30 PM
Cost: $540 (PLUS $15 MATERIALS FEE)
Join Annie as she demonstrates methods for creating richly layered prints using intricate palettes of textures and colors. Several relief printmaking techniques will be taught, along with simple collagraph plates, the use of stencils and masks, and chine collé: collage and printmaking at the same time. Woodcut or linoleum carving can also occur. This is truly a MIXED MEDIA printmaking experience. Students can try various techniques. Annie will demonstrate the range of choices and show prints created with these techniques and people can choose what is the most compelling. It’s a very individualized setting, so with patience, everyone might very well be doing different things!
IMPROVISATIONAL WOODCUT — like Jazz, but with sharp tools and ink
DATES: 9 Tuesday MORNINGS — OCTOBER 1,8,15,22,29,NOVEMBER 5,12,DECEMBER 3,10
TIME: 10:00 am – 1:30 pm
Cost: $540
Improvisational woodcut: The most ancient printmaking technique honors the hand, the mark and the constructive/destruction of wood transformed into printmaking matrices when surfaces are carved, scratched or abraded. Each block becomes a layer of information that can be combined with other blocks, stencils and masks to yield unique, contemporary results. Tool maintenance and sharpening, ink application and modification, image transfer and other techniques will be addressed. Improvisational woodcut can have the immediacy of collage, yet with the possibility of work in a series, for which printmaking is ideal. Students will need to have woodcut tools and can buy wood in class at cost from instructor.
workshops
Weekend Workshop: Print, Wax, Poke and Stitch — Stepping into Translucency
Dates: Saturday–Sunday, DECEMBER 7-8, 2024
Time: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Class Limit: 4
Cost: $240 (plus a $15 materials fee)
Prints on Japanese paper that are waxed with melted beeswax become strong, translucent, flexible surfaces that welcome techniques like stitching, piercing and sewing. These prints can be used on their own or combined with other printed elements to invigorate surface and pattern in unique ways. The prints can also be sewn together to create 3-dimensional forms. Students can bring already existing prints, or create new ones with relief techniques. Simple embroidery and sewing techniques will be demonstrated, along with simple waxing procedures. This workshop would be useful for Bookmakers, 3-D mavens, and those curious to use their prints as materials for other projects.
Hot off the Press!
BASIC INFO FOR CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS
Class Size: Classes are limited to 4 people. Beginners welcome!
Safety: We will follow the current Covid safety guidelines for Somerville, MA.
Transportation: There is ample parking at the Miller St. Studio building where ABRAZOS PRESS is located. The studio is also a 10 minute walk from the Porter Sq. T station on the Red Line.
Registration:
To secure your spot, send an email of intent to silverman.annie@gmail.com and mail a $50.00 deposit check* made out to Annie Silverman to:
Annie Silverman
Abrazos Press
11 Miller St.
Somerville, MA 02143
* I also have electronic transfer through ZELLE (ANN SILVERMAN) AND PAYPAL (617-519-8970 or silverman.annie@gmail.com)
Questions?
Please contact me at silverman.annie@gmail.com with your questions.
Examples of PAST CLASSES:
Printmania INTENSIVE PRINTMAKING WORKSHOP
DATES: Monday–Thursday, July 24–27, 2023
Time: 9:30 am – 3:30 PM
Class limit: 4
Cost: $432 (plus a $20 materials fee)
Jump right into this immersive printmaking experience. Beginners and experienced print makers are welcome. Participants can come with ideas or not — with 4 days and 4 people there will be much individual attention and exploration occurring. Techniques that can be used during this time are monotype, collagraph, woodcut, and dry point. Participants will learn Annie’s quick and easy uses of acetate stencils for masking and printing which can very quickly ramp up possibilities for richly layered prints. Time will be spent on methods of image generation for people with limited drawing experience or skill (like the instructor).
A unique rhythm develops when participants can continue with ideas and processes from day to day which differs from weekly sessions. There will be much interactive sharing of ideas that can be inspiring for future projects.
Those interested in woodcut can purchase wood at the class, which the instructor sells at cost, plus shipping.
walk the line: trace monotype and dry point printmaking techniques
DATES: 7 Tuesday nights — May 16, 23, 30 and June 6, 13, 20, 27
Time: 6:00–9:30 pm
Fee: $385 (Plus an additional materials fee of $20)
Trace monotype was a favorite technique of Paul Klee. The edgy yet lyrical lines in many of his prints come from this simple yet compelling printmaking technique. Squiggles, scribbles, and contours can be rendered in prints already created that need an extra “something”, or as stand-alone expressions in their own right. Trace monotypes do not need a press to work their magic.
Using printmaking tools as well as treasures from hardware stores, students will also explore the range of line and tone qualities that can be obtained with dry point: the incising of various surfaces with sharp implements to create intaglio printing plates. These can range from thin plexi glass to the innards of soup boxes called Tetra paks, and other upcycled materials. Tone can be created with sand papers and abrasives. Techniques for mark making and image generation will be taught for people who are nervous and not confident with drawing (like the instructor!)
These techniques will be explored individually and added to each other along with stencils, masks, and other tools which Annie Silverman enjoys introducing in all her classes.
ABOUT ANNIE SILVERMAN
Annie Silverman is an experienced teacher and print maker who is the proprietor of Abrazos Press in Somerville, MA. Her books and prints have been exhibited and collected nationally and internationally. Her work is in the the collection of the Boston Athenaeum, the Boston Public Library and the De Cordova Museum. She was a part-time lecturer in Artists’ Books and Printmaking at Massachusetts College of Art and Design for over 15 years. In 2022 her work was included in THE PAPER BOAT FLOTILLA, which was a project from the Los angeles Printmaking Society that traveled to the Venice Bienniale. In May 2019 Annie taught Master Classes in polyester plate lithography in Denmark. Her work will be included in the Boston Printmakers Biennial Exhibition at Boston University in October, 2023,and was exhibited in the Biennial at Wellesley College in September 2019,and at Lesley University in 2017. During the first summer of COVID in 2020, Annie was in NEW YORK CITY ‘S International Print Center’s Summer Show. Also during Covid Annie participated in the international Phoenix Art and culture project (www.visionlabcollective.com), and the Marking Lives COVID project, which was exhibited at the BROAD INSTITUTE at MIT in Cambridge, MA. She was recently interviewed for the podcast, FAINHOUSE RADIO, and her episode 18 can be found on INSTAGRAM on FAIN HOUSE radio.
