299 West Ave
Norwalk, CT 06850
USA
FRIDAY, JULY 7 THROUGH SUNDAY, JULY 9
10AM – 4PM, 3-DAY WORKSHOP
Participants will learn how the layering of colored slips and textures upon a slab of clay will produce sophisticated clay monoprints. After rolling out a thick slab of stoneware clay and allowing it to dry to a leather-hard consistency, colored slips are brushed on, dried and rolled into the clay slab, one color over another, building the design with images, colors and textures. Once the slab is rolled flat, a moistened piece of nonwoven paper is placed over the slab. Pressure is applied using a rolling pin to transfer the clay slips onto the paper. This process uses simple tools to produce very sophisticated results. Get ready to use clay in a very different way.
MITCH LYONS attended the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, receiving his BFA in Graphics. Between his junior and senior years, he was employed as a night watchman at the school. During that summer, in the middle of the night, he taught himself how to throw on the potters wheel, where he became immersed in clay. “I knew immediately that clay was going to be my life’s work”. After a couple of years teaching high school, Mitch applied and was accepted as a graduate student in ceramics at Tyler School of Art. It was there that he first got the idea of combining his two interests, printmaking and clay.
After twelve years of experimenting with various papers, pigments, and different clay bodies (1968-1980), Mitch finally felt successful with his efforts. In September of 1980 he rolled out his large slab of clay (six feet by six feet) and has been printing from that same slab since.
His work is in the collections of many museums, including the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Delaware Art Museum, and the Noyes Museum, as well as many private and public collections.
In his book, The Art of Printing With Clay, Mitch shares with you his years of expertise and knowledge of this innovative, non-toxic printmaking process, explaining step by step how he prints with clay. Visit Mitch at www.mitchlyons.com
Image: Mitch Lyons, Untitled, Clay Monotype