Printmaking without a press, with Bonnie Mineo

This past Saturday I took an inspiring workshop with Bonnie Mineo at Fort Point Studios in Boston. Bonnie is a painter, printmaker and and mixed media artist with a prior career in graphic design (hey, that sounds like me!). This was a "printmaking without a press" class using water-based inks and foam plates to create one-of-a-kind prints. It was fun and informative, and Bonnie is a fantastic instructor.

Before lunch Bonnie explained all of the supplies she uses, and demonstrated her process. Then we spent some time creating a variety of plates...different shapes and textures.

After a delicious lunch at Flour, it was back to the studio to begin creating. I had a tough time with the inks because even though I was using the same colors as the acrylics I use, they didn't mix the same, and the results weren't exactly what I had in mind. But, the process of layering different plates and colors was a lot of fun.

I think there were about 7 or 8 of us. Everyone had their own style and we had a little critique at the end. The prints above are a few of the pieces we had finished at the end of the day.

Of course, when I got back to my studio I wanted to continue with the process, but I didn't have any of the inks we used in class. But I do have Golden Open Acrylics, which I love, and thought would work in a similar way. So I made a few new plates and expanded on what I learned in the workshop. I can see that I'm going to like working with a variety of these prints and making collages with them.