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Last week I taught a week long intensive block course - Copper Sulphate & Salt Etching on Aluminum plates at The Learning Connexion www.tlc.ac.nz. It was good to revisit this technique. We used non-toxic methods: acrylic floor polish & Liquitex pouring medium as a hard ground, soda ash solution to remove the hard ground and Kremelta for negative and positive mark-making in a variety of tones. No need to aquatint aluminium plates for tones! The students printed their plates using soy oil based Akua inks on to good quality Fabriano printmaking paper. They created a wonderful variety of prints and incorporated the chine collé technique - collaging hand-coloured cartridge paper in between ink and paper
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Meet Marci Tackett & Basia Smolnicki - printmaking tutors at The Learning Connexion with students work on display at TLC reception. Featuring monoprints, woodcuts, dry point etchings, stampmaking, collaged cardboard relief prints, collagraphs, plaster prints, screen prints on paper & textiles, book binding & so much more! What a team. Check out Term 2 for casual, part time or full time classes in printmaking at www.tlc.ac.nz.   This elegant mirror Through the Looking Glass is up for auction at this year's Seatoun School Gala Sunday 11 March 2018.
Beautifully made by sandblasting Kiwi flora and nature motifs into mirrored glass, this large piece 600mm x 750mm by Basia Smolnicki, will hang with pride on the wall of our auction winner. Basia will also make mirrors like this one on commission, incorporating whatever symbols are meaningful to you and your family. "My commission work captures my client's stories, so the final piece reflects their life." And Basia will kindly donate 10% of any commission request from Seatoun School parents to our school in 2018. Thanks for your generosity, Basia.
Basia has applied innovative printmaking methods to alternative materials other than traditional paper used to print her woodcuts and etchings. Her slumped etched glass bowls are unique, functional in design and original in her distinctive graphic style. The photos above illustrate the process of transforming a round flat sheet of glass into a three dimensional object. A round disc of flat glass is placed on top of a slumping mold into a ceramic kiln. The kiln is heated to a high temperature which softens the glass enough to sink into the shape of the mold. After the glass has cooled, the surface is covered with a stencil. Basia draws the design and cuts through the stencil to reveal the glass to be sandblasted. Sand shot through a hose under pressure etches and erodes away the surface of the glass to produce a low-relief sculptural surface that has a tactile depth and is opaque in contrast to the smooth glass surface of the glass bowl. Basia sells her slumped etched bowls exclusively at Solander Gallery, Wellington.  Printmaking Summer School with Basia Smolnicki 2018
Inverlochy Art School 3 Inverlochy Place Wellington 15 - 19 January 2018 An exciting introduction to the many possibilities of traditional printmaking techniques with simple and easy to use contemporary materials. Students will explore mono printing, rubber stamp making, textured collagraphs, bold linocut & wood block carving methods and the delicate line drawing of dry-point etching techniques. Enjoy the relaxed and friendly atmosphere of historic Inverlochy House over the summer holidays. All materials provided. 5 days of creative printmaking bliss! Contact www.inverlochy.org.nz for more information.
 Incorporating art with design for a glass splash back in a new kitchen renovation was a dream come true for Basia. "I've always wanted to produce a splash back with a design etched onto the back of a glass panel. The artwork creates a little space and time for contemplation in what is often a very busy area of the house".
The process has been complex. Wellington Glass & Mirror measured, cut and supplied the glass to Innovation Glass Newtown who spray painted the back of the glass black. The black back of the glass was covered in stencil film ready for Basia to cut the design by hand. Artrix Glass Studio sandblasted through the black paint to translucent glass. The etched glass panel went back to Innovation Glass Newtown to be spray painted white so the glass could be installed with no possibility of glue showing through the etched glass. Phew! Sounds complicated. Looks fantastic and so easy to wipe and keep clean!  If you would like ultimate privacy and allow maximum light into your bedroom consider frosted glass that has been etched on both sides of the glass panel. This toughened piece of glass has various shaped ferns detailed on the inside of the room and the other side of the glass surface etched with a matte sandblasting. The glass is translucent and allows natural light to pass through the etched (sandblasted) glass and privacy in the bedroom is maintained.   Sandblasted pohutakawa and manuka flower motifs decorate the new double-glazed door and side light glass panels in a recent home renovation. The floral designs have been repeated and incorporated into the new kitchen design as opening double-glazed skinny windows on either side of the stove cooker.
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