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 Feature bathroom window for a new house on the Wellington Kapiti coast separates the bathroom from the open plan bedroom area. Double glazed for energy efficiency, the sandblasted design is etched on the toughened glass panel inside the double glazed unit. Natural sunlight filters through the clear glass casting patterns of light onto horizontal and vertical surfaces changing daily throughout the different seasons.
During the recent 2018 Ukekele Festival in Geraldine I visited the Temuka Library, Information and Service Centre - 16 kms south on the main road to Timaru. A tiny little rural town and home to Temuka Pottery. I designed a window frieze a little while back and finally got the chance to visit and photograph my work in situ. Looks like sandblasted glass but it's frosted vinyl film supplied and installed by Geraldine Signs. Love the technology! I can email artwork as an illustrator file from home to about anywhere in the world.    PCANZ Selected Exhibition at ArtsPost Galleries Waikato Museum
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
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. |
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