Relief Monoprint Workshop with Frieda Dean

I've been regrouping after curating the Bristol Art Museum Fine Points exhibit so I am finally getting around to sharing these photos and writing about a Relief Monoprint workshop I took with artist Frieda Dean at the Providence Art Club in July. Frieda Dean is the sister of Angel Dean who - besides being an artist - coordinates Event Planning and Member Services for the Providence Art Club.

Frieda began by explaining her process of inking small, medium and large stencils on two sides and layering them between two sheets of printmaking paper (like a sandwich). We learned that we needed to plan out our composition and layer different sizes, thinking about both front and back as they would be sandwiched between two sheets of paper. This allowed us to pull two prints at one time.

The workshop was great fun!

 Here is my inking area, I was experimenting with different oranges and yellows on my artichoke stencil.

 Above is one of my stencil layouts on paper ready to print, below it is lying on the press ready for me to add a top sheet of paper before running it through the printing press.

 It is a messy process and takes up a lot of space but great fun! Below are three of my finished prints. I have added some colored pencil embellishments to all three. The bottom print is created on Asian rice paper with a texture.