Poetry and Print: Explorations in Woodcut and Haiku

2 days, Wednesday & Thursday
June 25th - 26th, 10 AM – 5 PM
6 participants maximum
Cost:$300 + $45 materials fee

In this workshop we will explore woodcut as an open-ended, experimental process. Using haiku as a point of departure, our carving will be inspired by the spirit and imagery of poetry. This approach will invite us to investigate mark making in new ways. From there, we will explore variations in inking and printing, with an emphasis on transparency and subtle color combinations. Working with square format blocks will allow us to experiment with turning our blocks, layering, overprinting, ghost prints and more.

Demonstrations will include:
-Registration
-Stencils and masks
-Transparency in papers, inking, and waxing
-Layering, ghost prints
-Chine colle and collage, adhesives

Pulling from traditional haiku sent by Julie, or haiku of your choosing, participants will benefit by preparing for the workshop by making a series of loose drawings inspired by imagery in the poetry and collecting collage imagery for potential inclusion in our prints.

This workshop is appropriate for woodcut artists with some experience.

Julie Lapping Rivera is a printmaker and collage artist, currently teaching woodcut at Smith College and at Zea Mays Printmaking. She began her career as a teaching artist in NYC with the Studio In a School Association, Museum of Modern Art, and Lincoln Center Institute. She is a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship recipient in Drawing and has received grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Massachusetts Cultural Council. In 2022 Julie was awarded a guest artist residency fellowship to Scoula Internazionale di Grafica, Venice, Italy. representing the Boston Printmakers. In April, 2024, her woodcut and poetr series “Look Again: Portraits of Daring Women'' will open at the D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts in Springfield, MA.