After several years of screen-printing, I did an apprenticeship at Second State press as a monitor in exchange for unlimited free studio hours. I made screen-prints in many different styles from CYMK to mono print to multi layer color separations. Meanwhile I was taking screen-printing at Fliesher with Gerard Silva who’s also the exhibitions manager there. Then the pandemic happened and we went into lockdown. In fall 2020, Fleisher slowly reopened starting with open studios. Vita Litvak (Fleisher’s director of education) invited me to be one of the monitors in the screen-print studio where I helped provide a safe environment while I worked on my prints. Like at Second State Press, I had unlimited open studio hours during the times open studio was open. Once the screen-print classes were up and running in person, I used my experience as a monitor to help out in Gerard’s class be finding things for him and others if needed and help other returning students with techniques they may have forgotten. Vita was impressed and urged me to do an apprenticeship with one of the screen-print instructors. I worked with Gerard. He was pleased with my performance and wanted me to sub for him. Soon I got an email from Vita for me to sub for two other screen-print instructors when they called out sick. I was excited to facilitate the studio and help students with various techniques. I’m hoping to teach a screen-print class for teen lounge some day.
Action Painting
I lead a project with a family focusing in action art. First we filled water balloons with paint. Then we all helped with carrying supplies out in the nature by the River; a huge thick rolled up paper, paints in containers with supplies and fly swatters. After setting up the paper on the grass, the kids took turns throwing water balloons with paint in them at the paper. Then the whole family, mother, her son and his friend, and I took turns dipping the swatters in trays of paint and whacking the paper. We also dipped ferns and sticks in paint and hit the paper with it and make prints with them. The focus of the project was process, not product. It was about the result of art making through movement like Jackson Pollock did with his famous paintings.