Chuck Close shares his magic tricks

So, I have been hearing from everyone how fantastic, how (f**king, to quote a friend) amazing, how surprising, etc. the Chuck Close exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art is, and so yesterday I finally went to go see what all the who-ha was about.
My colleagues weren't gushing or exaggerating one bit-it really is pretty amazing. The title of the exhibtion, Chuck Close Prints: Process and Collaboration, is a fitting title. I can't tell you how many times I've stared at the pulp stenciled piece of his daughter, Georgia, 1984, (above left) and tried to figure out how it was made.
In addition to seeing the large metal stencil that was used in its creation, I got to see all of 13 of the stencils used in the layered pulp portait he made of Roy Lichtenstein, the etched plates used in the Phillip Glass prints, and the carved blocks used for printing Emma. I appreciated how the blocks, stencils and plates were hung right alongside the prints. Chuck Close describes this exhibition as 'breaking the cardinal rule that was learned in magician school, that is, showing your audience how you did the trick'.
No tricks about it, go see this show. It has been extended until September 26th!

Chuck Close Prints: Process and Collaboration from Corcoran Gallery of Art on Vimeo.

From Paper to Print

I just returned from teaching a 5 day workshop called 'Paper to Print' at Women's Studio Workshop. Like the name of it implies, it was a hybrid papermaking and printmaking class. The first couple of days we pulp painted on rag, abaca, and flax papers. Later on in the week, we used those pulp painted papers for backgrounds for pronto plate lithographs and xerox transfers. My students were great and brought so much to the class! Some highlights:

The blender bike that Barb brought

Sumptuous food

and our amazing tech Terez, who is pictured here washing some freshly cooked iris.

Here are some more pictures of the workshop.