Summer Studio Art News

Hello there!  (first I must apologize for the lateness of this post- it is the newsletter that I sent out prior to the Black Sheep festival and maybe an incentive for some of you to sign up for my newsletter? Though I promise to try to keep better time with my posts here soon : ) Here is the sign up form, if you would like to get mail a couple times a year from me. ) I hope you are keeping cool and enjoying the sunshine. Yes- somehow all at the same time ; ) This year has brought lots of wonderful things my way and I thought I might send you a note to let you know about some of them and to invite you to a few things coming very soon. My work has been morphing more and more into the fibre art world with all my hand stitching, quilting and patch-working over the past number of years. This Saturday (July 7th), I will be showing a few new fibre art pieces at the brand new Black Sheep Festival in Elora. There will be lots to see and do- you can find all the details here. I will be set up inside the Elora Art Centre- please come say hi. A good selection of my larger format fibre art pieces are being shown at Langdon Hall right now until the end of September. I am thrilled about this opportunity to have my work in this gorgeous setting and can’t wait to hang out with the work at one of their famous barbeque series events soon. You can find out details about their events here. Recently I had the opportunity to teach monotype to a delightful group of print enthusiasts through Print London as part of a month long print series. My workshop was in the middle of the screen print and paper cutting workshops. The whole thing culminated in a paper mural of all the various work, layered and edited to create a coherent installation piece highlighting the various techniques and a mash up of all the various participants’ work. The teaching work made me nostalgic for spending more time in the studio with others. If you are interested in joining me and some other lovely print people for some open sessions of printing, please let me know. I will keep the sessions at a maximum of 5 people per day so that there is lots of press time. You are to bring your own paper and the rest is included in the $45. fee. The days for open sessions are Thursday, July 19th, Saturday, July 21st, Tuesday, July 24th, Sunday, August 12th and Saturday Aug.18th- all days are 10am-4pm and will depend on the temperature of the studio. It is often fine working in a warm studio but occasionally the heat does get quite high and we would need to postpone. Please get in touch with me to confirm your space through my email link at the bottom of  the page.  This Summer also finds Chris and I spending some time dreaming about our future studio space and making plans and sketches about how this wonderful new project will take shape. We will take lots of photos and keep you posted on the progress because there will definitely be a celebration when it is complete. If I don't see you soon, I wish you lots of lazy Summer daydreaming kind of days, hopefully somewhere with a cool breeze. best, Tammy

All images are copyright © *Tammy Ratcliff 2018 All rights reserved Our mailing address is: 123 Woolwich St. 3rd floor Guelph ON

Memento, recent work

Memento, recent print work by Tammy Ratcliff at Renann Isaacs Contemporary Art November 2 - 25th Please join us for the opening Thursday November 2nd, 6-9pm at 5 Gordon Street, Guelph

Memento The pieces in Memento - hand-pulled prints inspired by observation and memory, photographs, plant clippings and traditional decoration - each represent a souvenir of a significant moment in time for the artist, and collectively serve as a type of personal travelogue of the literal and metaphorical journey she has undertaken over the last year and a half. This journey includes the bittersweet milestone of having one’s child leave home, the exhilaration of a month spent in the Norwegian arctic, and the painful and frustrating experience of confronting personal illness. This body of work represents the arrival at a point of resolution, where the impressions of place and time - some joyful, some painful - have been digested, distilled and given a fresh new airing, aided by the clarity of hindsight and context. Objectively, the works stand as sensitive and thoughtful interpretations of nature, employing varied print techniques to render the expansive sensations and rugged beauty of a landscape, or the more intimate investigation of a botanical study. More subjectively, each is coloured with subtle emotional undercurrents that touch alternately on fear and melancholy, admiration and wonder, and hint at the artist’s desire, and the universal impulse, to make sense of one’s place within these intertwined narratives.

Copyright © *2017, Tammy Ratcliff All rights reserved. the view I, monotype with chine collé Our mailing address is: 123 Woolwich St. 3rd floor Guelph N1H 4E8 I apologize if you received this email in error. You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Mentorship Project

Hello hello! I have not written for some time, but am ready to spend some time sitting and catching up. Seems there is much to write about. Most recently I took part in a mentorship project through the Guelph Arts Council and the Studio Fine Arts and Music at University of Guelph called the Ontario150 Young Artist Mentorship Project 2017. Below is part I of the diary notes and photos that I took during our time working together.

Mentorship Project- (part 1)
I first met Heather at the Art Council offices where we heard a bit about the program that we had both applied to take part in. The group of mentors are introduced to our Young Artists and I find I have been paired up with a printmaker named Heather Thomson. Heather has lots of questions and ideas, is animated and her excitement is infectious. I am looking forward to our time working together! The office is across the road from my studio, so after the meeting we run to my studio to do a quick tour and exchange contact information.

June 15th, evening
We arrange to meet at my studio on the evening of the15th. The focus of Heather’s interest is divided between professional development and printmaking technical.  We figure that we can manage both in our sessions if we are well prepared. She is excited to do some printmaking that will not be graded and is keen to just get on a press again for the first time since graduating from the fine arts program at Guelph. Heather has prepared quite a long list of questions for me and we decide to have question/answer time in the middle of our visit, between preparing some experimental pronto plates and printing the pronto plates on my etching press. Heather’s printmaking interests and experience is mostly CMYK in lithography and screen printing. My experience is in intaglio and relief but I am familiar with a lesser known lithography technique, called Pronto plate that I can print on my etching press. This plate comes prepared for you to draw on with Bic pens, Sharpie markers, litho crayons, tusche wash or anything greasy. Heather is particularly interested in this techniques as her drawing tool of choice is a ball point pen. I am excited to introduce her to this simple litho technique that she may be able to do on her own, away from the University studio.
Heather gets to work on her sample plates, trying all the different drawing tools that I present to her. We chat all the while and move through various questions covering exhibition strategies, getting yourself out there and applying for shows. We are busy with this until we realize the time and decide to continue with the questions next visit. We will have to quickly print the test plates to see how they turn out. The results are good with the second inking and printing and I think that Heather is happy with how well the ball point pen works with this type of plate. We clean up and I send her home with some pronto plates to work on so that we will be able to jump into printing at our next visit.
We both agree that the time seems very limited for the type of project we want to accomplish. We are going to try to arrange more time so that we both feel content with the outcome.

June 20th Sunday afternoon
We meet when Heather is able to arrange a ride from Oakville where she lives and is currently without a drivers license. Heather arrives with plates prepared for a 4 colour separation drawing of a cactus in bloom (I am not sure of the name of this one but it looks slightly festive : ) Printing and questions go well and Heather is able to get familiar with the process, printing her first colour on very fine gampi silk paper. She is diving into this process with the hopes that she will be challenged and learn. Working with very fine tissue papers is an exercise in patience, but I feel the pay off will make the struggle worthwhile.

So far, so good. Above the second colour printed on the gampi silk.

Working with my husband

Hello hello! It has been some time since I posted here and lots has kept me busy in different ways, but now is the time to sit and tell you a bit about it.
You might remember I have been working at Wyndham Art Supplies with my husband
for a period of time to help the store through some big changes. My session of full time
store management lasted into almost 2 years now and we can't believe how far we have
come in that time. It is pretty scary dealing with so many major changes all at the same 
time but almost immediately their was a huge payoff. Things are better than they have
been in many years. We have an amazing team of talented people who we are so happy to work with. Our new website is working well, growing every day, and we are getting close to our 25th anniversary! Working together again has been good for both of us, once we figured out some rules about how much home time can be spent on the store. So much is about balance!

It is easier for me now to shift into my previous behind the scenes work with some new 'off the floor' fun jobs to keep me involved. This allows me to balance more studio time with my work at the store. I am also working on scheduling that encourages Chris to spend more time with his art practice- this has been very exciting.

Please come check out some of our recent work at the RedBrick Café in downtown Guelph. They have coffee, tea, beer, wine, snacks and often live music and other fun stuff. It is just a really nice place to hang out and take in some art in a leisurely fashion. It was also really fun hanging a show together... maybe more of these in the future...

Here are a few photo teasers of work in the show. My in situ phone pics are mostly too fuzzy to post but I will share the best of the lot.

These are just to give you and idea of the show and how our work hangs together. (We think, pretty well : ) Please let us know what you think.

This is Chris's 'four o'clock shadow' acrylic on terra skin on panel. I love this one, it completely puts me in a state of mind of being on holiday somewhere. Wandering around in a new city in the afternoon, taking my time and looking up at the foreign architecture. 

This is my 'love rays' mixed print and washi piece with hand stitching. There are five works like this in the show. I am really enjoying pushing my print work on fine washi in more of a textile direction. Actually I am not sure what direction it is yet but I really like sewing all the printed pieces of washi together better than pasting right now. 

Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition

I am four days away from packing everything up and taking it on the road to participate in the 55th Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition. It has been 12 years since I last participated and I am feeling a bit nervous and lots excited. I am 12 years older and hoping my endurance can still make it through 3 long days of showing my work to the public. In the past, meeting all the wonderful people at the show has definitely been the main highlight. Loading and unloading artwork each day, I remember as a type of boot camp. The weather is always a wild card, so will just prepare for everything and remain flexible. I have lots of work prepared and quite a few in the works, the editing will be the hardest part.  Maybe I can post some of the works that I am taking with me to get an idea of how it will all come together. Overall, I am feeling it will be a great show- and I hope to see you there!

These three are new mixed print pieces with lots of different beautiful Japanese papers. They are a departure from the traditional chine collé technique, pasting fine papers to a heavier paper when printing (which I still do with my edition works). These pieces are mostly sewn together to allow the delicate textures of the lovely papers to play as fine layers. I float mounted them and used 'invisible' glass, which is pretty amazing but a bit fussy to work with. All is good, if you do not touch it : )

Still working with some silhouettes. I have a series of gestures in socks and gloves that I am hoping to show some of.

This is one of the works framed in the top photo. I am having a lot of fun, and learning lots, while experimenting with taking prints apart and rearranging with new papers into fresh compositions.

And a really rough snap, fresh off the press, from my instagram of an etching that I am working on and hoping might make an appearance next weekend... fingers crossed. This year has seen lots of work inspired by lilacs. 
Off to finish a few more things started here. Will post some more photos soon.

gorgeous gampi

just a few photos of work in progress. these etchings on gampi were in preparation for a second printing and chine collé. The result was my print 'mending' which was included in the portfolio project and print exchange REVIVAL which was shown at Print City in Detroit last year. I now have a lovely portfolio box filled with REVIVAL prints to share with you soon...

for all the paper nerds out there... I wish you could hear it whisper and rustle. I love that sound

Spring Workshops Date Changes

It has been some time since I have hosted print workshops in my studio. I really enjoy the process and the company but have the hardest time getting the bits and pieces together in organizing. I collect names and numbers over long spans of time and then finally contact people when I have a few dates together.
This recent session had a few hurdles going for it. The other evening my mother-in-law mentioned about my workshops on Easter and Mothers Day and I was confused and then very frustrated with myself. I was so focussed on finding dates that worked with my schedule, I was looking at my phone calendar and my lovely Graven Feather calendar…neither of them have holidays on them. So that is how it happened and this is how I am fixing it. These are the new dates below.

Sunday May 4th 10am- 4pm $110. +hst

Sunday May 18th 10am -4pm  $110. +hst

or both

2 Sundays in May 4th & 18th, 10am-4pm $180. +hst

My Wednesday open print sessions are off to a good start and will continue later in the Summer and into the Fall. Keep looking here to see about dates and information or send me an email if you are interested in joining.

Spring Workshops

Lots of busy busy starting to happen in the studio in preparation for 
a few different printmaking workshops. I have dusted, mopped, decluttered and even painted the floors! It feels fresh and ready for Spring. I will be offering an open session for independent projects on Wednesday mornings and evenings to start April 16 and run for four weeks. Also 2 monotype and chine collé workshops, both running on two Sunday afternoons. 

For the month of June, Myles Calvert will be the resident artist in my studio. For three of those weeks, Myles will be hosting some etching workshops that you may be interested in.  You should have a look at some of Myles artwork here on his website.

Please find all the details below and if you have any questions please contact Myles or myself. *(Myles at mylescalvert(at)gmail.com and myself at info(at)tammyratcliff.com)

Spring Printmaking Workshops  

in my super sunny studio

Open studio, semi-independent sessions in printmaking

An open printmaking session on Wednesdays in my downtown studio to begin on April 16th. 

These Wednesday sessions are an opportunity to work in a print studio with an etching or book press creating monotype, drypoint or relief prints. You are welcome to start new projects or bring previously etched and prepared plates for printing.

This is not a formal class but an opportunity to work on individual projects semi-independently. I will be present for support and any technical questions.  Previous printmaking experience is preferred.

You will need to bring your own paper for printing but ink, newsprint, gloves, and a monoprint plate, etc. will all be supplied.  If you are working on a specific plate you are welcome to bring this as well.

*Class size is a maximum of 5 people so there is plenty of opportunity to use the press.

evenings x 4 weeks 7-10pm, April 16, 23, 30 and May 7   

$120. +hst 

or

daytime x 4 weeks  9:30am-12:30pm, April 16, 23, 30 and May 7  

$120. +hst 

Monotype/ Monoprint workshop with chine collé

This workshop is open to the beginner as well as the more experienced artist, with a focus on water based etching inks (Akua and Charbonnel) for monotype printmaking using the etching press. We will explore the many ways in which we can create a one-of-a-kind painterly print; additive and subtractive methods of applying ink to the plate surface, the use of brayers, brushes and stencils, chine collé, texture transferring, multiple plate printing and registration.
Monotpe printmaking can be a very spontaneous and satisfying way to work and often inspires work in other mediums because of quick results and the variety of techniques used.  Lots of wonderful papers and only the best of inks will be available for inspired experimentation.

*Class size is a maximum of 5 people so there is plenty of opportunity to use the press.
All materials, refreshments and a light lunch are included. 

Sunday May 4th 10am- 4pm $110. +hst
Sunday May 18th 10am -4pm  $110. +hst
or both

2 Sundays in May 4th & 18th, 10am-4pm $180. +hst

Printing at Catch-23

After my big press break I was a bit stressed about how I was going to do all the printing for my upcoming show at Renann Isaacs Contemporary Art.  Thankfully, Ryan Price at Catch-23 offered me the use of his press and studio to print some of the plates that I had all ready to go. This space was my old studio quite a long time ago and it was a bit funny working in there at first but then once things got going was very nice.  Lots of good memories and great to have a bit of time to look at some of Ryan's wonderful drypoints and drawings. I am posting a few photos (which don't do his work justice) but you should look up his work.  The studio is also home to Ryan and Nadine's custom framing, Catch-23 and they do beautiful work.

Graven Feather calendars

There are only a few of Graven Feather's first hand printed calendars still available!

Quick, quick.

Ink meets Paper

A sweet little video from a letter press studio, Ink meets Paper  via Design Sponge

click here to see the video

Open Studio at Art Toronto 2011
Booth 141

October 27 to 31, 2011

Unconventional Meets Traditional

Image: Libby Hague, Peacock Weather (detail), hand-coloured cut woodcut, modified paper, 8’ x 20” x 13”, 2011.

28 Days Until Art Toronto! 

A first-time exhibitor at Art Toronto, Open Studio presents a curated selection of print-based works from the Print Sales Gallery focusing on the unconventional use of materials – wood, metal, Japanese paper – by artists working in traditional forms of printmaking such as woodcut, screenprinting and etching. (Price range $500 - $4000)

Open Studio will feature artworks by Barbara Balfour, Nadine Bariteau, Yael Brotman, Sean Caulfield, Susan Collett, Tara Cooper, Joscelyn Gardner, Libby Hague, Brian Hoxha, Brian Kelley, Judith Klugerman, Jenn Law, Jennifer Linton, Wendy Morosoff Smith, Ann McCall, Suzanne Nacha, Sandi Ralph, Tammy Ratcliff, Bernice Sorge, Penelope Stewart, Jeannie Thib, Celeste Toogood and Janice Wong.

Highlighting Open Studio's presence at Art Toronto, Libby Hague’s Hold Me Tight, a print-based sculpture, will be included in Open Space, a newly inaugurated project space in a dedicated on-site section at the fair featuring large-scale sculpture and installation work in conjunction with galleries specially selected by a jury.

Visit us to see how these unique materials are used as core elements to express a wide range of themes, including our relationship to nature, each other and our societies. For example, Nadine Bariteau’s screenprints address the natural and man-made environments through the use of photo-based images on pliable wood. Libby Hague’s work uses cut paper to explore the vulnerability and preciousness of nature. Susan Collett’s monoprints on paper printed from stitched copper-plate templates, examine the tension between strength and fragility.

Open Studio, Canada's leading printmaking centre, is dedicated to the production, preservation and promotion of contemporary original fine art prints. All purchases support Open Studio, a charitable organization that provides services to artists and the public, including exhibitions, education, studio facilities and professional development opportunities for artists.

'in last evenings light'  etching monoprint, chine colle and hand stitching.  Tammy Ratcliff 2011

OPENING NIGHT PREVIEW
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Special Collectors' Preview
4:30-6:30pm
Tickets: $300
Opening Night Preview
6:30-10pm
Tickets: $200

PUBLIC HOURS:
Friday, October 28 12 - 8pm
Saturday, October 29 12 - 8pm
Sunday, October 30 12 - 6pm
Monday, October 31 12 - 6pm


   Metro Toronto Convention Centre
   North Building,
   Exhibit Hall A & B
   255 Front Street West
   www.arttoronto.ca

Culture Days is coming!

The Print Factory at the Trafalgar Building

123 Woolwich St. Guelph

Come join the artists (Gillian Wilson, Pam Lobb, Lydia Nieuwenkamp and Tammy Ratcliff) at the Print Factory
for printmaking demonstrations in relief, screen, intaglio and lithography during the Culture Days weekend at the
Trafalgar Building.Try some printmaking yourself - make a bookmark or print a t-shirt!
Space and materials are limited. Bring your own t-shirt.

Date(s) & Time(s) of hands on printing and demonstrations
Saturday, October 1, 2011 — 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Saturday, October 1, 2011 — 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Sunday, October 2, 2011 — 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM

And if you are not interested in printing but would like to check out some of the
work that we make with printmaking, the studio will be open
Friday September 30th  5 -9pm (with refreshments)
Saturday October 1st  10am-5pm
Sunday October 2nd  11am-4pm

Location
123 Woolwich St
Guelph, Ontario
View Map of this Activity
Directions
The Trafalgar Building is just north of the River Run and Sleeman Centre in downtown Guelph. Come to the third floor.