If you have had even a cursory inspection of this website you will know that I specialise in drill engraved glass. There are of course many other approaches to engraving, sandblasting, stipple and copper wheel engraving to name just three. Early on I found I liked the drill, it allowed me to replicate the kind of marks and lines I employ in my drawings and as it is a fast process makes good sense from a business point of view. Every now and then though, there is the surge to try something new.
At the start of 2017, in a discussion about work planned for a solo show the question was raised as to whether it was possible to take a print of glass. In fact it is perfectly possible if you have the right equipment and know how. I didn't, so that plan quickly went out the window. What I did have though was a contact with the Tyler Print institute in Singapore who quickly put me in touch with Atelier Outotsu in Nishinomiya between Kobe and Osaka.
Atelier Outotsu is focused on printmaking and engraving. It hosts an artist in resident scheme, organises exhibitions and allows its resident artists year round access to its facilities. Kanno San, the director of Atelier Outotsu, was hugely generous with his advice on materials and techniques and over the space of six months I produced nearly thirty copper plates. These were edited down to a more manageable 22 and Kanno San set about producing the prints.
Like drill engraving, I found that I could replicate the marks and lines of my drawings with the drypoint burrs. It did take practice though. With the early engravings the lines were too shallow and did not produce good prints, some of the mid series ones were painfully overworked. And yet it is a rewarding process, when I'd learned how to pull the burr against the copper to produce a controlled line time would evaporate. I would be surprised to get to the end of the engraving and discover the day was over.
In reference to exploring a new process and the trial and error involved, the exhibition, staged in January 2018 at Gallery RueVent in Tokyo, was called "Learning to Fly". It consisted of 22 drypoint prints of birds and various supporting sketches and drawings along side a handful of glass engravings, just to remind people what the mainstay of my work is.
These prints, produced in limited editions of 30, will get their first showing in Kobe next month as I will be participating in the Tori Mi Cafe craft fair at Santica Hall from the 3rd to 8th May.
Once again I'd like to thank Kanno San and Atelier Outotsu for their help in creating the prints.
You can learn more about Atelier Ototsu here...
www.outotsu.com/english/english.html
...and you can learn more about the event at which these prints will be exhibited (and for sale!) at
kobe-nagasawa.co.jp/event-contents/santica-kotori/
Dominic Fonde
April 2018
At the start of 2017, in a discussion about work planned for a solo show the question was raised as to whether it was possible to take a print of glass. In fact it is perfectly possible if you have the right equipment and know how. I didn't, so that plan quickly went out the window. What I did have though was a contact with the Tyler Print institute in Singapore who quickly put me in touch with Atelier Outotsu in Nishinomiya between Kobe and Osaka.
Atelier Outotsu is focused on printmaking and engraving. It hosts an artist in resident scheme, organises exhibitions and allows its resident artists year round access to its facilities. Kanno San, the director of Atelier Outotsu, was hugely generous with his advice on materials and techniques and over the space of six months I produced nearly thirty copper plates. These were edited down to a more manageable 22 and Kanno San set about producing the prints.
Like drill engraving, I found that I could replicate the marks and lines of my drawings with the drypoint burrs. It did take practice though. With the early engravings the lines were too shallow and did not produce good prints, some of the mid series ones were painfully overworked. And yet it is a rewarding process, when I'd learned how to pull the burr against the copper to produce a controlled line time would evaporate. I would be surprised to get to the end of the engraving and discover the day was over.
In reference to exploring a new process and the trial and error involved, the exhibition, staged in January 2018 at Gallery RueVent in Tokyo, was called "Learning to Fly". It consisted of 22 drypoint prints of birds and various supporting sketches and drawings along side a handful of glass engravings, just to remind people what the mainstay of my work is.
These prints, produced in limited editions of 30, will get their first showing in Kobe next month as I will be participating in the Tori Mi Cafe craft fair at Santica Hall from the 3rd to 8th May.
Once again I'd like to thank Kanno San and Atelier Outotsu for their help in creating the prints.
You can learn more about Atelier Ototsu here...
www.outotsu.com/english/english.html
...and you can learn more about the event at which these prints will be exhibited (and for sale!) at
kobe-nagasawa.co.jp/event-contents/santica-kotori/
Dominic Fonde
April 2018
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