WHAT IS A CLAYPRINT? MY MONOPRINT, "GUITARIST" IS A CLAYPRINT
It was a fun and unique experience to study with the printmaker MITCH LYONS who developed CLAY PRINTMAKING. When I saw his video on his website mitchlyons.com, I had to work with him. And I was right, he is a generous teacher. He invented this technique of printing using colored clay, china clay slip and oxides. Over the last thirty years he has shared his unique discovery with students around the world--including me! This printing process uses a slab of wet clay as the matrix, and china clay slip with organic pigments as the "ink". The slip is applied to the wet slab using a variety of techniques, i.e., slip trailing, stenciling, stamping, etc. to develop the design. A wooden rolling pin "the press" is rolled over a dampen paper that pulls a thin layer of colored clay from the matrix. It is amazing how many monoprints can be pulled from the same slab without re-charging the slab. The print is pulled on Pellon (a fabric used for interfacing)—and so each print has an additional texture. Here is my "GUITARIST" below: