From California Native Plants, to Gecky, to Sea Jellies, and Medieval Legends, a survey of some of this year’s Print Shop activities

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From California Native Plants, to Gecky, to Sea Jellies, and Medieval Legends, a survey of some of this year’s Print Shop activities

By: Madeleine Zygarewicz

This school year has ushered a flurry of a print activity both in the Print Shop and Art studio with students from Groups 1, 3, 5 and 6 working with Madeleine Zygarewicz.

Here are some fun highlights from some of the projects they’ve created. Fun fact: students who sit at the end of the press are nicknamed “pluckers” as they help their classmate “pluck” the sheet of paper they’ve just printed. This name was coined by the 2015 Group 6!

Group 1:
Gecky , the Group 1 class Gecko, served as our figure model to create a mixed media print using watercolor, wax resist and printmaking techniques. Gecky was excited by the attention and was scampering about in her terrarium throughout the session, which proved to be fun and challenging to draw! Group 1 will be working on creating some fun upcoming projects for their trees study.

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Group 3:
From sea jellies, to abstract shapes and cities—Group 3 has explored some interesting printmaking techniques including use of handset type, digital printing plates and handmade glue and paper plates. Group 3 continues its printing projects this spring with some Inuit inspired prints of animals from their Alaska study.

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Group 5:
From Fiesta sign making to an elaborate book of California native medicinal plants used by the Tongva Trive, Group 5 has been busy cranking the presses, binding books and making decorations for the study of California. Be on the look out for some hand printed fruit crate labels and t-shirts later this spring!
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Group 6:
Group 6 continues to create art as well as promotional prints for the school, such as the recent Theatricum flyers posted around school. In the fall, Group 6 wrote a pentatonic poem based on medieval legends and painstakingly set the 23 lines in black letter Old English type. Not easy to read, set or print—especially while preparing everything backwards! They are busy working on their final project of hand carved linoleum blocks of their Islamic art tiles.
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Print Shop:
If you haven’t been in the Print Shop recently, we invite to stop by and check out the art work hanging above the type and on the walls. With the help of Carlos, Groups 5 and 6 and Madeleine, the Print Shop is becoming more organized every week. We have some pieces from the archives hanging and will soon have a portfolio for visitors to peruse of current and old work from past students.

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By |May 5th, 2016|Categories: Westland Way|Comments Off on From California Native Plants, to Gecky, to Sea Jellies, and Medieval Legends, a survey of some of this year’s Print Shop activities