A couple of Wednesdays ago, a dozen artists gathered in the Fine Arts Work Center’s printmaking studio. They had been invited to create prints and donate them to “A Day for Ukraine,” an art show and sale taking place Saturday, March 26 at Farm Projects in Wellfleet.
Bert Yarborough, a member of FAWC’s visual arts committee who will be teaching a workshop called Monotype and Change this summer, demonstrated how to make a trace monoprint: ink a glass plate, gingerly lay a piece of paper on top, cover it with another piece of paper, and draw over that with a pencil. If you apply just the right amount of pressure, being careful not to lean on it with your arm, you’ll create a staticky print that looks a little bit like an Etch A Sketch.
Bailey Bob Bailey, another member of the visual arts committee, made a trace monoprint of an abstracted face. Then, tracing that shape onto another plate using marker, he created another layer with blue and black ink, which he applied over the trace monoprint by running it through the printing press.
Megan Hinton made a print of sunflowers, the national flower of Ukraine, inspired by Van Gogh.
Grace Emmet, who teaches at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum, opted to paint directly on the plate, creating a garden of sunflowers that she modeled after some real-life blooms brought in by photographer Agata Storer. Ink applied too thickly will smudge when it goes through the printing press. But when Vicky Tomayko helped Emmet gingerly pass her plate through the press, it came out perfectly: delicate, almost like a watercolor.
At Saturday’s Farm Projects event, all prints will sell for $100, with proceeds benefitting the Polish Center for International Aid, which assists Ukrainian refugees. The event will also include activities for kids and Ukrainian snacks.
Participating artists include Claudia Middendorf, Agnes Collis, Rosalie Acinapura, Cole Barash, Julia Felsenthal, Vicky Tomayko, Mark Brennan, Robert Shreefter, Megan Hinton, Richard Neal, Bailey Bob Bailey, Taylor Fox, Susie Nielsen, Abe Storer, Agata Storer, Connie Saems, Janet Lesniak, Traci Harmon-Hay, Ann Guiliani, Hanni Woodbury, Yvette Drury Dubinsky, Sue Post, Phyllis Ewen, Barbara Gordon, Lois Harada, Walter Dorrell, Diane Messinger, Sara Moran, Tim Moore, JoAnne McFarland, MP Landis, Barbara Cohen, Bob Korn, Marnie Crawford Samuelson, and Joyce Zavorskas.
Blue and Gold
The event: “A Day for Ukraine”
The time: Saturday, March 26, noon to 3 p.m.
The place: Farm Projects, 355 Main St., Wellfleet; online at farmprojects.org
The cost: Free to attend; prints are $100
