The stone lithography printing process is complicated, but I loved how ink lines picked-up the litho stone's surface texture when transferred to paper.
Ink line detail
Being a Printer Fellow at the Tamarind Lithography Workshop, Robert Rogers was a respected expert in his field. He was a demanding instructor and his classes were challenging, but they were always my favorite at NSCAD.
I learned much from him, and he remains an influence on my work to this day.
Dimensions are paper sizes in cm
Peasant Bachannal [sic] After Bruegel & Titian, 1979/80 (25.0x20.5) BAT | AP 1-4 | 1,8,9/10
Bug & Hand 1979/80 (23.5x19.0) BAT | AP 1-3 | 1,3-10/10
Sweater 1979/80 (20.0x15.0) BAT | AP A-C | 1-10/10
City Blocks 1979/80 (25.0x19.0) No BAT | No AP | 1,2/2
What About Me? 1979/80 (25.0x20.5) BAT | No AP | 1-15/15
Peasant Blocks After Bruegel, 1979/80 (25.0x20.0) No BAT | No AP | 2-4/4
Two Women After Matisse, 1979/80 (25.5x20.5) BAT | AP 1-3 | 1,5,7,9,10/10
Moibus [sic] 1979/80 (25.5x20.0) BAT | AP 1-4 | 3-7,9,10/10
Three Arcs 1979/80 (20.5x10.0) BAT | No AP | 1,2,4,5,7-10/10
Instructor: Ed Porter
Great class. Great instructor. Great facilities.
I loved this class and thoroughly enjoyed exploring the different effects and looks you could create using the various intaglio processes.
Dimensions are plate sizes in cm
Enclosed 1979/80 (15.0x10.0)
Untitled 1979/80 (10.0x7.0 each)
Identity I 1979/80 (12.0x5.5)
Untitled 1979/80 (7.5x10.0)
Untitled 1979/80 (15.0x10.0)
Horizons 1979/80 (10.0x15.0 each)
Untitled 1979/80 (15.0x10.0)
Untitled 1979/80 (15.0x10.0)
Let Go 1979/80 (3.0x5.0)
Pin Ups I 1979/80 (15.0x10.0)
Pin Ups II 1979/80 (15.0x10.0)
Untitled 1979/80 (15.0x10.0)
Untitled 1979/80 (30.0x5.0 each)
Sweater 1979/80 (27.5x20.0)
Identity II 1979/80 (27.5x10.0)
Untitled 1979/80 (30.0x20.0)
Untitled 1979/80 (30.0x20.0)
Instructor: Henry Orenstein
Henry was a knowledgable and patient teacher, but I didn't get to spend much time with him due to an arrangement I had with Doomsday Studios to use their animation facilities, rather than the facilities at NSCAD.
Henry was fine with this arrangement as long as I attended a minimum number of classes and kept him updated on the progress of my work, which consisted of several short animation cycles and a 2½ minute film titled "Perspectives".
A 4 frame cycle created by rotating a single image 90 degrees for each frame.
Four frame cycle 1980 (30.0cm x 30.0cm, ink/wash on paper)
Four frame cycle 1980 (22.0cm x 18.0cm, felt pen on paper)
Six frame cycle 1980 (20.0cm x 16.0cm, felt pen on vellum)
"Perspectives" Animation Stills 1980 (24.5 x 18.0, photographs and pen/ink/watercolors on paper.)
Perspectives (Excerpt) 1980 2½ minute 16mm animated film (music: John S. Gray)
I remember Gary as an extremely nice guy. He was a great teacher and a talented artist, and I always looked forward to his class.
His course included lessons in the history of photography, camera basics, lenses, lighting, composition, film developing, and darkroom techniques.
I had already been using a Pentax Spotmatic II 35mm camera and various lenses for over 10 years, so was absolutely comfortable with the mechanics of taking photographs.
However, I knew nothing about processing film or working in a darkroom. So, it was quite a thrill learning how to develop the 35mm B&W film we used for class assignments.
NSCAD's spacious darkroom facilities, with state-of-the-art enlargers and other equipment, provided an ideal environment for creating prints from our negatives. I spent many hours in that darkroom, using up every last scrap of my (costly) photo paper.
I have to confess, when I started doing freelance graphics work for CBC Halifax, I made generous use of NSCAD's darkroom facilities and supplies, (usually at night).
Using the school's rather old 35mm cameras, I recall working on various class assignments and being happy with the resulting photographs. Unfortunately, I gave away most of my prints from that time, and the rest have been lost or discarded.
The 11 photos below were taken at Vancouver's PNE, (Pacific National Exhibition), in August of 1980, shortly before I returned to Halifax from a summer break.
These were not part of a class assignment, but were surely influenced by Gary's lessons.
PNE Vancouver, 1980
PNE Vancouver, 1980
PNE Vancouver, 1980
PNE Vancouver, 1980
PNE Vancouver, 1980
PNE Vancouver, 1980
PNE Vancouver, 1980
PNE Vancouver, 1980
PNE Vancouver, 1980
PNE Vancouver, 1980
PNE Vancouver, 1980
The next 5 photos were shot around Vancouver during the same time.
Greek Day on West Broadway Vancouver, 1980
Greek Day on West Broadway Vancouver, 1980
Gastown Vancouver, 1980
Gastown Vancouver, 1980
Davie & Broughton Vancouver, 1980
This last photo was shot specifically for Gary Wilson's class.
Belle Cote, Margaree Harbour Nova Scotia, 1979 or 1980
Instructor (& Advisor): Ron Shuebrook
**** CONTENT COMING SOON ****
I can't remember who the instructor was for this class, I lasted only one week.
A lump of clay Yuch.
The fact that you could spend so much time and energy carefully building something that would then turn around and change shape... on its own... drove me crazy.
The clay will change shape trying to support its own weight.
The clay will change shape as it dries.
The clay will change shape depending on the weather.
The clay will change shape if you look at it sideways.
I never even got to the point of glazing or firing anything, which would have brought up a whole new array of unpredictable results.
For our first assignment, we were each given about 5kg of clay and told to build the highest tower possible, using any technique we wished.
That sounded like fun.
We all got busy, and some of the results were quite impressive. I reached the heights by using a kind of "log-cabin" approach, stacking cylinders of rolled clay on top of each other.
Stacking clay
Things were going well, but soon some of my classmate's structures started leaning over, due to the weight of the upper parts pressing down on the lower pieces.
One or two towers collapsed, and we all had a good laugh before finally using all our clay and finishing-up for the day.
As we left the classroom, the instructor explained how the clay would dry overnight, and all our tower pieces would become solid and strong.
The next morning, most of the towers, mine included, were just mounds of shattered clay.
The sun had come in through the windows earlier that morning and accelerated the drying on one side of the towers, making them lean over and crash to the floor.
Besides my dislike of working with clay, I couldn't stand the classroom environment. There was a thick, reddish layer of dust everywhere, and I couldn't sit, or put anything down without getting covered in it. And, for the rest of the day, I'd be spitting up reddish goop or blowing it out my nose.
