Event: Saturday & Sunday, May 18 & 19 at 1-4 pm
Relief Print Exhibition: May 10-19, 2024
BIG INK returns to Color | Ink Studio & Gallery on May 18-19 for a colossal woodblock printing event. More than a dozen Michigan artists have each spent the last several months designing and carving a woodblock at least 24” by 36” in size. The participating artists will come together that weekend to print their woodblocks on “The Big Tuna”, a custom-built travelling press.
“We’re thrilled that BIG INK is returning to Hazel Park as one of 10 destinations in their Spring 2024 coast-to-coast tour,” said Eric Law, the organizer of the event. “Watching these woodblocks turn into prints is exciting, and it’s a lot of fun for both the artists and the public.”
A woodblock is essentially a hand-carved stamp. Woodblock prints, aka woodcuts, are made through a process of elimination. First, an artist draws a design onto a piece of wood. Areas to show “white” are cut away with a chisel, leaving the characters or image to show in “black” at the original surface level. The stamp is coated with ink and pressed onto paper by hand. Large woodblocks require a specialized machine press to exert enough force to produce a quality impression.
“The ink will be flying that weekend,” said Candace Law, one of the participants. “The artists who create these images, usually alone in a studio, are going to gather in community as we undertake the physical process of pulling everyone’s finished prints.”
In conjunction with BIG INK’s visit, the Gallery is hosting a week-long special exhibition highlighting the art of relief printmaking by artists in the event. A variety of techniques will be on display in the show, which runs from May 10-19, and prints are available for purchase. Click here to view the exhibition online.
The public is invited to attend the demonstration and exhibition on Saturday and Sunday, May 18-19 from 1-4 pm each day. It’s free, and visitors will have the opportunity to learn more about the process and meet the artists in person. Light refreshments will be available. The Gallery is located at 20919 John R Rd. in Hazel Park and can be reached by email at Gallery@ColorInkStudio.com or by phone at 248-398-6119.