Create monotypes in the charming French village of Sauveterre de Béarn and enjoy the cliff views overlooking the river, the Gave d’Oleron, and the Pyrenees mountains. There is a terrace from which to view and a descent to the river. Start your day with a walk around the village and then enjoy a nice breakfast back at Be-Artz.

Workshops have taken place in the 1000 year old castle in two spacious studios and participants have plenty of room to spread out and work. The facility is amazing with 1 large etching press, places to work, and a large outdoor yard

Printing with Akua Intaglio Ink

Location:  Sauveterre de Béarn, Southwest France.

Workshop Venue:  At the beautiful printmaking studio at Be-Artz.

Monotype Printing: Painterly Prints in Southwest France

 Who can take the 7-day workshop? Everyone! The class requires no experience and is a perfect gateway into printmaking. We will be making paintings on printing plates and then printing the plates onto paper. Painters love this class!

Using Akua inks we will focus on making monotypes that focus on the painterly processes.

Artists will draw and paint on non-absorbent surfaces and then using a press, will print the images onto paper. The class will cover many different approaches to painting and drawing onto the plate to create imagery. During the seven-day class, participants will explore creating multiple plate images that speak of complex layering, rich color and some surprise elements. We will explore the local French landscape and use prompts that reflect a sense of place. Class participants will also have the opportunity to take print plates out side and draw on the plates and then bring back to the printshop and print the plates. Besides Akua inks, we also will draw on the plates with various crayons and print the images.

 Simple registrations systems will be covered. There will be a heavy emphasis on composition, how color functions within the print, exploring a personal vision, and experimentation of visual ideas. There will be class reviews of work in progress and finished work. Several PowerPoint presentations will be given during the class of artists using Monotypes.

The prints will be made using an etching press and we will cover how to use the press and press safety. All concepts in the class are adaptable to working without a press and how to print without a press will be covered.

There will also be time to explore Sauveterre de Béarn and enjoy the local architecture and nature. We will also incorporate parts of the local environment in our prints. Day four of class will include a day-long field trip for those wishing to go. The day-trip is entirely optional and may include visiting Bilbao, Spain.

There will be plenty of time to explore, ponder, talk a walk (the Camino Trail) runs right through Sauveterre de Béarn. Some of my previous classes have started out with an optional brief walk to start the day. People have enjoyed this and it always its to soak up the local culture. There will be either one or two half-day trips around the local area and we will discuss trips as a group.

 

The seven-day class will cover the following:

 

·               Painting and drawing with ink

·               Transfer ink processes

·               Using stencils to create prints

·               Working with viscosity printing

·               Printing multiple plate images

·               Simple registration systems

·               A day trip exploring the local area

 All images will be printed using Akua intaglio and liquid pigment inks. Artists will be exposed to transparent and opaque color relationships that add to richness to images. The class will cover multiple registration systems that make printing easy and accurate.

Monotype Imagery: Painterly Prints in Southwest France is open to artists with no printmaking experience to advanced printmakers.   Class size is limited to 10.

Cost:  $3200 per person

What is included:

• Welcome appetizers and drinks

• 7 days of instruction

• An awesome printmaking studio with a large press

• 7 – continental breakfasts

• 7 – 3 course lunches that include a glass of wine, tea, or coffee

• 7 – 3 course dinners that include a glass of wine, tea, or coffee

• Daily coffee, tea, and water

• Akua inks and other printmaking materials

• Lodging in a beautiful private room at the 1000 year old castle. Lodging is also where the workshop takes place so it’s extremely convenient.

• half day local trip

What is not included:

• Airfare, trains and taxis to/from the airport

• Optional free day excursion Bilbao, Spain including visiting the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao or a trip to the sea.

   

Please contact Magdalena Groszek at info@be-artz.com

 

TO REGISTER

At the time of registration, 50% or $1600 is due. The balance ($1600) is due 90 days before the class or on February 28, 2025.

Registration for the class is open until April 30, 2025.

You may pay using a credit card or Stripe. Please contact MagdalenaGroszek at info@be-artz.com to register. Stripe issues the invoice and takes the credit card payment and they charge 5%, so when you ask Magdalena to register for the workshop she will send you a stripe invoice ( or Paypal if you prefer) and you pay by card to Beartz via Stripe.

You may also pay using a bank transfer in dollars or other currencies.

It’s highly recommended that you purchase travel insurance incase you need to cancel your trip.

IMPORTANT. TRAVEL INSURANCE. There is no refund for the deposit if the class is not full, but still takes place. For this reason, it’s a good idea to take out travel insurance so you are covered if you have to cancel for whatever reason. If the class is full with a waiting list or you can find a replacement for your spot or if the class is cancelled from our end, Be-artz will refund less cost of bank fees. Cancelations almost never happen and only one person has had to cancel from all the workshops Be-artz has offered.

 

Jeffrey Hirst earned an MFA from Louisana State Univeristy in 1990 and has worked as an artist since then. Hirst has been showcased at venues around the U.S. and Europe and is represented by galleries in Chicago, Illinois and Columbus, Ohio.  Hirst has been a visiting artist at universities around the United States conducting encaustic and printmaking workshops. He owns Hirst Printmaking in Chicago which is a printshop specializing in experimental printmaking and mixing painting and prints.

The recipient of a Minnesota State Arts Board grant, City of Chicago grant and his work is in numerous public and private collections.

 

TO REGISTER: please contact Magdalena Groszek at info@be-artz.com

Please contact Jeffrey Hirst with any questions on the class directly on email jeff@jeffreyhirst.com.

 

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