Happy First birthday Black Rock! What a year, not that it’s not tough enough to start a fine art print shop in the best of times but we launched it in the worst of times (my apologies C.D.) but here we are still standing. A huge thanks to all the wonderful support we have received from our community and friends. Let’s hope 2021 is a more fortuitous year and we can put the the Covid nightmare behind us and make some good art. We here at the Rock are hoping to get back to our Thursday night print clinics and demos and segue to weekend classes and some weeklong intensive workshops.
I took a look at last year’s calendar and found on this date in 2020 we were proofing our first project with Dan Namingha; a lithograph we printed in two color states (a bit unusual but damn, they both looked so good.) So for your approval and perusal “Points Connecting” in both versions …enjoy.
PRINTER’S NOTES The proofing is over and the edition has been signed. Preparation and planning are the key to a successful run, you go over everything in your head, how much ink you’ll need, how much paper do you tear? Blotters, interleaving, drying times, all factor in to a good edition. All printers seek the perfect edition, it’s an elusive quarry (like trying to trap a unicorn or even glimpse one) but you do get close sometimes. I think the issue is one of intimacy, you’ve worked with all the matrices for so long they are like close friends and at times not so close. As a printer you recognize all the conditions that can affect the outcome of each impression- a little too much pressure while wiping this plate, not enough on the next, etc. In all honesty, give it a week or two and when you revisit the edition, you’ll think “I’m pretty damn good”, give it a year and you’ll feel you’re one of the best. All kidding aside Fatima’s etching “Hand with Hummingbird and Lover’s eye” was one of the smoothest runs start to finish that I have experienced, each impression pulled met with approval no matter how hard I scrutinized (I’m known for finding that dark cloud on the brightest day). It’s a perfect storm of a project: Fatima loves it, I love it and I hope you will too. -Steve Campbell 2021
Now available for purchase. Contact us at info@breditions.com for order information.
Happy New Year and welcome to 2021! Here’s hoping for calmer waters and smoother sailing.
We have hit the ground running and are currently in production on a new print by Fatima Ronquillo. “Hand with Hummingbird and Lover’s Eye”is a 3 color etching with chine colle. Image size is 8″ x 6″ with paper size measuring 16″ x 14″. This will be printed in an edition of 40 plus proofs.
Hummingbird with Lover’s Eye (click to enlarge)
This has been a wonderful print to work on. It literally has a litany of different techniques involved in its making. Just off the top of my head: soft ground, hard ground, spitbite, aquatint, chine colle, burnishing (and I’m sure a couple of wrinkles I’ve overlooked) all combined to create this provocative and compelling image.
To reserve yours, please email us at info@breditions.com.
In 2020, Landfall Press celebrates five decades of operation, since its founding in Chicago, in 1970. Landfall Press and the team of Jack, Steve and Chris have been in Santa Fe, New Mexico since 2004. Together, (Jack and Steve) as a team since 1989 (Chris joined in 2004), they have continually published and printed fine art editions for a diverse and international group of artists. This historic achievement is celebrated in a major traveling exhibition currently at the Milwaukee Art Museum, Landfall Press: Five Decades of Printmaking, along with a forthcoming 600 page book that documents Landfall’s fifty years in its entirety. (check out http://www.landfallpressbook.com for book purchase information.)
Therefore, Jack Lemon has chosen 2020 as the perfect moment to close the book on Landfall and turn the page to begin a new chapter. As of January 1, 2020, Landfall Press ceased operations as a printer/publisher. The entire workshop in Santa Fe will remain intact and become a new business with a rock-solid foundation to build upon. Black Rock Editions, LLC, directed by Steve and Chris Campbell began operation in January 2020. Jack Lemon steps away, knowing that Landfall’s legacy is secure, and the tools of his trade are in the capable hands of Steve and Chris Campbell.
Black Rock Editions, LLC, is founded in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to establish a fine art print shop dedicated to serving under-represented artists including but not limited to Black|Indigenous and POC, women and the LGBTQ+ community. The goal is to produce fine art limited edition prints (lithographs, etchings and woodcuts) in a collaborative, professional environment. The prints and multiples published by the company will be marketed through Black Rock Editions, LLC, and a known structure of national and international galleries. The objective is to establish and/or further the professional careers of the selected artists within the context of an established art world and museum network. The Southwest contains a dense concentration of Native artists. Black Rock Editions will be the only known print shop in the region whose mission is dedicated to serving these specific communities and by extension, the State of New Mexico and its historic Native cultures.
Black Rock Editions, LLC has established a gallery space to feature the company’s publications. A program of rotating themed exhibitions will be presented throughout the calendar year to feature other relevant artistic statements specific to the company’s mission. The company will also establish and maintain a robust on-line and social media presence to market and sell the publications and share news. The importance of this is to place the publications and Black Rock Editions, LLC in the most efficient global markets, with global accessibility for all.
There is a notion about the democracy of the print medium. While not everyone can afford a unique work by their favorite artist, almost anyone can afford a print by that artist. Black Rock Editions LLC, is dedicated to producing affordable editions of the highest quality. One of the programs to be initiated is The BRE Subscription Program. A subscription program identifies a number of works/editions that will be offered to collectors at a pre-publication package price, with the understanding that these works are purchased at a substantial savings from the retail value of each individual work. We like to think of the program as an “investment in the future”, and almost everyone knows that planning ahead can bring rewards.
DUE TO COVID, WE ARE UNABLE TO HOLD WORKSHOPS, CLINICS OR OPENINGS.
Included in future programming for Black Rock Editions, LLC, workshops and classes will be scheduled to reach the Santa Fe community by offering interested individuals or groups an opportunity to explore the history, the making and the collecting of fine prints. Guest speakers will include artists, arts professionals, curatorial and academic practitioners, all known experts regarding a specific topic or subject of the program.
Keep checking back for updates and thank you for your support through a challenging year.
