Platemark Episodes

In this interview I talk with artist and activist Art Hazelwood about art as political action versus politics as a subject. We start with his journey as a printmaker in San Francisco in the early 90s, where he engaged in political art through the Street Sheet newspaper. He elaborates on the distinction between social commentary and political action, emphasizing his active role in various causes including homelessness and union support. We also talk about his work with the San Francisco Poster Sy...

In this episode of Platemark, Jonathan Higgins discusses his journey as the owner and master printer of Manneken Press, established in 2000 in Bloomington, Illinois. We talk about his early life in Berkeley, California, his initial interest in art and ceramics, and his transition to printmaking. After exploring lithography and working for various artists and print workshops in New York, including at Galamander Press with Randy Hemminghaus, he eventually founded Manneken Press. Jonathan shares in...

In this episode of Platemark, I interview Art Werger, a renowned printmaker and retired professor from Ohio University. We discuss Art’s extensive experience and techniques in printmaking, focusing on his work in etching and mezzotint. Art shares his innovative approaches to color experimentation and his use of unique methods like double dropping, cut plates, and à la poupée inking. We also talk about Art’s artistic journey, his teaching experiences, working with litho crayon and white ground te...

In this episode Platemark, I talk with Leslie Diuguid, owner and founder of Do-Good Press in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. Leslie shares her journey as a screenprinter and discusses the intricacies of screenprinting, including processes, challenges, and the nuances of halftone and moiré patterns. We talk about how much math comes into the enterprise, especially about the relationship of mesh counts of screens and the frequency modulation of dot patterns. We explore Leslie's deep connection with her commun...

In this episode of Platemark, I interview Cole Rogers, a master printmaker who recently co-founded C&C Editions after his long tenure at Highpoint Center for Printmaking in Minneapolis. Cole talks about his journey into printmaking, his approach...

In this History of Prints (HoP) episode, Tru and I finish talking about the life and work of William Hogarth, the father of Western sequential art. We look at and pick apart three series: Industry and Idleness, The Four Stages of Cruelty, and Humours of an Election. Timely, no? Hogarth continues to point out society’s faults and baser instincts. He never stopped trying to teach the masses about comportment and judgment. Episode image: William Hogarth (British, 1697–1764). Gin Lane, 1751. Etchin...

In this episode of Platemark, I talk with Judith Solodkin, a renowned master printer and founder of SOLO Impression. Judith shares her extensive experience, from being the first woman to graduate from the Tamarind Master Printer program to her unique work in digital embroidery. She reflects on her collaborations with notable artists like Louise Bourgeois and Sonya Clark, and her teaching role at various art institutions. We talk bout Judith’s passion for wearable art, specifically her creation o...

In this History of Western Prints (HoP) episode, Tru and I begin to explore the life and work of William Hogarth, the first British artist featured on Platemark’s HoP series. Hogarth, renowned as the father of Western sequential art, is discussed through detailed analyses of three of his best known series: A Harlot's Progress, A Rake's Progress, and Marriage A-la-Mode. The episode delves into 18th-century London's morality, capturing the societal and artistic context of Hogarth's work. Highlight...

In s3e67 of Platemark, I talk with Amy Namowitz Worthen, a distinguished engraver and curator, about her lifelong journey in printmaking. Influenced early by her artist mother, she pursued art education at Smith College and the University of Iowa, honing her artistic skills under Leonard Baskin and Mauricio Lasansky. Amy's career is marked by multi-faceted contributions to printmaking, including prestigious curatorial positions at Des Moines Art Center, along with helping to establish its Print ...

In s3e66 of Platemark, host Ann Shafer talks with Jennifer Roberts, an art historian and professor at Harvard, about her latest book, Contact: Art and the Pull of Print, which explores the intersection of intellectual and technical richness in print. Jennifer's book offers a fresh perspective on printmaking, synthesizing simple maneuvers like reversal and pressure to account for the medium's expansive influence. Based on her acclaimed Mellon Lectures delivered during the pandemic, the book is bo...

We're replaying a past bonus episode in which History of Prints SME Tru and Platemark host Ann talk about their art origins. They come from pretty different backgrounds, but they are in complete alignment about art, art history, prints, and print history. So, listen in as they talk about how they got to where they are.

In this episode, go behind the scenes at the museum with Alison Luxner, a paper conservator at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Alison shares her journey to becoming a conservator, the lengthy education and training process, and her diverse experiences working in various conservation roles. They also delve into the specifics of handling and conserving works on paper, the pros and cons of using gloves, and share some adventures in couriering artwork all over the world. Furthermore, they discuss...

In this History of Prints episode of Platemark, host Ann Shafer and subject matter expert Tru Ludwig explore the extraordinary life and legacy of Maria Sibylla Merian. Celebrated for her pioneering work on insect metamorphosis and her detailed illustrations of flora and fauna, Merian's journey took her to Suriname where she documented local species with the help of native people and slaves. Despite the societal constraints of the 17th century, she made significant contributions to both science a...

In this episode of Platemark, host Ann Shafer talks with renowned printmaker Jenny Robinson who recently opened up her eponymous print shop in Sydney, Australia. Jenny shares her experiences moving from America to Slovenia during the Trump era, integrating into Slovenia's printmaking community, and ultimately relocating to Sydney, Australia, to establish her print atelier. We talk about the challenges of getting different materials and the cultural contrasts in the art scenes of America, Europe...

In s3e63 of Platemark, podcast host Ann Shafer talks with collaborative printer Peter Pettengill. Peter founded Wingate Studio in 1985 on his family’s dairy farm in Hinsdale, NH. Originally trained at Crown Point Press, Peter specializes in multi-plate color etchings. Now semi-retired, Peter’s son James has taken over the operating of the shop, though Peter lends a hand when requested. They talk about Peter's early experiences at Crown Point Press, his work with celebrated artists such as John ...

In this five-part mini-series, Ann is talking to five artists who were selected to be included in an exhibition called 5X5, that was part of Print Austin's winter festival this year in 2024. The juror of the show is Mysczka Lewis, who is a curator at Tandem Press. Next up is Teresa Cole, an artist and printmaker from New Orleans. She has taught at Tulane University for nearly thirty years. Teresa’s interest in the humanness of pattern has been a throughline in her work and she incorporates diff...

Wondering how far you can take chine collé in a project? Listen in as Annalise Gratovich tells us all about this method of adding thin pieces of hand-dyed papers to giant woodcuts. In s3e61 of Platemark, podcast host Ann Shafer continues talking to artists included in Print Austin’s 5x5 exhibition, juried by Myzska Lewis, a curator at Tandem Press. Next up is artist Annalise Gratovich. Annalise works in woodcut primarily (and etching), and is best known for her monumental woodcuts with multiple...

Enlightenment publications on human anatomy changed the way artists understood their place in the world. Check out these examples of life-changing images brought to you by prints in books! In s2e31 of Platemark’s History of Prints series, Tru and Ann continue their discussion of the Enlightenment. This time they look at several publications that put forward new discoveries about human anatomy: William Hunter’s The Anatomy of the Human Gravid Uterus, Bernhard Siegfried Albinus’ Tabulae sceleti e...

In Platemark’s History of Prints series, we are leaving the Baroque behind and are turning to the Enlightenment. The late seventeenth and eighteenth century is a fascinating time when social ideas focused on the value of knowledge in all sectors. Rationalism and empiricism led to the scientific revolution, the separation of church and state, literary salons, and for the purposes of this episode, art academies. The era saw the establishment of taxonomies, dictionaries, encyclopedias, and studies ...

African-American artist Dox Thrash is in the spotlight on s3e60 of Platemark. Podcast host Ann Shafer speaks with Ron Rumford, director of Dolan/Maxwell, a private gallery in Philadelphia, which has a particular specialty in the prints of Stanley William Hayter and the associated artists of Atelier 17, as well as Black artists of the same era, such as Dox Thrash, Bob Blackburn, Norma Morgan, Elizabeth Catlett, Ed Clark, and more. Ron was eager to highlight an exhibition focused on Dox Thrash, wh...

In s3e59, Platemark host Ann Shafer sits down with David Avery to talk shop. David is an etcher, who restrains his work in both size and palette, but manages to tackle big topics. His social commentary is stinging and remarkable in that it comes in such a small package. These etchings pack a punch. Ann and David talk about absurdist literature, standing on the shoulders of giants (Dürer, Max Klinger, Della Bella), how prescient Goltzius’s Disgracers are, and how we could never have imagined the...

In s3e59, Platemark host Ann Shafer continues talking to artists included in Print Austin’s 5x5 exhibition, juried by Myzska Lewis, a curator at Tandem Press. Second up is Anna Trojanowska, an artist and lithographer from Wroclaw, Poland. Anna creates collages made from lithographs, which she creates on a single marble slab in her garage studio. The works included in 5x5 seek to give the feeling of echolalia, a form of autism in which words and phrases are repeated over and over. That repetition...

In s3e57, Platemark host Ann Shafer speaks with Karen Kunc, an artist who manipulates reduction woodcuts in an amazing and unique way. Karen is a retired professor from the University of Nebraska, and is owner of Constellation Studios in downtown Lincoln. At the studio, which opened ten years ago, Karen offers workshops, curates exhibitions, and makes her own work. The studio includes equipment for papermaking, book arts, letterpress, and other means of creating prints. Karen’s work includes rel...

In s3e56, Platemark host Ann Shafer introduces a five-part miniseries with the artists in 5X5, an exhibition that was part of PrintAustin 2024. First up is Briar Craig, one of five artists selected for inclusion in 5X5 by juror J. Myszka Lewis, curator at Tandem Press, University of Wisconsin–Madison. Briar is an artist and professor at University of British Columbia, Kelowna. He primarily works in screenprint, using found text and surprising juxtapositions. Ann and Briar talk about words and th...