From a workshop held as part of the 2014 THV institute, "Farms & Food: Teaching the Hudson Valley from the Ground Up." More information at www.TeachingtheHudsonValley. Hudson Valley farms have long been a rich source of inspiration for artists. Bold relief prints, with a great capacity for visual storytelling, have been a medium of choice for artists portraying land and food issues worldwide. Explore selected prints and share worldwide stories as they relate to our farms, land, and food. Gina Palmer, high school art teacher and professional illustrator.

1. NATURAL INCLINATIONS:
Illustrating food and farms in relief prints

2. • Play with relief samples, carve a stamp
• look at some vocabulary:
• so that we can look deeper at FOOD AND FARMING:
• explore the craft process and the visual imagery
• Brainstorm some ideas for age ranges
• unpack some interdisciplinary connections.

3. Inspired by Rose-finn potatoes
from Taliaferro Farms, New Paltz

4. http://www.teacollection.com/blog/tag/green-living/

5. • http://society6.com/edhepp/muir-trees_print#1=45

6. • “January Bamboo,” 18″ x 26″, potato print, © Tracy Simpson

7. Understanding
“May Days,” 18.5″ x 26″, Potato Print, Tracy Simpson

8. STEPS TO UNDERSTANDING & VISUAL PROBLEM-SOLVING
• DESCRIPTION:
• Describe/List/Record/Draw/Share what you notice
ANALYSIS:
• Look for Conceptual/Physical connections/relationships between elements
of the image
• INTERPRETATION:
• Questions for the artist? What would you ask the artist?
• What have we discovered?
• EVALUATION:
• Useful for grading based on criteria for a project, self evaluation or
summarizing understanding of a work of art.

9. Relief Printmaking
• Printmaking is an art form that allows for multiple images to be created
from an original block. Traditionally the printmaker determines the number
of prints to be created and then strikes the block – which is marking it in
some way to make further impressions impossible. Edition or limited
edition is the term for this series of prints. Artist proof (AP) is the term for
the prints made along the way to “proof “ the block and determine the
cutting progress on paper. Editions usually are numbered with a fraction.
The top number is the sequential print (2/25) and the bottom the total
number of prints in the edition.
• In a relief print the negative area or (white area) of the final image are
carved away, this is called subtractive or reductive – and ink is rolled on
the surface. Paper is placed on the block and burnished by hand or sent
through a press to transfer the ink into the paper. Some texture from the
block imprints as well.

10. Albrecht Durer
German, 1471-1528)
Northern
Renaissance
HISTORICAL CONTRAST
LINEAR IN STYLE
WOODCUT (LONG-GRAIN OF WOOD)
BEGINNING OF MEDIUM AS MESSAGE

11. JOSE GUADALUPE POSADA
WORK IS EXAMPLE OF ADVOCACY, WORKER RIGHTS, HUMAN RIGHTS

13. Mexican Illustrator from the 1920s best
known for his “calaveras” and satirical
drawings about political issues. He is
considered as the father of Mexican
printmaking.
http://ebardesign.wordpress.com/2012/02/01/jose-guadalupe-posada/

14. FRANK EcKMAIR

15. • http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/eckmair/

16. CLARE
LEIGHTON
LAND MOVEMENT AND CONSERVATION
FARMING LIFE IN THE 1940’S
WOOD ENGRAVING (END GRAIN WOOD)
NATURE WRITING/ILLUSTRATION

17. Clare Leighton was an artist, writer and wood engraver, best
known for her illustrated books recording English rural life
(The Farmer's Year, 1933, Four Hedges, 1935), and her
recording of life in America to where she emigrated in 1939.
Southern Harvest, 1942 New England Industries, 1952,
(produced for Wedgwood) are amongst the most celebrated
and poignant records of American rural life of their period.
http://www.clareleighton.com

18. ELIZABETH CATLETT
1915- 2012
WORK IS EXAMPLE OF ADVOCACY, CIVIL RIGHTS

19. Wanda Gag, AMERICAN 1893-1946

20. Wanda’s Method
• Linocut and Linoleum-cut is a printmaking technique similar to
that of the woodcut, the difference being that the image is
engraved on linoleum instead of wood. Since linoleum offers an
easier surface for working, linocuts offer more precision and a
greater variety of effects than woodcuts. Long disparaged by
serious artists as not challenging enough, the linocut came into
its own after artists like Picasso and Matisse began to work in
that technique.
• Whimsical, children’s books, linoleum, masterful darks and
lights, rural settings.

21. MICHAEL McCURDY

24. • Michael McCurdy is an award-winning artist, illustrator, author and
publisher who has worked from his red barn studio in the hills of
Great Barrington for the past twenty-five years. Born in New York
City in 1942 and raised in New Rochelle, New York and Marblehead,
Massachusetts, he attended the school of the Museum of Fine Arts
in Boston (which provided him with a traveling scholarship in 1966),
and Tufts University in Medford. Since then, McCurdy has produced
an impressive collection of wood engravings, etchings and drawings
which have appeared in over 200 books for both adults and children
and at art galleries and museums nationwide.
• http://www.berkshares.org/about/michael.htm

25. MARY AZARIAN

26. FARM LIFE, MEDIEVAL INFLUENCE,
ILLUSTATES CURRENT FOOD ISSUES

27. MATERIALS
• A number of different materials can be carved to make relief prints. Wood
was the earliest material used – and usually some wood grain is evident in
prints. Early woodblock prints were somewhat linear and usually illustrated
text – the bible being one of the first “printed”
• End- grained wood is used for engraving – tighter grain for tiny details, cut
into smaller blocks. (wood engraving)
• Linoleum is made from cork, linseed oil and rolled onto burlap. (linocut)
• Synthetic materials are now used that are plastic or rubber in nature -
more sustainable?
• Alternative materials: sponges, foam rubber, potato, erasers, cardboard,
rubber stamps, (vulcanized rubber), any found object that create a raised
surface and can be stamped or put through a press without crushing, be
dipped and stamped.

28. http://www.maryazarian.com/index.html

29. BELKIS RAMIREZ

30. Illustrations for a A CAFECITO STORY
FROM THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
CURRENT FRAMING PRACTICES
SUSTAINABLE COFFEE PRODUCTION
SURREALISTIC INFLUENCES

31. http://www.uprising-art.com/es/portfolio/belkis-ramirez-de-mar-en-peor/

32. SWOON
http://www.deitch.com/projects/project_images.

33. SWOON:
ADVOCACY
HUMAN RIGHTS
WORKERS RIGHTS
LINOLEUM & WOOD CUT PORTRAITS
INSTALLATIONS
STREET ART

34. Artemio Rodriguez

35. Artemio Rodriguez (b. 1972, Tacambaro, Michoacan, Mexico) is an artist whose
work is as current as a graffiti wall, yet grounded in traditions that reach back to
the Middle Ages. Primarily a print marker, he has departed at times from paper
to apply his imagery on cars and even skateboards.
In form, his work pays tribute to the Mexican master, José Guadalupe Posada.
Like Posada’s woodcuts, Rodriguez’s prints are aggressive and provocative. Both
artists excel at pushing the simple craft of woodcut printing to its limits. These
are not artists that use the print as a secondary form of expression, but rather
they use the technique as their primary medium.
http://www.escapeintolife.com/artist-watch/artemio-rodriguez/

37. PART OF THE MEXICAN PRINT MOVEMENT
ADVOCACY,
GRASSROOTS IMAGERY
APPLICATION OF IMAGES TO CARS, SKATE OBJECTS

38. JOEL RENDON

39. ADVOCACY, MEXICAN PRINT WORKSHOPS, FARMING, FOOD ISSUES,
CULTURAL ISSUES IN WOODCUTS, LINOCUTS AND WOOD ENGRAVING.

40. Work for HUDSON VALLEY SEED LIBRARY – copyright Hudson Valley Seed Library 2103

41. ART ADVOCACY
• Art has some unique qualities that balance Current CORE subjects in Public
education:
• Action based
• Shares this ACTION with music, dance, & theatre.
• Visual in nature (non-verbal)

42. WEBSITES FOR MORE ARTISTS/PROCESSES
• http://justseeds.org
• http://www.woodengravers.co.uk/index.html
• http://iskrafineart.com/marking-time-tracy-simpson-and-the-contemplative-art-of-potato-
printing/
• http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/indepth/homes_and_gardens/11131518.print/
• http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/jun/21/how-to-print-with-potatoes
• http://www.katyelliott.com/blog/2010/05/sara-elizabeth-block-printers-studio.html
• www.ginapalmerillustrations.com
• http://www.stjudesprints.co.uk/
• http://www.marthastewart.com/906821/block-printing/@center/276982/craft-tools-and-
projects#904331

43. Good reminder of the
pure joy in nature.
Useful when the
conversation
gets heated

44. My work is about the intersection of farming, nature and communication. I love the linocut
medium for its physicality, accessibility, and direct, bold qualities. Long associated with grassroots
purposes that included letterpress traditions and graphic elements, a “broadsheet” or poster is
used to public appearance. This feels right as a choice for many current applications in the farm
and food conversation.
I enjoyed sharing the work of artists who helped to shape my ideas. I hope this will be helpful as a
reference in the process of exploring art to inform the issues. Thank you for the meaningful
conversation and your participation in the workshop! Please stay in touch!
Gina Palmer
ginapalmerillustrations.com
Illustration copyright Gina Palmer Illustration 2013
Created for Wright Farms