Feature Artist - TIM LAURIN

TIM LAURIN

is a master printmaker from Ontario, Canada.

Working from his self renovated Octopus Studio Press site which, in a former life, was the one room 1938 Tyrone School, Tim skilfully combines new and old technologies to create absorbing artworks.

Originally trained as a fine craftsman working in metal and glass, Tim found himself drawn to the media of printmaking around 15 years ago.  Since then he has focused on alternative approaches to intaglio, which often incorporates photo-based sources.  Tim also began exploring the medium of Letterpress printing in 2008 working on a Vandercook Proofing Press #1 and an SP-15. 

The bookwork titled, Masc-U-line, is an exploration of self-identity and the social perception of masculinity.  Appropriating vintage photographs, I combine my photo types with short verse, using lead type in a traditional letterpress format.

The book, Some Men I Know, is a collection of ten portraits.  New technologies such as the internet and smart phones have dramatically changed how I interact with people.  Much of my socializing is now mediated through mobile apps on a 2 by 3 inch screen.  

This series of dry points is directly drawn from the photo-profiles of my acquaintances and have been created  using traditional techniques of drypoint and spit-bite etching. By using the screen capture function on my phone, I save the profile pic of my guy-pals and then begin scratching their likeness into a metal plate.  The result is a tiny print on Japanese washi tissue that is also laminated onto BFK cotton paper (chine colle)

ALL IMAGES COPYRIGHT OF THE ARTIST TIMOTHY LAURIN  

Feature Artist - MARINA BANCROFT

MARINA BANCROFT

is a mixed media artist based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Marina has a background in biological sciences and visual arts.  In the last few years she has focused on experimenting with collage and using her artist's books to express her ideas about the world.

Marina enjoys working with a variety of materials, paper and canvas.  Marina is delighted to observe the mystery as patterns emerge out of chaos only to fall back into the unknown.  By approaching her work intuitively she can best bring together natural and man-made elements into a work that feels complete.  The meaning becomes clear later and may change over time.  Part of the fascination with this process is the viewer's response to the suggestive shapes and forms. 

Marina has participated in numerous exhibitions throughout North America, as well as New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and most recently, in Italy.  

Her works are part of numerous public and private collections.

 ALL IMAGES COPYRIGHT OF THE ARTIST - MARINA BANCROFT

Feature Artist - CATHRYN MILLER

CATHRYN MILLER

is a Canadian maker of artist's books with a history in theatrical design and fibre arts, she is based in Grasswood, Saskatchewan.

In partnership with her husband, David, Cathryn operates Byopia Press which produces hand bound journals, sketchbooks, cards, calendars, limited edition books and sculptural works.  These sculptural works are often made from recycled books.

Cathryn has worked in book arts for more than 15 years, and as a book artist for the last ten.  Her works have won several awards and are held in public and private collections in Canada, England, Ireland, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Australia and the United States.

Cathryn's Personal Histories contribution is entitled "L is for Lettering" and recounts the trials and tribulations endured during her art education, 'recalled from a satisfactory distance after she has learned that those experiences have turned out to be useful after all'.

Links to information about Cathryn's works can be found at:

Vamp & Tramp Bookseller, LLC 
Saskatchewan Craft Council

Affinity Gallery

 ALL IMAGES COPYRIGHT OF THE ARTIST CATHRYN MILLER

Feature Artist - GUYLAINE COUTURE

GUYLAINE COUTURE 

lives in Montreal, speaks French, teaches graphic design 

and shares her discoveries on her blog.

   

     

Guylaine started making artist books after a short bindery workshop some years ago.  She has had an obsession with creativity and paper for a long time.  As a graphic designer, Guylaine is upset by the enormous quantities of paper and words used and abused to push a commercial message.  

The re-use of printed documents, pieces of photos and chosen words is a perpetual game for her.  Using collage, drawing and manual printing she tries to give a new direction, a second life to this material.

Each book attempts to create a fusion between the contents and the container while questioning the manipulation of the object by the reader.  To browse slowly through one of the artist's books is an experience, a conversation, a relationship with her and her concerns.  

ALL IMAGES COPYRIGHT OF THE ARTIST  GUYLAINE COUTURE

Guylaine has participated in exhibitions in Canada, the United States, England and Australia.

Feature Artist - SHIRLEY GREER

Shirley Greer is a printmaker and book artist living

and working in Pasadena, Newfoundland, Canada.

Shirley received a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual) from Grenfell Campus, Memorial University of Newfoundland in 2003, and was the recipient of the University Gold Medal for Academic Excellence. In 2009 she received a Master ofArts Degree from the Waterford Institute of Technology in Ireland, where her research focused on book arts.

  

Shirley's prints and books have been exhibited in juried and

invitational shows in Canada, the US, Lithuania, Denmark,Germany, Sweden, 

South Korea and Italy. She has completed residencies at Memorial University

of Newfoundland, at St Michael's Printshop in St John's, NL and

at the Scuola Internazionale di Grafica in Venice, Italy where she also taught workshops.  

Most recently Shirley has taught printmaking and drawing in the Visual Arts Program at Grenfell Campus, Memorial University of Newfoundland.  

Shirley has received supporting grants for her work from the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts.  Her work is held in teaching, public and private  collections throughout Canada, and has been published in journals.

all images copyright of the artist

My art always reflects my life in one way or another, and is frequently related to notions of home - home as house, as place, as country, as comfort/discomfort. I try (but am not always successful) to avoid nostalgia.

I have inherited many letters, photographs and documents from both known and unknown ancestors which I combine with contemporary practices to make work that is time-based, intimate and relevant. Although deeply personal, I strive to make the work universal. My media of choice are printmaking and book arts, but it is the latter that offers the most satisfying means of expression - the options are vast and inevitably the right format will emerge for a particular piece of work.

Shirley Greer - 2013