You could compare printmaking to raising a child: You first have to invest a great deal of time, talent and energy into the plate (matrix) before you can pull a proof to see the resulting — hopefully successful — image.
And if getting a noteworthy print requires such demanding work, imagine the effort it would take to give birth to a well-designed, properly equipped printmaking studio where high-quality prints can be created.
Saltgrass Printmakers in Sugar House is such a studio; an impressive, utilitarian, energetic child, created by Sandy Brunvand and Stefanie Dykes, artists and University of Utah graduates.
"Once you leave the university there's nowhere to print," said Dykes. "I can't tell you how many times I've heard artists say they love printing, but there's nowhere to print."
This concern over not being able to continue working at what she loved fueled Dykes' desire to open a printing studio. When she discovered that Brunvand — both a painter and a printer — also wanted to create a cooperative printmaking studio in Salt Lake City, they put their heads together and came up with Saltgrass.
"What I like is the collaborative effort among printers," said Dykes. "You could hole up in a studio with your own press making prints, but then you'd miss that whole exchange of ideas and techniques."
"That's so true," agreed Brunvand. "When I paint, I hole up in my little attic studio and love it. It's perfect. It's just paint, paint, paint. But when I'm here (at Saltgrass) and I'm in the printing mode, it's, 'Stefanie, what do you think about this? How does this look? How do you feel about this?' "
"It's like, 'How did you get that mark? Show me what you're doing.' I love that about printers," Dykes said.
Their excitement for the art of printmaking is such that it spills over into the classes they teach at the studio. Through Dec. 16, Saltgrass is providing self-directed printmaking sessions, where intermediate to advanced artists can work independently while beginners can ask questions as they go along. (For an easy-to-follow, interactive step-by-step explanation of how to make a woodcut, etching, lithograph and silkscreen, visit www.moma.org/whatisaprint.)
"I have people who have graduated with printmaking degrees," said Dykes, "and I have one student that's never printed." They allow them to work alongside each other because, according to Brunvand and Dykes, even advanced printers need to refresh their memory on which ground works best for what markings, which color ink should be applied first, etc.
"There's that collaborative effort," Dykes said. "The beginners are working with the experienced printers, they're mixing it up. It takes the fear out of it for the beginners." This working together helps the beginners understand the various processes for intaglio and relief printing.
Earlier in the year, Dykes' sister-in-law decided she wanted to take a printing class and was introduced to etching. "We got her drawing on the matrix, working with aquatint and a couple of soft-ground methods." After much labor, the sister-in-law gained a whole new appreciation for what a print is. "And that's part of what we like to do here," said Dykes.
"Education and appreciation," added Brunvand. "The excitement of the accident, that joy of seeing the mirror image when a print is pulled from the press. It's like Christmas morning."
While the studio is not huge, it is large enough to handle six artists working at the same time, but not on the same stage of a print. Saltgrass is equipped with two etching presses, a Vander Cook proofing press, roller, brayers and more. "With two presses we're doing OK," Dykes said. "If we need to block out time for individual printers we can do that."
"But there's more than enough room and time here for everybody to work," said Brunvand. "You know, you could be etching while someone else is printing."
And because Saltgrass is devoted to a communal-studio approach, "if someone rents from us for a month," Brunvand said, "they get a key to the studio." "It's their studio space," added Dykes.
"So instead of renting an empty space to paint in for $200," said Brunvand, "for $150 a month they get a key and can come in any time, day or night, and use the equipment."
Saltgrass exists because Brunvand and Dykes are passionate about making it work. Talented printmakers in their own right, they want others — many others, from beginners to professionals — to come and see, to collaborate, to employ and enjoy the studio they've spawned.
It's their child, and they're very proud of how well it's growing and its potential for the future.
For more information on upcoming workshops and classes call Saltgrass Printmakers at 467-1080.
E-mail: gag@desnews.com