To Frogman's and Back

Pro's is ready for our arrival

I have not posted in a while, but I've got a doozy of an event to introduce and explain. Imagine two weeks of Printmackin' and having a damn good time. That was Frogman's.

I had heard about it from many of the grad students at NIU and it sounded great. I got some help with funding from the Illinois Arts Council. It was a blast and I highly recommend going if you really are serious about printmaking. There are workshops every year and Jeremy Menard and the faculty do a really great job getting excellent printmakers from different backgrounds and skills together to teach their art. Frogman's is actually a printshop in Beresford, SD and the workshop takes place at the University of South Dakota.

There are many classes offered. I signed up for Wood engraving and Metal engraving. I know, a double dose of engraving, but the process of creating a plate or block and the printing process is different. Deborah Mae Broad and Jim Horton lead the wood engraving class. We had a large class of about 25 people. Deborah Mae and Jim are really nice people, and they were so good at showing us the technique and process.

Wilbur Whateley, 3x5" cut from a maplewood block

The second week was metal engraving taught by Oscar Gillespie. It's crazy how he puts these really gestural, flowing lines into his work. The burin has to be pushed hard through the metal. It's not hard to do but it takes some muscle to get the hang of it.

So, I had amazing teachers, and my fellow students were really interesting, hard-workers and very talented. The other half of the workshop is very much social. I hung out with some pretty awesome people. First, my suite-mates: Tessa Shackelford, Sun Young Lim, Laura Drapac and an honorary suite-mate since he spent much time with us Douglas Bosley. I think we all clicked very well. I hope they all come to Frogman's next year. No, I'm wagglin' my finger at y'all, You Better Come Back to Froggies Next Year!!! or I'll miss ya...

Group picture before our costumes fall apart dancing so hard at the Masquerade Ball

The evening social events were not without their shenanigans. Below are just a few of the crazy things from the Bowling Tournaments. Mmmmm, costume contest! I love it.

On the weekend between workshops, a large-ish group of us went out for some antiquing!

Did I mention earlier that I want to come back next year? 

Cause I do. 

This was awesome.