The art of printmaking

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.