News
Guest Artist and World-Class Printmaker Mark Mulfinger Visits Upper School Art Classes
Upper School Art Teacher Dana Kimmel has admired the work of world-class printmaker Mark Mulfinger since she was a high school student herself. She invited Mark to her classes this past week to share his expertise with her students.
Mark, who holds an M.A. in Studio Art, is a master at Batik, watercolor, drawing, and printmaking. He began his mastery with private art lessons at the age of seven, and his incredible and natural gift led him on to a life-long obsession of capturing the created world.
After a number of years of focusing on Batik as his main medium, Mark discovered linocuts as a "sister medium." The progression from light to dark values parallels that of Batik, with the advantage, in the "new" field of printmaking, of several individual, original pieces. In addition, linocuts with their layers of color, averaging twelve in depth, provide a rich, tactile presence akin to oil painting.
Mark executes his linocuts using the reduction method of printing. After each printing of color, the plate is cut away until the final, darkest skeletal lines remain. By definition, this process decrees an intrinsically limited edition--usually between 20-50 original, hand-cut, hand-rolled, hand-pulled pieces. This qualifies them for, in collector's parlance, a "rare" designation.
“Mark works incredibly well with the students and they seem to get a lot out of their experience with him,” Ms. Kimmel said. Her art classes focused on Reduction Lino Cutting and layered various colors to create different compositions. Their pieces will be displayed in the Upper School Art Gallery next week.
CCES is incredibly thankful to the Arts Guild, who make Artist in Residence program possible. Visiting artists humanize the profession in a positive, approachable light, add variety to the art room routine with a new voice, contribute as strong advocacy tools for our art department, and make lasting memories for our students.
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