Friday, July 13, 2012

The Papermaking Studio's Newest Addition


With fresh inspiration from making paper in Fabriano, Italy, Gretchen, with the help of Franc, built our studio's newest addition: this wonderful curved Couching Stand!  

Couching [kooch-ing] (verb)
in Papermaking : to transfer (a sheet of pulp) from the mould to the felt on the post or couching stand


in progress...
Gretchen brandishing the nail gun like a boss.

Ta-da! Displayed in its new home,
proudly awaiting freshly pulled sheets of paper.
Marcella, our papermaking star intern,
happily puts the couching stand to good use.

Jackie, so happy she that she had to bust some moves.
Clearly the papermaking studio is the fun place to be!
And here's a sneak peak of the keepsake project!
Handmade abaca paper and screen printing. With 4,000
to make, the interns are getting into production mode...



Friday, July 6, 2012

Must-See at AAC

A pair of pants: screen prints by Anthony Dihle

On view at Arlington Arts Center is CTRL + P, featuring "nontraditional processes and forms" of printmaking. Screenprinters will find oodles of inspiration (more on the Screenprint Society blog) and Pyramid people will want to catch Gretchen Shermerhorn and Franc Rosario's collaboration works of firearm prints. The show is up until Sept. 16.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

..Get Your Boots In A Row.. 
....We're Ready To Go....


The interns at Pyramid Atlantic are helping create a rambunctious and fun art-making environment
we spend a lot of our time in the paper making studio
 working, laughing and occasionally getting soaked

We have embarked on a large project
making 4, 000 keepsakes to send out to the wonderful pyramid atlantic community



Here is Emily and Tim
two very excited interns 
playing with felts like kids in a candy shop
and pressing handmade paper for the keepsake project

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

1,000,000 Pennies Contributed = Success!

We made it.  We raised 1,000,000 pennies.  I could just say we raised $10,000, but 1,000,000 pennies just sounds so much cooler. 

We raised it on the 30th of June as promised. The money represents more than just the final tally of 1,000,000 pennies.  It represents an effort by a collective group of people in support of this wonderful organization.  A collective group of genders, ages, class, sexual identity, races, ethnicities, religions and politics. That is very inspiring.

Like you, I hunger for inspiration.  I hunger for that thing, at any point in the day, that reminds me that at our very core, we are generous and compassionate.  Sometimes we just need to be reminded.  I know that alone I can't do anything and I don't want to be lonely.  I want to be part of a large community that can move mountains or collect 1,000,000 pennies.

This is my last email.  I will be back again next Spring with more inspirational emails.  I think I really like writing them and I love hearing from you about them.  Until then, know that your your 1,000,000 pennies will help make possible 77 classes and workshops for people of all ages, 50 Internships for high school and college students, studio space for 439 artists to create work throughout the year & events that will invite over 7,000 people into Silver Spring.

Know that your pennies helped make it possible for artists of all ages and abilities to grow in our studios, to fall in love with learning through the arts of papermaking, printmaking and artistic books and to be a part of a diverse community that regularly inspires one another through their own self discoveries that the arts make possible.