| Beverly Ellstrand studied art at the Art Institute of Chicago, Northeastern University in Chicago, and Chicago Academy of Fine Art. She works in a wide range of mediums including painting, drawing and printmaking and has had her work selected for many solo and group shows throughout the Chicago area and Indiana. Her work is part of public collections including the Park Ridge Public Library, Methodist Publishing Company, Florida Department of Citrus, University of California in Riverside CA., Third Unitarian Church, Chicago and many private collections in the U.S. Europe and Asia.
Below, the artist describes her unique printmaking work exhibited in the INK show.
Reductive Monotype
This print entitled "Nest Eggs" is made using the negative technique. A Plexiglas plate is completely inked with a roller in black ink. The surface design is wiped out using sticks, Q-tips, brushes and cloth to make this finished drawing. Then the plate is put through a printing press onto damped paper to make this finished piece of art.
Double Monotype
The first image shown on this artwork entitled "Environmental Consequences" is made by completely inking a Plexiglas plate with black ink. A drawing (tree) is placed directly on the plate and traced with a sharp pencil. Any texture in the background can be done by pressing the paper with the fingers. The paper is removed carefully and the underside has picked up the ink to make the print you see. On the plate is the image that the pencil made. The second image is printed onto a dampened paper using a printing press.
Collagraphs
A collagraph print is made by gluing various materials such as cardboard, leaves, fabric and "found objects" (gaskets, flat buttons, coins etc.) to a thin cardboard or piece of Masonite. The "plate" is coated with several layers of acrylic varnish to make the plate stronger. The plate is then inked with a single color or several colors and printed on a dampened sheet of paper with a printing press. (I usually wipe off the excess ink with newspaper and cheesecloth before printing.)The second image is the original plate that I used to make the lower print entitled "Secret Doors." |
