
projektki?
… means “small projects” in Polish. Polish is a great language with its diminutive form “-ki”, which in its lightness seems somehow appropriate for the following:
drucksache 3 (karlsruhe)
I was very excited towards the end of 2022, when I was invited to participate in an exhibition in Karlsruhe. Of course I wanted to present a very special print for this particular occasion. The print definitely was huge – A0 (more wasn’t possible – the dimensions of my ambition limited once again by the limitations of my workshop). In the end, the smaller prints were the ones that sold.




supersizescreen (berlin)
It was a bit like Christmas: A vacuum table, squeegee fixture, exposure unit and lots of giant screens! And following holiday traditions, I had my fill – nothing smaller than an A0 screen would do! What the Berlin-based screen printing collective sdw offers is quite unique: You get to work in a professional workshop with experienced screen printers. New insight: large screen = heavy screen. And: why stick to A0, if larger sizes are possible?

Four-layer CMYK printing (berlin)
I’ve always wanted to do that: print with four colors, like in offset and digital printing. Splitting a color photo digitally into the four color layers cyan, magenta, yellow and black still seemed achievable to me. But to then print them by hand in such a precise way that the vast number of small, single-color dots exactly overlap to create an overall colour-image…? Unbelievably – it worked! Let’s just not focus on the fact that the dots are a bit too big, the print a bit blurry and the colors not quite matching the original – and agree that I am allowed to be impressed with myself.




print exchange (calgary)
A call from Alberta Printmakers (A/P), Canada threw me into a printing frenzy at year end 2021: Printers worldwide were invited to submit an edition of 10 original prints, 2 of which A/P would sell & auction as fundraiser for their community program and the remaining ones would be exchanged with each other. What a great concept (and ego boost): I was flattered that my prints sold quickly and that alone was worth the effort. But in addition, I was treated to 8 original prints by international artists!

letterpress one (Eitorf)
I took on this pile of old wooden letters that my brother found in his workshop by accident. They used to be for poster printing and must have had something to do with the old Schöller Spinnerei where he has his sculptures workshop. Well, in any case, they took me on a trip into the world of typography, all the way to lead type and letterpress (ok, only a cheap version – see below). But what can I say: As beautiful as orderly arranged letters are, when printing them they always sneak up from behind and surprise me with their choice of placing. ( predators)




group printing (Karlsruhe)
Is there such a thing as the perfect setting for collective screen printing? There is: in Karlsruhe, at Margot Witte’s. Professional equipment and a relaxed exchange with other printmakers from all over the place are ideal for artistic inspiration. As in July 2021, at a workshop of the “usual suspects” to overcome the pandemic-related ‘printing- lethargy’ together. Lo and behold, it worked: camouflage.

reduction woodcut (Leipzig)
Fascinatingly complex: reduction wood cuts, where at the end you have carved away your whole printing matrix. The whole thing inverted and approached from the lowest print layer, every carving error visible. Hmm. I admit that the seven print layers tested my limits – maybe I should have gone for one size smaller with my first try? (August 2019)




letterpress two
As mentioned above, I do like neatly arranged letters. That’s why the tiny lead type letters didn’t deter me, and the idea of printing a small text (a book! a book!) seemed logical. I don’t need to tell those who have experience with lead type that this was pure beginner’s megalomania. At some point, fortunately, it was done, ambitions badly damaged, but the spark still glowing (September 2020).

vitreography (Frauenau)
It turned out that engraving with the sandblaster wasn’t my thing in the end, so I ended up with a simple monotype print from the glass plate. But the Summer Academy was worth it: Bild-Werk Frauenau has a unique atmosphere, focuses on interdisciplinary exchange and, as an international forum for glass and art, attracts full-time and part-time artists from all over the world (September 2020).



