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Story & Photos: Artist-in-residence shows how to create truly unique prints

BARBARELLEN KOCH PHOTO | Rosamaria Eisler demonstrates drawing on a painted plexiglass plate using a piece of mat board.

The latest artist-in-residence at East End Arts, Rosamaria Eisler, spent nearly three months in Riverhead, from Sept. 12 through Dec. 4, living in the carriage house on the nonprofit group’s grounds downtown.

The classes she taught during this time were intro to the printmaking press, relief printmaking with linocuts, color reduction prints, solarplates and today’s class a monotype workshop.

Even though her tenure has ended, she was available to teach on final class at East End Arts Saturday.

She began the class with a brief history of printmaking starting with Italian artist Giovanni Castiglione in 1640, who used a subtractive technique and rolled inks on a metal plate and then wiping it with brushes and rags to create an image.

In the four-hour long class, students were encouraged to explore and experiment with monotype/monoprint processes using the printmaking press. A monotype is done on a flat surface of an unaltered plate. A monoprint is done on a plate with incised lines.

The students painted and drew on plexiglass plates using non-toxic paints and experimented with subtractive, additive and chine-colle techniques. The prints are unique, one of a kind, hand-pulled prints, made with the pressure on the printmaking press.

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From 1999 to 2009, Ms. Eisler worked as an adjunct professor in Adelphi University’s art department.

While in residence she said she worked day and night, sometimes even in her pajamas, and she didn’t return to her home or studio at all during the three months. (She had a friend check in on her home and get her mail.)

“I took a lot of walks and told everybody I was a Riverhead woman,” she said.

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