In 2010 I am concentrating on completion of my print series rather than exhibiting. When the series is done, I hope to have shows again.
To recap my 2009 efforts, I mounted three shows and reprinted, with the help of colleagues here and in Guatemala, the Maya/Spanish coloring book. Also with the help of friends and colleagues, I posted craft education materials in PDF form on my website
The Print Series: A Little History
I started my printmaking project around ten years ago. And as I’ve worked on the series, the both initial idea and its scope has changed. At first, I anticipated that thirty images would give a good overview of the range of arts and crafts in Guatemala. Then, I did not think about depicting other artisans making such things as brooms, roof tiles or candles. Gradually, as my understanding grew about the relationship crafts have to Guatemala’s culture, people, environment and economy, I began to develop images of these other kinds of crafts in addition to those that have the most visibility, as is the case with Guatemalan weaving. (Image: Rattan Furniture Maker, by Marilyn Anderson)
The project has also given me an even greater respect for how all artesanal work has requirements of expert knowledge and experience. Even though not all crafts demand the skills needed by complex weaving — to do a relatively simple craft such as braiding palm leaf, the workers must know many things.
For example, a palm leaf braider must know:
- If cutting their own raw material, they need to understand the growth cycle and qualities of palm so as to know when and how to cut it, and that cutting too much could damage the tree.
- If buying already cut palm leaves in a market, they must how to treat them before braiding.
- They must learn the several types of plaiting techniques that are used.
- The braiding has to be be done with attention to preparing even width strips and, as work proceeds, when the palm strands being used become too short, proper insertion of new ones needs to be done to add to the total length.
- When making already braided palm leaf into rolls, it must be a uniform 20 yards length for the demands of the buyers making hats.
The amount of detailed knowledge artisans of all kinds had to have do their work well always impresses me. Without doubt, I have left out still more details involved in doing palm leaf braiding.
Projection for Print Series Completion
My plan is to finish a series of over forty blocks with accompanying text. Thirty-six prints are completed, with four more nearly ready to transfer to wood blocks for cutting the relief image.
The new prints include:
- a maguey spinner making twine using a “talavera” — using a rather a simple wooden apparatus rather than a spinning wheel
- a marimba maker
- a roof tile maker
- paper makers
- a kite maker
- a fine furniture artisan
- a wood carver
My deadline to complete the prints is September, 2010.
The print series will never cover all of the arts and crafts of the artisans of Guatemala. Doing the series is my attempt to honor the makers of handmade textiles, containers, wood, metal workers and the many other kinds of artisans. I hope my work will tell a story about their significance in history and helps others to understand their place in the lives of people today.