Jewell Riano-Bradley

My artwork is often inspired by the art media and printmaking  process itself. Fine art printmaking is an endless source of creative  exploration. Completing an artwork gives me a great sense of  purpose and accomplishment - a sense of wholeness, and ultimately, contentment.  

Making art enables me to immerse myself in the experience, a rather self-centered  process, to act on the impulse to create, and to manipulate paint, pencil, pen, and ink  into visual order - all of which make my world seem more comprehensible. 

 I make monoprints and collagraphs by printing collaged materials, such as cut paper,  cloth, string, or other textured materials, on a printing press. I begin by arranging the materials directly onto on inked plate, paying close attention to composition. I print  the arrangement onto high quality printing paper on the press. Next, I rearrange the  shapes, turn them over to expose the inked side, and print again, layering the shapes  with transparent ink. 

There is always the “ah ha” moment when the print is pulled!  After the ink is dry, the shapes make their presence known – a process reminding me  of childhood experiences discovering shapes in the clouds. I then define the shapes and add more color by cutting stencils and using a hand brayer to spread the ink. Finally, I finish the details by rendering with Prismacolor pencils. Each collagraph  seems to generate ideas for yet another design -truly an exciting and creative process.