Monday, February 14, 2011

John Stacey - Screen Printing and Letterpress

John Stacey is a print maker, based in Binghamton, New York.

He works using serigraphy and letterpress printing to explore designs found in nature.

The majority of his works start with his own photos.

Favorite subjects are plants, flowers, leaves, and insects... especially bees, butterflies and caterpillars.

John decided to do a line of greeting cards, as his photographs received rave reviews,  and since he runs the presses himself, uses commercial printing materials for his media.

He likes his printings to have a tactile feel to them so most all of them are embossed. In addition, some have foil stamped transparent tints and pearescent colors to add accents to the designs.

His serigraphs are done from photos, reducing detailed images to simple elements that represent the feel of the image. They are composed in layers usually staring with the background and adding elements one on top of the other. They are printed on heavy 80 to 110 pound 100% Cranes Cotton Lettra.

Here's John in action producing the "Koi" print you see above to the right. Just click on the arrow at the bottom left of the frame:


What's next for John?

After a second year of photographing thousands of snow crystals, the individual snowflake portraits now will be reviewed for a possible book.  John has been developing a technique for photographing snowflakes that he uses for prints and in printmaking projects.

John's formal education, from RIT, is in graphic arts, photography and commercial printing.

He owns and operates Creative Impressions Screen Printing company and has a blog to support all of his processes.  You can visit his website by clicking on John Stacey - Screen Printing and Letterpress, in the "Artist's Contact" column on the right, and then click on the URL below to check out his blog:

http://theartdept101.blogspot.com

John collects antique printing equipment that he uses for printmaking projects and annually opens his shop to Binghamton University Graphic art students.

John says, "Students today have no exposure to how the printing process was accomplished before the advent of computers and photography.  They are usually impressed with the quality of work done by these workhorses and some even venture off to find similar equipment to use in their projects."

Over the past several year's John has been developing a unique technique for photographing snow flakes that he uses for prints and in printmaking projects.  He prints on various types of backgrounds, including cloth, paper and board.

As you can see, many of his themes relate to his love of nature and has expressed it in representations of landscape and portrait, and from great heights while pursuing a passion of hot air ballooning.

John would be happy to discuss any projects you may have, relating to printing, and is available for commission work.  Please contact him via his website or through this blog!

He is a unique artist who can provide messages for your personal and business needs, via artwork and words.

3 comments:

  1. work is great! them snowflakes are breathtaking!!!! nice job!!! Eric H

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  2. love this work! Have to have one of the koi prints...

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  3. Working with John to get prices for Koi prints...I think they're beautiful, too! The snowflakes are individually unique, of course, and he has the talent to grab them before they melt..it's like a split second capture! Amazing!!!

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