Esther's Etching Press Sold and Delivered

Etching Press Sale Enquiries: johnnymulvay@vodafone.co.nz

Above and below, the press under construction in the studio


The etching press stripped down for delivery to Esther, in Whangarei


Esther's new etching press installed at her house in Whangarei. It took us less than an hour to assemble it. Esther's happy, I'm happy. A good result

Press Raw Material

Etching Press Sale Enquiries: johnnymulvay@vodafone.co.nz

This is the etching press that is pre-sold to Esther, a Whangerei artist. It is stripped down and all component parts painted

The tubular steel framed press is my print studio's new pride and joy and is, like Esther's press, stripped down and all component parts painted


For Esther's new etching press I had two new cogs designed and cut to allow her to print from plates or woodcuts from 1mm to 20mm thickness while staying in constant mesh.
I have learnt much about engineering and have had four different engineering firms employed on helping out with different component constructions and adaptations. All very expensive and time consuming but I now know all the best ways to convert the various types of antique mangles into extremely robust and beautiful etching presses.
Saw a recent release film called Goya's Ghost's and it shows a five minute scene of Goya at work in his print studio circa 1805; etching, preparing, inking, printing and all. Marvelous and inspiring bit of film making.
Goya, Hokusai, Rembrandt, Durer, Kathe Kollwitz and so many others from the past and present are heroes of mine so it pleases me to work on 100 - 150 year old presses.
It don't matter how old something is, if it's good it's good..

A Girl and Her Horse

The preliminary drawing in biro as bled through a layer of acrylic sealer. Top picture ; the same with the lines painted in in Paynes Grey acrylic paint and a small brush.

The Last Life Drawing Class of the year 2 12 09

I did some drawing on this, the last night of Life Drawing Class. I had seen on an art blog a style of drawing using a red quick sketch under-drawing and then the finish dark pencil lines with the red showing through. I used a red chalk pastel and then a sepia watercolour pencil on prepared paper; glossy magazine paper with jewellers tissue glued on to it with ochre tinted varnish.

Classic Etching Press Manufactory

Etching Press Sale Enquiries: johnnymulvay@vodafone.co.nz

I now have three buyers waiting for their new presses and two engineers making and adapting the various bits that convert antique mangles into wonderfully geared robust etching presses.

Commercial Art

I was asked to make some illustrations for a counsellors resource booklet designed to help teenagers understand their raging emotions.. Good job for Sisyphus that one if you ask me but of course every generation must be taught or helped to fit into this strange and wonder full life.

Musician Drawings

Penny 2008

Depressed and hating my own paintings I have gone back to drawing and finishing building the printmaking studio.
This feeling came upon me after the last exhibition, the last frantic deadline. I am fed up with all that.
A very welcome change was heralded by an invite to attend musician friends Penny and Paul's house warming last Saturday. They have recently purchased a few acres of orchard with house, guest house and music studio. Many musicians were there and all played in an organized out-door concert.

I drew first some plant that grew in front of where I was seated and later the star turn played, a couple who do gypsy jazz a la Stephan Grapelli and wow were they good, absolutely absolute friend... I was blown away and the charcoal pencil danced in time on the sketch book and I did the portrait above that I am very happy with and two more that are not quite but up there, you know, up there too.
Fuck Painting!! Back to graphic art and printmaking, at least for a time, a season..

November 4; Life Drawing Class

Musician Portrait

Last night I went to Michael's birthday party. Mike is a musician and almost everyone there was too. This is my music, a portrait of Alison at her keyboard.

Three new paintings readied for exhibition

Double dipping

To tonight's life drawing class I took two paintings I had been working on all day to ready for delivery to the Waikino Spring Art Exhibition tomorrow morning.
They are both unfinished and I had to ignore my class and do some work on them when I should have been mentoring....
The annual Waikino Labour Weekend exhibition is my favourite exhibition and I never miss it, it is the highlight of my year and heralds the start of Summer and the tourist season and stirs me to produce at least 3 new paintings for exhibition there every year.

The Art of Rolling Pastry

I was watching with bored detatchment a piece of a B grade American movie, a comedy, and a guy pretending to be a chef was in the kitchen of a mansion attempting to make chocolate surprise without the least idea what he was about. The camera panned right and there was a funky old wooken roller laundry mangle, the same as my funky tubular and coil spring model that I am converting to an etching press, there in the kitchen and the guy cranks chocolate and nuts through it to crush them..
I was thrilled and reached for the remote to go back and study this mangle - bugger! Broadcast television, can't go back!
So our hero serves chocolate surprise to the dinner guests and everyone is happy and I turn it off and put on a DVD.
Got me thinking though, I've a wooden roller mangle converted to an etching press out in the print studio, it's very clean with varnished rollers, food quality for sure, so tonight I am making a bacon and egg pie and take out the pastry and flour and put it through the press.
Works a treat although would be better with unvarnished rollers as the pastry sticks a little to the rollers as they are too smooth to hold flour.
Like some more ink with your pie? Perhaps a wee tad of turpentine sauce? No? O you sure are fussy, don't know what you're missing.

Sunday School of Art

I like to share the studio with other artists every Sunday. Sometimes nobody comes, no matter it's my day in the studio doing art stuff regardless of all other demands on my time, with company or not.
Today was a sunny spring day and Bill and Janice were here painting and my new flatmate Theresa was working on some ink designs. I worked on the painting below.

Works in progress

Both these paintings in progress started as chalk pastel drawings on prepared canvases

Two paintings worked up from life drawings

These began as chalk pastel on prepared canvas. Acrylic medium was brushed into the pastel and a little paint also, I tried to keep the freshness of the original pastel drawing while making finished durable paintings.

Stretching Canvas

On Sundays I have "Sunday school" where I am working in the studio and anyone who wants can come along and work there too. Or just hang out. This Sunday Janice brought a bunch of old framed pictures which she disassembled and I showed her how to stretch canvas over the old picture frames. The bevelled edge of old frames makes them perfect for this.
Bill came too and brought Russian slice and did a pastel still life.
I put tools away and swept the studio floor, not too creative but made me feel better and it's still time spent in the studio which is a grown-ups toybox..

New paintings begun at the Life Drawing class

To the life drawing class last night I brought two prepared canvases and drew on them in chalk pastel. Our model was draped in a white crochet quilt. These I will make paintings of.

Life Drawing Class 9 9 09

I did this pastel on canvas last night at life drawing class. Mother and daughter models, I imagined a she-wolf in her lair with a cub. Don't get too close, is she sleeping or just being still?