Despite the fact that Covid 19 continues to rage throughout the globe, -although with less virulence- it would seem that we are beginning to return to our “normal” lives despite the fact that there are still many people affected and many unfortunately continue to die. We want to return to our lives and, in some way, we are doing so. At last, the artists who wanted to come in 2020 have been able to come to Gran Canaria without too many problems; Roberta Restaino arrived last Summer, as you can see on the previous page, and this year Rosi Maria di Meglio arrived from Canada. She was originally scheduled to come in September 2020 but it was not to be until May 2022.
Di Meglio is a far-sighted visual artist as you can see from her website. However, her experience as a graphic artist had been limited before to relief print woodcut, a technique very different from intaglio etching. She was drawn to electro-etching because it is non-toxic, less aggressive etching for printmakers, plus it respects the environment. So, both for her and for me, it was a very interesting experience, since she had never dealt with metal plates, and I had the opportunity to initiate an artist in etching with electrolysis instead of with toxic acids and rosins for aquatints. It was a first for me and, therefore, very special.
She applied for a grant in Canada to the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, which was granted to her to learn electro-etching in our workshop-residency, and later practise the process in her country.
The techniques that she was able to learn and practise here during the two weeks of the workshop were: lines on hard ground, in one of which she drew lines progressively at each bite interval (see etching 01); And on another plate she made the complete drawing with st
oped lines at each bite interval to obtain lines of different intensities (see etching 02). She got tonal effects of open bite “electrotint”, lifted ground. With graphite ink varnish she worked lines, “electrotint” and soft ground; plus galvanised lines too. She learned how to make a colour print with two plates; some fairly basic but fundamental processes for the joint practice of intaglio etching and electro-etching. But, of course, she also had to learn the printing process, that was far removed from her experience with relief-print woodcut. I think she really embraced the opportunity enthusiastically and will set up an electrolytic unit back home to continue with her experience in her own workshop. She is even thinking about returning soon to continue learning other electrolytic processes that she could not take in during these two weeks.
Pictures from the workshop
Rosi Maria di Meglio speaks about her experience in the workshop-residency
My Reflections
Experiencing more than just the knowledge of electro-etching.
Key words come to me when I reflect on this experience:
Information
Knowledge
History
Culture
Friends
Love
Passion
Nature
Peace
Way of Life
Family
Connection
Growth
Ambition
Magic
Self Care
Time to Process
Creativity
Time
Play
Little Moments
Care
All these words come easily to me when I relive my time in Gran Canaria. I am excited to have had the opportunity to learn this electro-etching technique with Alfonso Crujera. I am grateful to Alfonso for opening up his studio to me and sharing all his discoveries, this is the most precious gift an artist can give another artist. Thank you for this gift Alfonso.
This was a wonderful experience for my artistic expression and growth. The Gran Canaria island is beautiful in all its surroundings the people, the nature and its cultural history.
This residency will provide fuel for my creative expression not only in printmaking, but in oil paintings, pastel paintings and poetry writings.
Rosi Maria di Meglio's electro-etchings
