Printing, printing, and a week in April with Julia Fernandez-Pol

By Teddy Benson Julia Fernandez-Pol April 18, 2012

Julia Fernandez-Pol came for a bustling one week project this April. Many packets of Orbit gum and pots of hazelnut coffee later, we ended up with thirty-one explosive, bright and wonderful monotypes all with hand painting titled Reef Series 2 #1-#31 ranging in size from 27” x 24”–45 1/2” x 29 1/2” and in price from $1100-1300. She also created a group of seven large, unbelievable monotypes on black Hahnemühle paper, 45 1/2” x 29 1/2”, titled Nebular Reef Series #1-#7 priced at $2100, and three on white paper titled Chaos Reef #1-#3 at 28” x 41” and $1600 each. Lastly, Julia composed four incredibly sleek and gorgeous etchings titled: #1 Flower and Willow World (Karyūkai), #2 Kabuki Theater, #3 Plum Blossom Dagger, and #4 Zen Galaxy, all in an edition of 15 for $800 each or $2800 for the group. Every one of Julia’s pieces has its own charm and way of demanding attention, calling the viewer to look closer into its macro or microcosmic landscape.

With JFP’s non-stop work ethic and due to the size of each print, we had to begin stapling the work on one of our less accessible walls! Julia is scraping the wall to make sure there is nothing that could puncture the prints while they are drying.

A print coming off the press! Never gets old…

JFP hand painting one of her monotypes

*Reef Series 2* #10, 2012, monotype, 31” x 24”, $1200

Julia used our drill to puncture holes into the copper plates she later drew on onto hardground and we etched.

Puff paint! JFP adding details to her prints

Gorgeous monotypes drying on the wall

Kristen cleaning off the hardground from JFP’s plates after their etching was completed.

Julia decided the first day of her project to cut her four rectangular copper plates up into shapes that she drew into on hardground. After we were done etching, we printed proofs of each in black and cut them out to their plate size so she could play around with configurations.

Next we wiped all of the plates in different colors and Julia arranged them on the press. This was to get an idea of what colors looked right and how the plates responded to one another.

A completed etching! #3 *Plum Blossom Dagger*, 2012, etching, edition of 15, 23” x 30 3/4”, $800

On the last day of the project, Julia whipped out these seven large monotypes that look stunning on black paper. Julia is putting some final touches with hand painting on the prints as they dry on the wall.

*Nebular Reef Series #4*, 2012, monotype, 45 1/2” x 29 1/2”, $2100

All of Julia Fernandez-Pol’s prints are available for purchase and on our website: www.oehmegraphics.com.
Please contact the shop for more information about Julia’s project, questions, or to place an order.

Email: sue@oehmegraphics.com
Phone: 970.870.6609

Oehme Graphics will be at San Francisco’s artMRKT fair this coming May. Keep an eye out for more info on the fair and if you are in the area we would love to show you some prints! In other OG news….

This March and April we have been printing away at the shop, and we have completed a majority of the editions from 2011!

Sue snapped these shots after we had completed printing all of Louise Fishman’s ten editions!

Special special thanks to Kristen Bukowski who came to intern at OG last August-October and returned to work this past February, March and April. She will be leaving at the end of the month and we will be sad to see her go! Thank you so much for all your hard work.

Happy Spring!