Three senior printmaking majors display their artwork in “Good Night, Sweet Prints.”
As clever art show names go, “Good Night, Sweet Prints” is a pretty good one. And while the name of a showcase isn’t always indicative of how good the art is, in this case, it is.
On Jan. 21, Tyler School of Art seniors Amelia Schwarzman, Che Saitta-Zelterman and Josh Carlevato held a showcase of prints they had made during their four years at Temple. To the average art outsider, it would be easy to underestimate how long it takes to compile four years of work to publicly promote.
“Each piece takes a couple of hours to sketch out and draw,” Schwarzman said. “Most of my work is etchings so they end up needing to sit in an acid bath for an hour or so. After the image is finished, they need to be printed, which can take anywhere from 20 minutes to three hours, depending on how careful I am or how many editions I print. Honestly, this is only a guess, but it took around 40 hours or so [to] make all of the works.”
As with any creative job, today’s market is flooded with tons of would-be musicians, writers and artists, and a post-college career is tough to come by.
“Post-graduation is very uncertain for me,” Schwarzman said. “Trying to make it as a professional artist is difficult and takes a lot of self-motivation. While I love making art, doing this event has sparked my interest in [being a curator] so I might look into doing that after graduation.”
Printmaking, like all other art forms, takes a great deal of time to refine and to follow through and create. Printmaking originated in China after paper was invented in about A.D. 105.
Relief printing first flourished in Europe in the 15th century, when the process of papermaking was imported from the East. Since then, printmakers have established themselves as foremost artists.
Schwarzman said “Good Night, Sweet Prints” was a success, from the art showcased to the wine and cheese provided by Feast Your Eyes Catering.
But before she exits Main Campus and ventures into the professional art world, Schwarzman gives her advice to Temple undergraduates.
“Have fun,” she said. “That’s most important. And I guess on a more serious note, even though it might feel awkward, network with as many people as you can and as often as you can. You don’t have to ask people to go out of their way, but often people will want to help you be successful.”
Kevin Stairiker can be reached at kevin.stairiker@temple.edu.
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