All about print! The Printmakers' Show at Westland Gallery

The Printmakers' Exhibition is a celebration of traditional and contemporary printmaking. The show features art by Helmut Becker, Ron Milton, Ray Jackson, Jen Hamilton, Ralph Heather, Meredith Milton and Meghan Milton. The exhibition runs from June 19th to July 7th.

Four of the featured artists are or have been teachers in the London area and beyond. 

There are so many types and techniques when it comes to the world of printmaking. We are lucky to have so many experienced educators introducing young students to printmaking in London. The exhibition contains work from teachers, professors and instructors including Helmut Becker, Ron Milton, Ray Jackson, Jen Hamilton and Ralph Heather.
 
London artist Ray Jackson is currently the printmaking and sculpture instructor at Bealart. He has been teaching for 14 years including time at Fanshawe College and Mount Allison University. He continues to be a practicing artist alongside his teaching position.

Ray has contributed three prints that take a contemporary look at our landscape. They depict classic features of the Georgian Bay Area alongside modern wind turbines; a view that will be familiar to everyone travelling the backroads of Ontario this summer.

Helmut Becker, professor emeritus at Western University obtained education in Art & Art History at University of Saskatchewan as well as printmaking and drawing at University of Wisconsin. Helmut has taught Printmaking, Papermaking, Hand Papermaking, and Fibre Flax & Hemp Research at Nova Scotia College of Art, University of Calgary and University of Western Ontario.

Helmut’s artistic interests lie in paper making and in printmaking. In 1963, art critic Clement Greenberg viewed a number of Helmut’s woodcut prints and woodcut blocks. Greenburg suggested to him that the woodcut blocks should never be destroyed and that they be one day exhibited as sculpture, and we are very excited to be doing so in the current show.
 

Born in London Ontario, Ron Milton was head of printmaking at Bealart during his career. He studied at H. B. Beal himself and then at Mount Allison University in New Brunswick. He has exhibited throughout Ontario and the East Coast of Canada.
 
In printmaking, sculpting, and painting Ron draws on imagery from books, museums, nature, technology and history. All are portrayed with a narrative feel and often with humour.

This exhibition also touches on the history of this diverse medium. In the front room of the gallery, Ralph Heather and Jen Hamilton’s work are hung in stark contrast to one another; representing both tradition and experimentation in printmaking.

Ralph Heather is a visual artist living in Paris, Ontario. He studied at OCAD where he first encountered printmaking and life drawing which remain strong influences for Ralph. During his career in graphic design, Ralph continued to pursue his artistic interests and now focuses full time on his artistic practice and teaching occasionally at Dundas Valley School of Art.

Ralph uses traditional techniques including hand-cut linoleum, woodcuts or etchings, all hand-printed by the artist. Ralph’s work has a very nostalgic feel, due to the classic style and rural imagery.
 
In contrast we have Jen Hamilton who is incorporating screen printing into her large-scale paintings and is experimenting with paper sculpture. 

The raw materials for the small paper houses and domestic structures she creates, come from drawings, paintings, etchings, screen prints and writings created by Jen over the years.
 
Jen Hamilton is a London artist who received her BFA from NSCAD University as well as from Fanshawe College. Jen has sat on the Board of Directors at Forest City Gallery, worked at Museum London as an art instructor and the Youth Council Coordinator and currently teaches at Fanshawe College.

Printmaking has played an important role in art and culture historically and continues to be explored in new and exciting ways by many contemporary artists. The exhibition continues until July 7th.