FLAT FILE FLEX: Ground Printmaking

Ever wonder what printers consider the pride and joy of their collections? Love a nosey look inside the studios of artists from around the globe? Want to learn more about print shops and meet the printmakers that run them from the comfort of your own home? You’re in the right place!

Welcome to our very first installment of FLAT FILE FLEX; a series in which printmakers and print shops from all over share 3-5 of their favorite prints from their collection! We'll be sharing this as a recurring article on the blog and are excited to debut the series with Ground Printmaking - owned and operated by printmaker, Kim Spivey in Palm Beach Gardens, FL.

Kim Spivey is an artist living and working in South Florida. Spivey is a graduate from Florida Atlantic University with an MFA in painting and a BFA in printmaking. Spivey spent the summer of 2016 at Zea Mays Printmaking in Florence, MA where she completed a certificate program of green printmaking in intaglio. Spivey has applied what she learned at Zea Mays to her own studio: Ground Printmaking, where she is set up to create without the use of solvents or tar-based materials commonly found in traditional printmaking studios.

We’ve had the pleasure of collaborating with Kim on a few projects as she is only an hour's drive from IS Projects. Her print shop is a unique resource for artists in the area as she is fully equipped to teach and assist with intaglio techniques. The studio itself is always flooded with natural light and is tucked within a lush tropical oasis where you will likely be visited by one of Kim’s friendly dogs.

Today, Kim shares a few of her favorite etchings from her collection. Now let’s geek out and dive into all the inky details.

Mesh by Kim Spivey
Hard ground, open bite and coffee ground etching with hand painted chine-collé
14” x 17”
2019

“This print was a great experiment in layering different etching processes on a single plate to build up the woven imagery. Fun fact - with a coffee lift ground you actually paint with coffee onto the plate.”

Annie Jump Cannon by Carol Prusa
Hard and soap ground etching on Pescia
12” x 12”
2019

“This print is one of seven that make up the editions of the Galaxias Kyklos suite of etchings. This print is composed of three etched plates printed together. I love the incredible detail in the hard ground plates paired with the soap ground plate. I find this print extremely dynamic and centering simultaneously. Fun fact - each print from this suite of etchings is named after a female astronomer.”

18-02 by Michelle A. M. Miller
Color soft ground etching with spit bite and coffee lift aquatints and chine-collé
10” x 13”
2018

“I love the assortment of thoughtfully considered marks that Michelle was able to get through the different etching processes implemented. Michelle does amazing things with color and I love the harmony she created with her selection of blues and the kitakata chine-collé. Fun fact - q-tips were used to get the circles.”

We’d like to thank Kim for inviting us into her studio and collection. If you are a print shop and/or printmaker interested in participating in a future FLAT FILE FLEX feature, please email sammi@isprojectsfl.com