By Sue Bergstrom for Valdez City News –
You may have seen Erica Shirk riding her bike about Valdez. You can recognize her by the Colorado flag on the front of her helmet. She and her family have lived here about a year. Erica says they moved here for the scenery and to allow her husband to practice the full scope of medicine. They have two children, a fifth-grader here in Valdez and one at the University of New Hampshire. The family likes to ski, sail and do just about anything outdoors. Erica is primarily a printmaker, although she also likes to work with watercolors, acrylics, oils, pastels and has recently invested in a ceramics kiln. Her printmaking is generally in wood blocks, but she also does intaglio and mono print.
Woodcut or wood-blocking is an ancient art that has been used in Asia and Europe for centuries. Woodblock printed silk has been found in China dating back to the Han Dynasty; around 220 A.D. Ink is applied to a raised surface from which the background and any pattern within an area has been carved away so that ink rolled onto the block only comes in contact with the surface to be printed. Multi-colored woodcut prints can be made by making a separate block for each color. The actual printing can be done by stamping, or pressing the block to the surface, placing the cloth or paper on top of the inked block and rubbing on the back to transfer the pattern or by using a press. Mono-printing is a technique that involves either painting or making a collage directly on the block to make a unique print that cannot be exactly duplicated.
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Intaglio is the opposite of relief printing, as is done with wood blocks. A line is made in a surface and then filled with ink. Sheets of metal are the usual medium. When it is done with a cutting tool it’s called engraving. When acid is used, it’s known as etching. Ink is then applied to the entire surface then carefully wiped off to leave it only in the impressions. A damp piece of paper is then laid over the sheet and the whole thing is covered with a blanket of soft fabric before being run through a press to transfer the pattern. Intaglio is a newer form of printmaking than woodblock, probably from the late 1430s, when it was used to print playing cards in Germany.
Erica can’t remember a time when she wasn’t interested in art. In grammar school she was nominated to work with a professional artist through a school program. She graduated from the University of Denver with degrees in Mathematics, Science and Fine Arts. Her senior thesis involved using her art to illustrate the results of her chemistry research. She has worked with professional artists as an assistant and in the classroom. Her art is found in several private collections, with the National Park Service and on her web site, http://blueladypress.com/. She hopes someday to open a gallery in Valdez.
