UPDATE: The following show has since been postponed to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
In the midst of the formidable health crises we are experiencing, there is a bright spot to look forward to. The California Society of Printmakers will return to the Piedmont Center for the Arts for their 106th Annual Members Exhibition March 15 – April 4, 2020.
Because of the ongoing community health concerns, the reception will be held at the very end of the show, on April 4, from 4:00-6:00 PM. The juried exhibition promises to be worth the wait, with nearly 80 printmakers participating. Please contact the Piedmont Center for the Arts to check on options for visiting the show before April 4.
The CSP is the oldest printmaking organization in the nation, and since its founding in 1912, its printmakers have continuously shown their original and creative work to the public through all sorts of times, good and bad. So on April 4, grab your N95 and head on over to the Piedmont Center for the Arts for the show.
Membership in the CSA is a badge of honor, aspiring members must submit a full portfolio to a review committee, demonstrating knowledge and mastery of what can seem to the uninitiated a bewildering range of printmaking techniques.
Three of the CSA printmakers who will have work in the exhibit at the Piedmont Art Center can be found working together nearly every week at the printmaking studio at Studio 55 in Martinez, owned by Jill Landau. Landau and printmakers Rita Kuolas and Pat Prosek have been friends and fellow artists for many years, and now continue to collaborate in making prints, conducting workshops, and finding ways to combine community service and printmaking.
“Blue” woodblock print by Rita Kuolas 
Woodblock print on washi Paper by Rita Kuolas 
“Stepping Up” by Pat Prosek 
“Squishy In The Middle” by Jill Landau 
Rita Kuolas and Pat Prosek visiting Andy Warhol Print Exhibit
Landau, of Lafayette, is originally from Philadelphia, Penn. and graduated from the Philadelphia College of Art with a degree in Painting. After graduation, Landau moved to California and discovered her affinity for printmaking at the Walnut Creek Civic Arts Center, eventually managing the print studio there, as well as a 15 year career teaching elementary school art classes in the Lafayette Public Schools.
The community aspect of printmaking has always appealed to Landau, and even though she still considers painting to be her primary focus, it is the fellowship of having friends in the studio that continuously pulls her into printmaking, and was the reason she built Studio 55.
Currently, Landau is exploring solar etching as a way to create monotype prints. Using her plein air landscape paintings as source material, she transfers images onto a transparency and makes a printing plate by exposing it to either the sun or a specialized light box in the studio. Landau especially appreciates that the water based inks used in solar etching are more environmentally friendly than the chemicals used in metal etching.
Landau continues her work and leadership in the broader community through Vision Quilt, a school based art program that is helping to reduce gun violence in Oakland and San Francisco.
Kuolas, of Lafayette, is originally from Chicago, Ill. and credits both her Lithuanian heritage and her artistic mother with early inspiration to pursue a lifetime in the arts. As a child, sitting in the bay window, Kuolas would draw images she saw in the park across the street, knowing this was a reliable escape from chores.
Drawing is a fundamental aspect of Kuolas’ printing practice, her work reveals beautiful fine detail across a variety of mediums, with multi-layered abstract elements adding dimension. She hand-carves woodblocks with images inspired by nature, and is also known for her handmade Washi papers that incorporate flower petals, leaves and twigs.
For the past 10 years Kuolas has participated in the Brooklyn Art Library Sketchbook Project, an art library containing nearly 30,000 sketchbooks available for the community to enjoy. In addition to the CSA, Kuolas is a member of the prestigious Boston Printmaking Society. She holds a BFA in Printmaking from Mundelein College in Chicago. Her works are included collections at the Newport, Rhode Island Art Museum and the Lithuaian Embassy in Washington D.C. She is a former Artist in Residence at the South Shore Art Center, Cohasset, Mass. and the Kala Art Institute, Berkeley. Kuolas is represented by the Moraga Art Gallery.
Prosek, another Philadelphia native who has called Lafayette home for many years, has been an artist since she could hold a crayon. She too was inspired by a mother with artistic talent who would use pen & ink to draw and design clothes. As a child Prosek found her love for painting during summers at the Jersey Shore.
Prosek came to printmaking after earning a BFA from the Philadelphia College of Art, when she studied independently with a well known Philadelphia printmaker. After moving to California, Prosek found the printmaking studios at the UC Berkeley Campus, and later, the Lafayette Printmaking Studio. Prosek along with Landau was one of the 12 founding members of the Lafayette Gallery in the 1990’s.
Prosek’s mother’s collection of Asian art was a fundamental influence on her, and to this day she consistently uses the crane as a subject in her work. Prosek explains that as a printmaker she thinks in terms of line rather than color. As part of her process in developing a final image to use for printing, Prosek makes several drawings of her subject, carefully enlarging them each time.
Although she maintains a studio at home, Prosek, like Landau, enjoys the collaborative aspect of working with other artists, stating that ‘it’s difficult to work in a vacuum and that better ideas come when we work together’. Prosek is represented by Valley Art Gallery in Walnut Creek.
Photos courtesy of Katie Korotzer