Some of the conference presentations I find most valuable as a teacher feature hands-on demonstrations. With that in mind, I offer you something else to add to your list of “Things to Check Out at the Conference” this year! Potter turned printmaker, Mitch Lyons will be doing a demo on making clay monoprints – bright and early Friday morning! I love printmaking with students, and I feel like they’d be very into these techniques (and the results):

Check out Mitch’s work at his website, and read the description below:

Mitch Lyons, innovator of the clayprinting process and author of The Art of Printing with Clay, will be demonstrating at this year’s PAEA Conference on Friday, October 7th, at 9:00 AM.  

Since 1968 Mitch has been pioneering his image making from a slab of leather-hard stoneware clay. Mitch will demonstrate how he applies colored slips, one color over another, and then builds a design using textures, slip trailing, pastels, and stencils. Once ready to print, a moistened piece of paper/canvas is placed over the slab. Pressure is applied using a rolling pin to transfer the clay slips onto the substrate to create a one-of-a-kind clay monoprint.  Using very simple techniques and tools, he is able to achieve very sophisticated results. You’ll be inspired to take this simple, non-toxic printing process back to your own classroom to teach your students!

You can view examples of Mitch’s clay monoprints by visiting his website mitchlyons.com.  Several videos are also included on his site that show the process in action.  Visit him later at his booth in the vendor area where he will have his book, DVDs, calendars and more for sale.