David Smith-Harrison was born in Salt Lake City, Utah where he has spent the greater part of his life. In 1977 he was awarded a Utah State Sterling Scholarship, before going on to be educated at the South Glamorgan Institute, Cardiff, Wales in 1983 and the University of Utah, Salt Lake City in 1984.

His highly original printmaking, which blends traces of Renaissance style architecture with vividly rendered natural objects, relies on his fascination for drawing. “Drawing is of central importance to me,” he says, “it is a tool for developing my powers of observation and memory.”

The delicate process of printmaking carries a greater element of surprise. Smith-Harrison enjoys this slightly unpredictable delivery of his ideas. He says “I am attracted to the infinite possibilities of impressing ink onto paper and I find the unique textural characteristics of prints to be stimulating, seductive, and full of subtlety and nuance.” It is a time-consuming technique inherited from the great engravers of the Renaissance, a period which particularly fascinates Smith-Harrison. He stresses that his interest in past artistic tradition is as important to him as his interaction with current life.

Smith-Harrison’s high artistic standing has ensured wide exhibition of his work. He has presented numerous solo and group exhibitions across California. His work was also exhibited at the Evergreen Graphic Art Association, Taipei Cultural Centre, Taiwan in 1993.

In addition, Smith-Harrison has participated in many juried exhibitions. Among these are the Ashland University Printmaking Invitational Exhibition, Ohio, at which he displayed work in 1999; National Printmaking, College of New Jersey, Trenton in 1997, Tokyo International Mini-Print Triennal 95, Japan; 65th National Print Exhibition, Society of American Graphic Artists, Federal Plaza, New York in 1993 and US-UK Print Connection, Barbican Centre in London in 1989.

William Stolpin was born and raised in Flint. He went to Garfield elementary, Emerson Junior High and old Northern High School, where he is currently a Distinguished Alumni with his picture on the wall at the new High School. He graduated from Northern in 1960, and went directly to GMI. He graduated with my BME in 1965. While he was in Junior High, he was making linoleum block Christmas cards. One card in particular had 7 blocks and about 15 colors. He realized, at that time, that he had a knack for printmaking, and have been making images ever since.

Lindsay created this beautiful work in our printmaking class.  Monotype prints are made by painting on nonporous surfaces such as glass, plexiglass or copper. Monotype prints, once made, need to be transferred to another surface immediately and can, for the most part, only be used to make one print. When there is ink left over, a second print, called a "ghost print," can sometimes be made, though it will be a lesser quality print. Monotyping is usually done with monotype ink, but many artists experiment using different paints, including oil pastels, and transferring to various surfaces.

Things you’ll need to make a monotype: Plexiglass or glass plate, Oil pastels, Paintbrushes, Rolling pin, Tape, Watercolor pencils, Paper. The following is the detailed steps on monotyping: 1) Find a glass or plexiglass work plate. Glass from a picture frame will work. This will be the surface where you create your image. Place the piece of paper where you will be transferring your image on top of the glass plate and mark the edges of it as a guide. 2) Place your reference photo beneath the glass plate. This could be a picture from a coloring book or a real photograph. Use watercolor pencils to outline your picture. 3) Paint your outlined drawing with oil pastels applied directly to the glass plate. Apply the oil pastels smoothly and be sure to flatten them out. You don't want any overrun when you roll your print. 4) Dampen your paper with a spray bottle of water and apply the paper to your painting plate, lining the edges up with the markings you previously made. Use clear tape to ensure the paper doesn't slide around. 5) Press your rolling pin at the center of the paper and begin rolling up and down. Do this several times to ensure your paper picks up the oil pastels. Allow the paper to sit for five minutes, then slowly peel it off your plate to reveal your monotype print.

A monotype is unique, a one-of-a-kind print. While there are a variety of ways to approach this technique, it is done using a blank piece of Plexiglas, and water-soluble oil-based paints to create the image on the Plexiglas. The image is printed onto damp paper on an etching press. Key to this method is that the print must be made while the paint is still wet.

Monoprints and monotypes are very similar. Both involve the transfer of ink from a plate to the paper, canvas, or other surface that will ultimately hold the work of art. In the case of monotypes, the plate is a featureless plate. It contains no features that will impart any definition to successive prints. The most common feature would be the etched or engraved line on a metal plate. In the absence of any permanent features on the surface of the plate, all articulation of imagery is dependent on one unique inking, resulting in one unique print.

Monoprints, on the other hand, are the results of plates that have permanent features on them. Monoprints can be thought of as variations on a theme, with the theme resulting from some permanent features being found on the plate—lines, textures—that persist from print to print. Variations are confined to those resulting from how the plate is inked prior to each print. The variations are endless, but certain permanent features on the plate will tend to persist from one print to the next.