City Hall, 215 E. Main St (Lower Level DDA Offices)

Dennis Gordon - Ann Arbor, MI

"Printmaking is a dynamic and versatile form of artistic expression that bridges tradition and innovation. It allows artists to explore repetition, texture, and process while communicating powerful ideas and imagery. My background in printmaking has led to the exploration of new options in relief printing, specifically, woodcuts and wood engravings.

I take a digital image (photos I have taken, or photos of my paintings) and work to translate it to a dynamic and interesting wood engraved image. I send this image to my laser engraver to cut the images into wood plates. I also began combining my painting background with the woodcuts by painting a background on printmaking paper, letting that dry, then inking up the wood plate and printing on that background. I usually apply the background painting with a brayer (rubber roller) so that it is a fairly loose and non-detailed background image, which allows the more defined woodcut print to dominate.

Once the black and white image for my woodcuts was developed, I began experimenting with engraving these or similar images into other materials, such as cardboard, leaves, wood and matboard. I sometimes combine these new engravings with my wood block prints." - Dennis Gordon

Learn more about Dennis' process and his use of software to edit images of his original artwork that can be etched into wood with a laser and printed into new and reimagined works of art.

July 1 -  September 15