Ruth E. Boissoin Studio Gallery

The Process

2008-03-23T06:53:00-07:00

What is a Monotype Print?

A monotype is a single original print created by transferring to paper an image that has been painted on another surface. It is a process that results in textures and surface effects you cannot get in any other way.

History

The earliest known monotypes were made by Italian printmaker Giovanni Benedito Castiglione around 1640. Rembrandt was also experimenting with various printing techniques around the same time, which goes to show great minds think alike.

In the 1800s we had Edgar Degas who did those fabulous pastel drawings on the prints made from the ghost images left on his printing plates.

Paul Gaugin moved from traditional oil printmaking to water based mediums for his monotypes.

This very versatile printmaking process continued through the 20th century being used by such great artists as Picasso and Matisse.What is a Monotype Print?

A monotype is a single original print created by transferring to paper an image that has been painted on another surface. It is a process that results in textures and surface effects you cannot get in any other way.

History

The earliest known monotypes were made by Italian printmaker Giovanni Benedito Castiglione around 1640. Rembrandt was also experimenting with various printing techniques around the same time, which goes to show great minds think alike.

In the 1800s we had Edgar Degas who did those fabulous pastel drawings on the prints made from the ghost images left on his printing plates.

Paul Gaugin moved from traditional oil printmaking to water based mediums for his monotypes.

This very versatile printmaking process continued through the 20th century being used by such great artists as Picasso and Matisse.

My Process

How does one follow in the footsteps of these great artists and make the process your own? Monotype printmaking allows for individual expression. I find freedom in the experimentation, the spontaneity, immediate hands-on kind of work, slippages, accidents all leading to the uniqueness of this wonderful process.

I am not a purist in my approach to printmaking. I have four separate stages to my work; each one satisfies a different part of my character.

Once the idea is born the first stage is the drawing. I can have as many as 12 sketches before I am satisfied that I have my design and composition down to its simplest form. This is where I get friends, family in various states of dress or undress, as the the case may be, to pose.

The second stage is the building of the collage, the parts of the print that will be texturized. This stage is fun. I love to explore junk shops, dollar stores, paper stores, hardware stores; I call it a day for cruising. Even though I have a studio full of stuff, you never know what you may find. Something unique, a treasure, something that could spark the imagination and a whole new personality, a story just waiting to be told.

Stage three is the actual printing process. I work mostly in oils but I do use water colours for my miniatures. I allow a whole day to print barricaded in my studio, surrounded by my music or sometimes in absolute quiet. Oh, boy! I love it! Such joy, I love it, but when the day is done I am so completely drained, wiped out. Giving birth is like that, exhilarating but physically exhausting and, oh, what peace when you're done.

Stage four for most printmakers does not exist but for me, I love this stage, too. Like Degas my monotypres are a base and in this final stage my prints become paintings. I use watercolours, inks, coloured pencils, pastels and even bits of collage to bring my characters to life, to give them the personality they so richly deserve. Simple, eh!

Monotype printmaking allows total freedom to experiment without absolute certainty of the outcome. The prints that have not made it, the failures have become my greatest teachers. I welcome them. In the beginning of my career I believed that each piece of art that I made had to be a masterpiece. Now I know better.

Meet The Artist

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You can't help but smile when faced with the playful portrait paintings of Ruth Boissoin. Not laugh, for that would imply there is something cartoonish and mocking about the portraits Boissoin creates. But simply smile.

"My work is a celebration of like-minded, charmed, comfortable people; the pursuit is simple, the technique is not. I call them paintings but in essence they are original monotype prints, enhanced with various media. I was a collage artist from a very young age and printmaking has enabled me to explore collage in very unique and unusual ways. I studied collograph printmaking with master printmaker and painter Hubert Haisoch of Guelph. From there it was a natural step to try monotype prints. I fell in love! For portrait work and my personality, it was a match made in heaven."You can't help but smile when faced with the playful portrait paintings of Ruth Boissoin. Not laugh, for that would imply there is something cartoonish and mocking about the portraits Boissoin creates. But simply smile.

"My work is a celebration of like-minded, charmed, comfortable people; the pursuit is simple, the technique is not. I call them paintings but in essence they are original monotype prints, enhanced with various media. I was a collage artist from a very young age and printmaking has enabled me to explore collage in very unique and unusual ways. I studied collograph printmaking with master printmaker and painter Hubert Haisoch of Guelph. From there it was a natural step to try monotype prints. I fell in love! For portrait work and my personality, it was a match made in heaven."

Originally trained as a draftsperson, Boissoin later studied drawing and sculpture at the University of Guelph and further explored clay with Toronto sculptress Francis Gage and Ron Booker, the former sculptor for Madame Tussaud's Museum.

"I was drawn away from clay and into an exploration of paint and two-dimensional work, leaving realism behind and entering an abstract period, always in conjunction with collage, expanding in size and vibrancy of colour. Simple shapes excited me; simple designs helped me to lose the restrictions that my earlier training in realism taught me. I wanted more of my interpretation, rather than an exact representation."

"I still was not completely satisfied with what I was painting. I started my first printmaking course and began to feel I was coming home. It touched a part of my creative soul that to this day still excites me. My simple designs brought about my move into portraiture, the exploration of human form with personality - with myself as the main subject - very cathartic. I've always enjoyed people, the ones who've lived in their skin, who like themselves, who enjoy their lives. According to the dictionary, the word 'portrait' means 'a verbal picture'. Doesn't that it say it all?"

"A storyteller at heart, I believe all things, e.g., a person, animal, neighbourhood, house, have their own individual personalities. All it takes is a bit of creative imagination to interpret it and I have plenty of that. Animals are among my portrait repertoire. Of all the animals I portray, I love cats the most. They remind me of humans. An elderly gentleman once told me the secret to owning a pet. He said, 'If you own a dog, that dog is a member of the family; if you own a cat, you are part of the staff.' So true, it made me laugh. I love humour and a positive frame of mind. I am optimistic and spiritual. I believe in God and have been blessed with this unique ability to capture a story."

"I am a good listener and everyone has a story to tell. Some stories make me laugh; others bring me to tears. All of it is inspiration to me. The many people who visit me in my studio leave a little bit of themselves behind and just maybe take away with them a little bit of me."

Commissioned work may be accepted.

Rug hooking kits of some of my work may be purchased at Best's Harbour in Glen Williams, Ontario.

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2007-09-03T20:48:00-07:00

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