Workshop (in-person): Gelli Plate Printing with Nancy Crasco

Gelli Plate Printing with Nancy Crasco

What is Gelli Plate Printing? Gelatin printing is a form of monoprinting in which a gelatin slab is used as a printing plate, in conjunction with standard water soluble printing inks to create images. Very little pressure is required to make monoprints using this technique. No press is required.

The process is extremely simple and versatile, and can be applied to a variety of surfaces, including paper and textiles. It is equally well suited for professional or novice printmakers, craft enthusiasts, and professional artists. 

For this 4-hour workshop, attendees are required to purchase and bring to class a commercially produced, 6”x6” or 8”x 10” synthetic GelliPlate. Inks will be provided. Please refer to the materials list below for additional materials needed for the class:

Materials List

*Please note: This program will take place in-person at our new pop-location at the Charles River Speedway. The Speedway is located at the intersection of Western Avenue and Soldier’s Field Road - just across the river in Brighton/Allston. It’s a 15 minute bus ride from Harvard Square, and less than 2 miles from our home on Lowell Street. There is a small parking lot, located at 525 Wester Avenue, as well as street parking along Western Avenue. View a map of the Speedway space here.

This workshop will run from 10am-3pm, with a one-hour break for lunch at noon. We reccomend that participants bring lunch, or visit our at friends at Pavement Coffee, a short walk from the Speedway.

About Nancy Crasco

Nancy Crasco is a BFA graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, earned her Master’s degree at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA and has been working in fiber since 1968, actively exhibiting her work nationally and internationally since 1975. Since her retirement from public education in 2003, and working from a studio in her home in Brighton, Massachusetts, she has pursued her career in the arts full time. Nancy has extensive teaching experience in both public and private education, and gives lectures and workshops to various groups interested in fiber art and printmaking processes.  She is a member of the Cambridge Art Association, Studio Art Quilters Association and the Surface Design Association, for which she is currently a co-representative for the Massachusetts/Rhode Island Chapter. 

Combining fiber with printmaking has taken Nancy along many paths of expression. The initial exploration of traditional American quilting techniques has evolved with the introduction of various printing processes.  In addition to paper, Nancy prints on silk and cotton fabrics using a gelatin plate, linoleum block, or occasionally an inkjet computer and/or copier.  Research into the construction of pojagi, a type of Korean silk wrapping cloth, has allowed Nancy to explore the layering of materials. Much of their content is inspired and motivated by the natural world, especially with the problems associated with the use and misuse of our natural resources, the effects of which are not always apparent to the naked eye. Monoprinting on opaque cotton and constructing them as quilts, by stitching and embroidering through three layers of fabric, lends an added dimension to Nancy’s smaller works.