Guanlan International Printmaking Base, Guanlan, China May to July 2019

I had my third long residency at the Guanlan International Printmaking Base from May to July 2019. It's near Shenzhen in the south of China. During the seven week residency I said I'd make three prints, a lot of work considering the size and complexity of my etchings. Also I wasn't prepared for the technical difficulties I had with their etching grounds.

At the workshop I shared my studio with Mehdi Darvishi, an Iranian artist. I've admired his work for years and I participated in a portfolio he organized, but this was the first time we met. It was great working with him and I was surprised to find out he's only 30! During the time I was there about a dozen other artists worked in the workshop for varying amounts of time. I have photos of a few of them, some of the workshop technicians and the area surrounding the workshop. Also had a visit from Wang Caizhen and Zhang Jianfeng. I also did some traveling and visited a couple very talented old friends, Zhang Wenju and Hu Xianwu, a lot of very talented artists...and very exciting for a printmaker from Kutztown, PA.

The first four photos were taken on the Printmaking Base. The structures are 300 year old Hakka buildings, and the resident artists live in this part of the base. Less than half a mile away is thee China Printmaking Museum, a beautiful modern museum devoted exclusively to printmaking. There's a lot of construction in the area and I've included a photo taken just outside the Printmaking Base.

Included in the photos are Mehdi Darvishi, Liu Hongliang, Praween Piangchompu, Cheryl Hochberg, Jitti Jumnianwai, Barbara Madsen, Zhao Jianghua, Wang Caizhen, Zhang Jianfei

The final photo was taken just before I returned to the US with Zhao Jiachun and Zhang Chi.

Evan's Printmaking Blog

Guanlan International Printmaking Base, Guanlan, China May to July 2019