During one of Bingley's visits to the studio/gallery, we did something a little different with his two children, Imen and Iza. While Bingley toured the gallery space (which was exhibited with Tengku Sabri's drawings and wood sculptures), the children had their first experience of a printmaking workshop.
During my ITM days, I had actually majored in printmaking. It's actually a form of art that requires great patience, discipline, technical knowledge, forethought and the ability to imagine in a "reverse" way. Printmaking is a great mental exercise that challenges your set perspectives and the way you view things! Also, doing woodcut prints is a very tactile form of art -- from the sketching, the carving, application of colour and the final imprint of wood onto paper -- something that I truly enjoy. One can be totally immersed in the process of printmaking, oblivious to current surroundings!
That afternoon, Imen and Iza worked with wood; first, making the image selection, then sketching it out with pencil on a piece of wood block. After that, they used the carving tools to scrape away on the wood, creating various interesting textures. Finally, the ink was applied and the image was transferred onto paper. The two of them never had any experience in printmaking previously, but the results were pretty amazing!
Awie also did a spontaneous print of the two children hard at work. Awie has been polishing up his skills in printmaking and is enjoying this art form immensely!
