The Franklin Gallery at RiverStones Custom Framing, 33 N. Main Street in Rochester, will host an exhibit during the month of June called Two Printmakers, featuring the work of Barrington artists Ron and Diane St. Jean. An opening reception will be held on Thursday, June 2, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend.
Diane St. Jean and Ron St. Jean are two artists who have always supported each other’s artistic pursuits but never more so than in recent years when they both discovered the joy of working with ink on paper.
Diane has been developing a body of work that includes letterpress broadsides and linocut printmaking. “In this exhibition, I am showing linocuts from my Family Album series,” says Diane. “These prints are based on family photographs that are 80 to 100 years old. I used the long, slow process of carving and printing linocut portraits to deepen my connection to my subjects.” The letterpress pieces in the exhibition were printed on one of the St. Jeans’ three vintage or antique presses using lead or wood type.
Ron has been a professional photographer for many years, and in this exhibition, he is presenting photogravure images. Photogravure is a process by which the artist creates the image on a UV light-sensitive photopolymer-coated steel plate, which is then inked and printed onto dampened 100% cotton paper under the heavy pressure of an etching press. “These images reflect my admiration of human subjects, my love of the landscape, and my appreciation of the serendipity of found objects,” says Ron.
All pieces in the exhibition were printed one at a time by the artist. In printmaking, whether letterpress, linocut, or photogravure, variations from print to print are a hallmark of the handmade nature of the work.
RiverStones Custom Framing and the Franklin Gallery are open Wednesday through Friday, 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. For information about Ron and Diane’s June exhibit and other RiverStones events and services, call Kris at 603-812-1488 or visit the RiverStones website or Facebook page.
