Dan Welden Teaching Solarplate Printmaking at Santa Reparta

Bottom row: Barbara Savadori, Michael Gaffney, Jacqueline Aust

Next row: Pamela Gordon, Susan Overill, Sue Doyle, Hanneke Barendregt, Dan Welden, Amy Orange, Theresa  Airey, Deborah Riley, Jill Landau Reich, Rosalind Weinberg,

Susie Overill, Barbara Salvadori, Pamela Gordon, Dan Welden, Michael Gaffney, Amy Orange, Cynthia Boynton, Rosalind Weinberg. 

  It was an international happening under the Tuscan Sun. We came from all over the world…Bermuda, Netherlands, New Zealand, England, USA, and Italy.  The studio was a cornucopia of sounds, languages, dialects and laughter. We were Professionals, teachers, writers. photographers, painters, mothers and fathers, all who wished to take a sabbatical from the real world and expand our true selves... our creative selves. We were living a dream many never get to experience. What better place than the heart of the Renaissance- Firenze?  Master printmaker, Dan Welden, was the glue that held us together and made it work. Dan was our leader- inspiring, encouraging, honest. He is a great teacher, artist and humanitarian. 

  We learned the technical side of printmaking…how to determine the density of a transparency, expose and develop a Solar-Plate, wiping a plate, adjusting the pressure on the press, and pulling a print. We learned techniques: creating collagraphs, chine collé, making monotypes and monoprints.

The Santa Reparata School of International Art is a jewel in the heart of the city for all artists to come together and enjoy Florence, to experience what Italy and art is all about and a place to call home for those of us in a strange land.  We thank you Santa Reparata, we thank you Dan Welden for all your instructions, help and encouragement, and we thank Jessica Bayer, program administrator, who keeps Dan organized and took care of all the endless details that made these three weeks enjoyable and possible.  

Photographs and text written by Teresa Airey. Class portrait photograph by Cathy DeForest.