Clean Up and Finale

Today was a very busy day. The artists were all printing a lot to get as much done as possible before we had to finish up. It was worth printing more since Osvaldo and Clemente both sold a few pieces basically wet off the walls, which was hugely encouraging to the artists and perhaps a bit disappointing to some of the others who wished they could sell work, too.

We had a bunch of people stop in today. Radio and TV showed up to do a small interview and report on our workshop. The highschool class also showed up and they were very curious about and interested in the process. We had a few other visitors and curious people stop by. The more interest there is in the work and the artists, the better.

My parents came to help with the clean up which was quite the undertaking. The space was about the size of a gym and with the muddy weather and all the carving we'd done, there was a lot of dirt, but it didn't take as long as I anticipated and everyone helped until all was done. They have a fun cleaning method here. Buckets of water are simply poured all over the floor, and with squeegees we pushed the water out the doors. 

All the inky brayers and tiles for rolling the ink onto, we cleaned simply with vegetable oil (this we did each evening before going home).The vegetable oil is great; it's easy to come by, and it's none-toxic unlike other solvent-based cleaning materials. 

In the meanwhile I prepared a bag for each artist to split up the tools and other supplies to take home. It worked out alright in the end I think. Five of the artists said they were interested in continuing with woodcuts, so I had just enough carving tools and brayers. Some of the ink they'll have to share for now, but I'm planning on purchasing more to make things easier. Now it is in their hands to see if they find it possible to continue making prints within their homes.