The 4th Dawson Daily News Print and Publishing Symposium has kicked off with workshops, ongoing studio projects, demonstrations … and a bit of canine mayhem. The Symposium, which is part of the Yukon Riverside Arts Festival, is produced by the Klondike Institute of Arts and Culture (KIAC) in association with the Dawson City Community Library and Parks Canada — who provide use of the historic DDN site for the occasion.
The 1 p.m. demonstrations got off with a bang — or a bark, to be more precise — outside the building as Montreal artist Todd Stewart enrolled local sled dogs in a limited edition “dog run.” The hounds were enticed to run through ink and then produce unique paw prints on canvas. Todd is hoping to be able to get a print of a dog team and sled in stride, although that may require returning in winter. He will also be offering a workshop on Sunday of mark-making and screen-painting. The session is an exploration in creating compositions and images with a variety of drawing techniques, as well as silkscreen printing techniques using stencils made directly on silkscreen frames with emulsion.
Inside, Whitehorse artist and printer Joyce Majiski also gave a workshop in Collographs. This technique can be used to make textural prints using a variety of materials as subject matter, including fabric, low-relief materials, and paper cut-outs.
At the centre of things, the restored vintage Chandler & Price Letterpress, which has become a sort of icon for the Symposium, has been pressed into service (no pun intended) to produce The Riverside Reader, a publication containing work from local Klondike writers, including some of the submissions from the Postcard Story Competition. Master printers Jan and Crispin Elsted, who own and operate Barbarian Press in Mission. BC, are shepherding the printing, as well as providing demonstrations and discussion about hand printing techniques. Local artist Kimberly Edgar demonstrated drypoint etching, as she worked on a graphical contribution for the reader.
