Albuquerque Adventure

In 2018, I had a dream come true of studying lithography at the Tamarind Institute Summer School, part of the University of New Mexico College of Fine Arts.

~ Go along Lead for a couple of miles

~ Turn right into Titanium

~ Left onto Silver

~ Left onto Raynolds

~ Right onto Kit Carson

~ Left at Laguna

~ Right onto Tingley

The road signs in Albuquerque are a testament to its mining history. This was my cycle route from home to the Rio Grande. The massive Rio Grande river runs through the middle of town but was really hard to find.

Happily, I found the river – eventually – but like the route to many good things, the journey wasn’t easy.

Another Albuquerque initiation was taking daily bus rides on Route No. 7… a journey that brought into focus the experience of the overwhelming homeless population and alternative community that ride the buses all day long.

So many people are in a state of mental suffering and so many medicated on either legal or illegal drugs. I felt deeply shocked when I first arrived and then it became part of my everyday experience of life in Albuquerque, always there. An alternative reality.

The closeness of the Rio Grande was exciting for me. I had heard of this amazing river for years and how romantic it sounded! I thought about the geographical proximity of Mexico to Albuquerque and the difficult situation that the river witnesses there, as it becomes the border line.

This harsh reality was bought home as I read ‘The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border’ by Francisco Cantú, and ‘The Devil’s Highway’ by Luis Alberto Urrea.

The Tamarind experience was everything I hoped for and some! One month immersed in the study and practice of lithography, a type of printmaking that I have become fascinated by in the last few years, since joining the Gloucestershire Printmaking Cooperative.

Our amazing tutor, Brandon Gunn, was assisted by several enthusiastic, supportive, Tamarind-trained printmakers to make a great team. Not to mention my fellow student artists from around the globe with whom strong friendships built up over time. It was a special time, never to be forgotten, although incredibly hard work!

One month wasn’t enough.

Whilst we were there, the professional print shop was in operation, working alongside visiting artists, some very well known, to create editions of their work.

The level of skill and dedication was impressive and the printers running the professional shop were Valpuri Remling, Christine Adams and Jake Ingram.

Also a big thanks to all those who taught me: Brandon Gunn, Ben Schoenberg and Mark Wallis.