From Third-year MFA candidate, Jennifer Miller:

During my Summer MFA Fellowship, I studied printmaking and papermaking with six different artists in three different locations. With each new teacher and new context, I pushed myself to expand my technical and conceptual skills in print and in paper. It was incredibly valuable to learn by participating in intensive, immersive programs and workshops that foster the arts. To begin the summer, I attended the Paper Book Intensive (PBI) in Michigan where Jillian Sico opened my eyes to stencils for book arts and Hannah O'Hare Bennett taught us all how to integrate natural dyes, lake pigments, and earth pigments into our papermaking process. In the realm of printmaking, Ben Blount (PBI) taught us to compose at the press with wood type. Then, in Iowa City with Frogman's workshops, I created monoprints and monotypes with Sara Smelser and then learned to print intaglio with shaped steel plates with Terry Conrad. Finally, I traveled to Anderson Ranch in Colorado to study monoprint/monotype with master printer Sue Oehme.  It should be no surprise that I gained confidence in my printmaking process and became more experimental with my approach to papermaking as a result of my experiences during this incredible MFA Summer Fellowship. Now, I am entering the final semester before my MFA thesis show. I look forward to integrating some of my new printing skills into my current alphabet book project, and I will also create an installation in my thesis show with selected pieces from this summer fellowship. 

image: from Paper Book Intensive class taught by Hannah O'Hare Bennett. Earth pigments, lake pigments, and natural dyes added to a base paint fiber of finely beaten cotton linters or abaca.  Prepping for our reverse pulp painting projects.