The Olds Municipal Library hosted free workshops on June 9 by Carole Bondaroff, a renowned artist on tour with the Alberta Foundation for the Arts' TREX Program.
Bondaroff led two sessions that day in one of her specialties, monoprinting.
As the name would suggest, monoprinting is where an image is printed once -- and only once.
There are different ways to make a monoprint but in this workshop, Bondaroff had participants use watercolour paint to trace over a picture slid underneath a sheet of acrylic glass.
The glass had been coated with gum arabic, a substance made from the sap of acacia trees, that helped the paint stick to the sheet.
After allowing the paint to dry, participants covered the glass with a sheet of dampened printmaking paper and ran it through a hand-cranked press.
With most of the paint on the glass impressed on the paper, the result was a one-of-a-kind print.
Bondaroff has taught art at the University of Calgary, Alberta College of Art and Design, Glenbow Museum and both Calgary school boards. She's a well-travelled artist who has worked at studios in Canada, Spain and Mexico. She's also part owner of the Heart Studio in Calgary, which features art exhibits and classes.
The TREX (Travelling Exhibition) Program was established in 1980 with a mandate to make art accessible to all Albertans. Four organizations coordinate the program, one in each region. Olds falls into the southwest region, spanning from Lacombe to Waterton, overseen by the Alberta Society of Artists (ASA).
In the past, the TREX Program has made stops at Olds Elementary School.
