Tricia O’Brien
Sunday, April 13th, 20245
11:00 am – 3:00 pm
$110 non-member/$95 member
$20 material fee paid directly to the instructor
Location: Arts Benicia Annex, 991 Tyler Street, Suite 116, Benicia
Levels: All
Age minimum: 18
Minimum 6 | Maximum 10
Class Description: Join Tricia in this class, experimenting, and using the printing presses available to us at the Benicia Arts Annex to create images using recycled materials. These found materials create all kinds of markings, shapes and images – as they make their way through the press. Using materials that would otherwise end up straight in landfill, they are given another chance to play on our plexi-plates, and create interesting artful images that are so intriguing, they might even call it poetic. Creating abstraction through the process of trial and error, this process is a unique expression of printmaking .
Essentials: Bring a lunch or snack. Feel free to take a break when needed. Restrooms are out back and across the street in the building with the red door. The water cannot be verified as healthy in this building, so please bring your own water at all times.
Select the appropriate member or non-member tuition rate below.
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR
Tricia O’Brien was born in Michigan, and moved to San Francisco for college in 1981. She studied textiles at SF State with Candice Crockett, then later finished her BFA in Painting, Drawing and Printmaking at Cal State Hayward in 2001. At Hayward, she was introduced to printmaker Jimin Lee, and was inspired by the many faceted processes of printmaking. She earned a juried Award for Excellence in the 3-dimensional work of Xerox Photo Transfer for a hand-crafted book. In 2021, after retiring from the food & wine industry, she reignited her relationship with printmaking. Her unique, one of a kind Monoprints are made using recyclable materials; plastic bags, string, cardboard, tissue paper and other packing materials, as well as rubber inner tubes from bicycle tires. All of these items are either inked or arranged on a plate and put through the printing press. Some of her work involves drawing, watercolor or acrylic and pen and ink directly onto printed monoprints. She is interested in the play and surprise of the abstract, organic images and markings that occur by these discarded materials as they intersect with the structure of the printing press and traditional applications of registration, and clean edges.
Tricia has been greatly influenced by both the California Impressionists and Bay Area Figurative movements, as well as Wayne Thibaud and Richard Diebenkorn’s use of color. There are many artists that inspire her, including: Kiki Smith, Inez Storer, Raymond Saunders, Georgia O’Keefe, Richard Serra, Christopher Brown, Helen Frankenthaler, Li Lin Lee, Nathan Oliveira and more, along with a recent find, contemporary Australian artist, Belinda Fox.
Tricia O’Brien teaches printmaking at the Sonoma Community Center in Sonoma, as well as at the Benicia Arts Center Annex and Adult Education at Diablo Valley College. She is a member of the Sonoma Arts Guild and lives in Sonoma with her husband Glen.
Instructor website: TriciaOBrienArt.com
Instructor email: tobcaters@gmail.com