Batch of Beetles.

Melbourne has an Open House scheme running over a weekend once a year where all sorts of places are open to the public. Some are open fairly regularly and for some this is the only time that just anyone can go and have a look inside a venue. As part of the scheme, The Firestation Print Studio, Here of which I am a member, is open to the public over this weekend. Once a real working fire station, the building is now a working print art studio. The building itself is interesting, with the large open area on the ground floor with it's concrete floor and big arched windows where the engines lived and the many small rooms upstairs that served as bedrooms for the firemen who were on duty. These are now small studios that are rented out to various printmakers. Over the weekend various members of the group will be demonstrating different forms of printmaking, and of course my technique of choice to demonstrate is stamp carving. I have drawn out onto carving rubber 6 different beetles ready for the Saturday morning demonstration. It will be interesting to see how many I manage to finish in the three and a half hours, allowing for chatting with people as they come through the studio.