Liz Chalfin
Liz Chalfin is founder and director of Zea Mays Printmaking and the studio’s resident artist. Liz has been involved in printmaking for the past 40 years. Liz teaches workshops at Zea Mays Printmaking, supervises the research at the studio and takes the message and methods of safer printmaking on the road to schools and studios around the world through lectures, demonstrations and workshops. Liz received a B.A. (1980) and M.F.A. (1985) in printmaking. She served as a Lecturer in Art at Whittier College, California for nine years where she converted the traditional studio into a safer facility before founding Zea Mays Printmaking. Liz has been on numerous panels discussing contemporary printmaking and has served as a juror in national exhibitions. Her prints and artist’s books are exhibited internationally and are in numerous public and private collections including the New York Public Library, Smith College Museum of Art, The DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, The Hood Museum, The Boston Public Library, The Portland Museum of Art, Bowdoin College Art Museum, Museo Internacional de Gravura, Alijo, Portugal, San Alejandro Academy of Fine Arts in Havana. Liz is a member of the Society of American Graphic Artists, Boston Printmakers, The California Society of Printmakers (Honorary member), The Los Angeles Printmaking Society and the Southern Graphics Council International. www.lizchalfin.com
Individualized Instruction
My expertise is in the technical aspects of printmaking and problem solving printmaking challenges. I am interested in knowing what it is you want to express and then helping you find the most eloquent means of expression. My own experience as director of Zea Mays Printmaking has enabled me to master many of the intricacies of non-toxic etching, alternative photo printmaking including photopolymer and non-darkroom techniques, collagraph and monotype with both water-based and oil-based inks and some relief processes. All of these methods have found their way into my own art making, sometimes by themselves, and sometimes in combination with one another. I especially enjoy the challenge of figuring out how to make things work. It is important to me that the artists I work with understand the “why” behind the “what” so that they can move from playful exploration to intentional image making with confidence and knowledge.