Spring 2020

April 27th, 2020

McClain’s Status during COVID-19

McClain’s is following Oregon’s Stay-At-Home mandate. We are doing our best to stay open while operating within the issued safety protocols. In our small shop, this means that there are no more than two people at McClain’s, when normally there are as many as six of us here. We are working hard seven days a week but because of the limits on staffing, our order processing is also limited. We are about one week behind shipping out orders and we are unable to guarantee when your order will ship or arrival dates at this time. There have been delayed shipping times with our carriers as well. When you place an order with McClain’s we will be doing our best to see that your supplies are headed your way as soon as possible. We thank you for your patience and understanding. For further details on our operating restrictions during this time please visit our website.

We have said it before and we will say it over and over again, we have the best customers! Thank you for your support, patience and the kind words you have sent our way. Thank you for continuing to be makers and artists. We see your posts on our social media platforms and are absolutely thrilled with how resilient and dedicated this community is. Quarantine hasn’t been easy by a long shot and many of us are experiencing so many new obstacles, both personally and professionally. You are not alone and this community proves that. Stay safe, wash your hands and we will see you on the flip side of all of this.

Print Day in May

Join a global event on May 2nd without leaving your home. Plus, there is no cost to participate! Print Day in May is an annual international celebration of printmaking. To attend, make a print using any printmaking technique on Saturday, May 2nd and share it on Print Day in May’s blog, Facebook and/or Instagram pages. Post, comment, engage and have fun. This year McClain’s is a sponsor and you have the chance to win one of three $50 gift certificates. Visit Print Day in May’s website for further details.

Cover Artist Bruce Crownover and The Last Glacier Project

Andrew’s Glacier II by Bruce Crownover, reduction woodcut

This year’s catalog cover print is Bruce Crownover’s reduction woodcut Andrew’s Glacier II.  Bruce earned his BFA from Utah State University and MFA in Printmaking at the University of Wisconsin Madison and while in college he was a founding volunteer member of Tandem Press.

After graduating, Bruce worked as a printmaker under Japanese master printer Keiji Shinohara at his studio Cherrywood Press in Boston, MA. While working for Shinohara, Bruce made prints for such notable artists as Chuck Close, Sean Scully, Robert Stackhouse and John Newman. In 1992 Bruce returned to Madison, WI where he became an associate printer at Tandem Press while also working part time making paper for Bill Weege in his studio, Off Jones Road Press. In 1994 Bruce became a master printer at Tandem, working over the years collaboratively with over seventy artists, either directly or secondarily editioning and creating hundreds of prints. He retired from Tandem Press in 2018. Visit Bruce’s artist website to see more of his work.

We were drawn to Andrew’s Galcier II not only because it is a stunning image, but also because it is part of a larger body of work called The Last Glacier Project, a collaborative documentary project between Bruce, artist and professor Todd Anderson and photographer, professor and Guggenheim Fellow Ian van Coller. The Last Glacier Project, started in 2009, creatively documents the disappearance of glaciers and addresses the larger environmental issues of global warming and climate change. To learn more visit TheLastGlacier.com.

Featured Product: Journey to Hokusai

Join Western printmaker Tom Killion in his journey to study Moku Hanga with 5th generation printmaker Kenji Takenakain in Kyoto, Japan. Killion’s artistic style was greatly influenced by Hokusai and he is determined to understand how to create work using the traditional Japanese printmaking method. Journey to Hokusai is a humbling and beautifully shot documentary that will both inform and entertain. Viewers get a glimpse into the world of master printmaker Takenakain and his studio as well as footage of Killion’s travels around Kyoto. View the trailer here

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