Fish Prints for the Benton Alewife Festival!

Try your hand at relief carving and basic block printing with a focus on Kennebec watershed species! Ecology and art go hand-in-hand for this Saturday drop-in workshop hosted by printmaker Lia Goncalves and illustrator Amy Gagnon.

The annual Benton Alewife Festival celebrates the iconic fish species, one of many that makes its way up the Kennebec River to find its ideal nursery habitat in the Sebasticook. In preparation for festival activities, Lia and Amy are building a library of relief blocks to serve the interactive print station.

Reference images of native aquatic species will be provided—bring your personal art style or an image of your own species of interest. Together, we will work through the basics of interpreting our aquatic critters as block prints and how to use lino carving tools. Participants will leave with a proof of their print, and blocks will be donated to the festival. Tools and block material will be provided, as well as scrap paper and other necessities. No prior block printing experience is required!

Come to the Benton Alewife Festival on May 17! For more info on that, click here.