Kristi Ryba

Printmaking has a long tradition in Charleston including the Charleston Etchers' Club and the Print Studio South (PSS).  From etchings and woodcuts to moypes, the traditional process of creating a marix from which on or more prints can be pulled (thereby a "handpulled" print) waxes and wanes in popularity.  The Museum of Modern Art - MOMA has the clearest explanation of how prints are made.

Printing, from China woodcuts in the nineth century to the Guttenberg Bible to silkscreened t-shirts, continues to fascinate and draw collectors.  Three thousand years ago the Sumerians made prints from engraved stone seals. Woodblocks have been used to decorate fabrics for centuries.  Fine art prints can be very affordable for the beginning collector or  those who prefer works on paper or pieces that can be kept in portfolios.  Monotypes are one of a kind therefore "mono."  The other print forms produce editions, that is multiples, determined in number by the material's limitations and the artist's input.  This is how we have limited editions - signed and number prints that are considered fine art and highly collectible by individuals and institutions including museums. Prints can be much more affordable than paintings due to materials cost and editions.  The cost changes by the size of an edition and how many are still available in the edition.

These fine art prints are very different though from poster or giclée prints that are signed and numbered.  Posters and giclées are reproductions of an original work of art that has been photographed and a print made mechanically or digitally from the photograph and is not the type of print handled at Corrigan Gallery.

Imprimatur Charleston
a print group