A first person perspective by Beth Hoyes

I had never been to a Make/Shift Monday before. I’ve always loved the name and what it suggests, something fluid, relaxed and creative always sounds good to me. Ever since I joined the RedLine community a year or so ago, when relocating to Denver, the Make/Shift workshops have popped up in my inbox, each promising the potential to discover and grow a new love for a process or way of making something. Due to a change in schedule I was excited to finally be able to make one. June’s Make/Shift Monday featured an acrylic toner transfer workshop with talented local artist, Tony Ortega, whose work can be found at the Denver Art Museum amongst others. Tony is also a RedLine Resource Artist who started experimenting with this process a few years ago. He currently shares his passion for how this process creates powerful images with his design students at Regis University.

The process involves a pasting together of images and background, through cutting out readymade printouts and piecing them together. In a similar way to collage, this allows for striking images where the chosen pictures and the way they are presented can capture the layers in an issue or thought so well with the added element of a strong backdrop. Whilst Make/Shifters were in between parts of the process they had the chance to check out a few of Tony’s finished transfers, which are full of humour, colour and contrast. Before the workshop started, people filtered in, taking up spots around high square tables with materials neatly laid out for everyone to use. The materials included a prepared thin white wooden board for each maker, paintbrushes, medium, acrylic paints, print outs of Colombian and Mexican folk art amongst other images, paper and lots of kitchen towel.

Once everyone had arrived we gathered around one table where Tony went through every stage of the process backwards like pressing rewind on a scene. We saw where the process ended up and then worked back through the stages, seeing each come to life. In a nutshell, you choose colors to paint and scrape a background, take your chosen printout image and paint it before cutting it out, adding medium and attaching it to your board. Following this you leave the board for a few hours or overnight before you spray the printout with water and carefully rub the paper off. I learned that this process takes practice and there are lots of small details and things to remember alongside the main steps! As everyone got to work on their own boards, I loved seeing everyone’s boards come to life as makers dabbed and scraped paint, each one having its own personality. The backgrounds had a blurred, underwater feel to them, with washes of colour and scrapes of white.

When the workshop finished, everyone’s printouts were attached to their now colourful boards, many still sticky, all waiting to be discovered. Mine took some rubbing the next day but eventually my La Calaverra Catrina appeared in all her skeletal fineness. The whole workshop had a community feel to it, with people being able to be in their own process whilst sharing and taking turns with materials. When waiting for our work to dry here and there, conversations started up and people wondered around to see others work. Being newish to Denver having spaces like this is so valuable for having a sense of connection and community. The Make/Shift workshops are free, with snacks and BYO drinks where artists and makers dedicate time to sharing their art making processes with others. What’s not to love? I am already excited to check out the next one. What a great way to start a week! Make/Shift Mondays are on the 3rd Monday of each month March through August from 6-8:30pm.

Check out our next Make/Shift Monday on July 15th as local artist and Colorado Sewing Rebellion host Steven Frost presents a unique weaving workshop: Woven Drag Portraits!

​Beth Hoyes is an Artist, Writer and Art Psychotherapist from London, UK, currently living and working in Denver, USA. Beth completed her Creative Arts degree with honours at Bath Spa University, specialising in creative writing, stop-motion animation and wood engraving. She is interested in how different art mediums express experiences or suit certain projects, using various art processes to create her work. Most recently, Beth is drawn to working on large-scale drawings, especially using charcoal, as well as print making and embroidery. You can learn more about her on the artist’s website.