To gocco or not to gocco, that was the question I kept asking myself for months after I first learned about this amazing Japanese screen printing machine. Finally my obsession became a reality a few short weeks ago. And I have to say it was worth the wait. The process is very simple, you take any carbon based copy (either from a copy machine or from using the carbon pen that comes with the machine), you burn a master, you ink the master and you print. And it's all done on one compact machine. I have the new PG5 machine, which prints a 4 X 6 inch image. So far I've burned two masters. One from a photocopy of a Dover clip art flower and the other from my own original drawing using the carbon pen. I know I have a lot to learn and since the video that came with the machine is in Japanese (the only words I could understand were "hokey dokey") I know that most of my learning will come with doing. But that's the way with most things, or it is for me anyway.
There is tons of info out there on the web (the best place to start is www.gocco.com) and several places where you can order machines and supplies, including a couple stores on Etsy and Ebay. I ordered my machine from Felt Cafe on Etsy. If you're interested in learning more or want to see some beautiful gocco prints, go to Flickr and search for gocco. There are a couple great gocco groups on there that are very helpful and inspiring.
*Denise will be walking us through gocco printing at our next 'killer craft night' at Hot Shops Monday, March 10 at 6pm in Amy Haneys studio #216. We are all so excited to experiement with this really cool printing process!
(photos and article by denise levy)
