As a part of the prestigious 2022 PrintAustin Festival, Link & Pin is partnering with Slugfest Printmaking Workshop (Slugfest) to present the work of Slugfest printmakers Shailee Thakkar, Theresa Bond, Alan Tull, Jill Thrasher, Carol Hayman, Tom Druecker and Margaret Simpson.

Slugfest, founded by Tom Druecker and Margaret Simpson, is a collaborative print shop open to artists who wish to create, to edition prints independently or with the assistance of Slugfest’s printers. Presses are available for lithography, etching, relief printing, monotype, book arts and letterpress. Contract printing is done on a limited basis.

About the artists

Theresa Bond uses copper plates for intaglio prints, wood for relief prints, and silkscreen for serigraph prints. She often mixes the mediums to create layers of imagery. Bond has completed two degrees, a BFA in Studio Art and a BA in Art both from the University of Texas at Austin.

Tom Druecker has an MFA in Printmaking from the University of Texas in Austin. He also received training in lithography at the Tamarind Institute, at Rutgers University and at Crown Point Press in San Francisco. He and Margaret Simpson are co-founders, teachers, managers, and printers at Slugfest. Tom is a retired Professor of Printmaking from UT Austin.

Carol Hayman prints at Slugfest, where her photographs become fine art prints or photo etchings, using polymer plates, an intaglio American French Tool press named Andre Eugene Beaudoin, handmade paper from France, Mexico, and Japan, with Charbonnel ink. Hayman has an MA in Anthropology, a BA in Art History and a BFA in Studio Art from the University of Texas.

Margaret Simpson has an MFA in Printmaking from Massachusetts College of Art. She also received training in lithography at the Tamarind Institute, at Rutgers University and at Crown Point Press in San Francisco. She and Tom Druecker are co-founders, teachers, managers, and printers at Slugfest. Margaret is a retired Professor of Printmaking from UT Austin.

Shailee Thakkar is a full-time art student at Austin Community College and an intern at Slugfest, where she experiments with reliefs and lithographs. She is finishing her portfolio and working towards becoming a full-time studio artist. Thakkar received her BA in Biochemistry with a teaching certificate from the University of Texas at Austin.

Jill Thrasher is a Professor of Art at Austin Community College and St. Edward’s University. Thrasher, an artist, and printmaker, prints at Slugfest. She often uses woodcut and linocut, drawing directly on the surface of the block. Thrasher earned her MFA in Studio Art from the University of Texas at Austin.

Alan Tull is a linocut printer and painter. He uses low toxicity art processes and prints on a homemade press. Tull studied electrical engineering, intaglio, and painting at UT Austin.

Image Credit Theresa Bond “Eye of the Storm”