Rare Device Annual Staff Retreat with 3 Fish Studios
Earlier last month the Rare Device team closed our shops for the day for our Annual Staff Retreat. We had the pleasure of spending the day with Annie and Eric, the painter and printmaker wife and husband team of 3 Fish Studios, at their Outer Sunset studio and retail space. Rare Device has been carrying their work for years; 3 Fish is now a staple at both Rare Device locations. 3 Fish Studios also participated in our California Printed group show back in January of this year.
It was the first time for many of us at 3 Fish Studios' storefront. We fell in love with their work all over again. Everywhere we looked there was something special: art on almost every inch of the walls, prints of all sizes displayed, print drying racks, and a gigantic printing press in the center of the front room.
The backyard is a gem with a large reclaimed wooden table and strung lights overhead, it is a great place to lounge.
Rooney even found himself quite comfortable.
We were in for a treat as Eric led us in a linocut workshop. We gathered over coffee and pastries from Devil's Teeth Baking Company and Eric told us about the history of their studio and how they decided to quit their day jobs and work full time on their art practice. For many of us with art school backgrounds, they are living the dream.
Eric showed us one of his massive Godzilla linocuts.
Eric walked us through the linocut process and explained the basics of this printing method that he's made his bread and butter. We all brought images to work on, illustrations and photos that Eric scanned up to workable size. Then we had to trace our images and transfer the outlines to the surface of the plate.
Then the real labor kicked in as we began to carve out the image shapes. Some of us worked with minimal detailing but ambitious nonetheless with how we wanted our images to turn out.
My summer inspired illustrations in progress.
After a few hours of carving, we all came together for a lunch break. We walked a block over to Outerlands, which was also a first for some us. Their newly expanded and renovated space was something we've been looking forward to this year.
Crew ready to dig in.
We had our eyes on their grilled cheese, cubano, and egg and bacon sandwiches and tried the ginger brew and bitter lemon sodas.
Back in the studio I got to see some of Annie's work in progress. She is working on a full series of US states with her beloved bear motif and the respective states' flowers. The second floor serves as Annie's painting studio and storage for their extra canvases and materials.
A few of us finished carving, then the magic started happening when we rolled ink over our plates and put them through the presses. We were excited to see our art come to life as we selected some color paper to give our images some pop and began to pump out prints.
Logan's print of sea urchin flowers.
Eric going over using the large press.
The 3 Fish press is nearly as tall as Steph.
And what's a studio without a keg with a custom tap?
The printing vibes were flowing as we all got our plates carved and got to see each others prints come out. We all had a blast printing together. We got the printing bug that day and got to take our prints home.
Lexi's fresh lady print.
One of Kehau's final prints.
We would like to thank Annie, Eric and Orly of 3 Fish Studios for having us for the day.
It was also the last day with our summer intern Logan. From all of us at Rare Device, thank you, Logan for all your work the past few months and we wish you the best on the upcoming school year.