I had the utmost pleasure of doing several screen print fine art poster editions at the Sunset Printshop. The owner Amy and her manager James are wonderful human beings that brought a tremendous amount of light into my life during my year living in the Bay Area. I am fortunate to not only call them artistic collaborators, but my friends as well. The shop -- while obviously a business -- emphasizes community first and has almost an artist co-op sort of vibe. Which I found amazing!
After being a digital artist for a decade, Amy and James helped educate me on the screen print medium and helped move my digital art to physical real-world art. They offered one-on-one hands on learning sessions (groups too, but I had no group) and provided reasonably priced studio rental time.
The two of them together are a great professional partnership. Each one of them fills in each others gaps in knowledge to create one complete bucket. I guess that's called synergy -- their combined partnership is greater than the individual sums of the parts. And I mean that as the highest professional compliment I can possibly give two people!
They are also extremely humble. Both admit what they don't know and are open to learning new things. While I learned so much from Amy and James, both of them were willing and asked to be taught skills I accumulated throughout my career that they desired to learn.
All of that being said, the Sunset Printshop's area of expertise is largely in screen printing apparel, which is not my medium. I am excited to see them hopefully grow their fine art and screen print-serigraph business. They have all the tools I ever needed to create my art work. In the back where I did my serigraphs there is a large format 4 color screen printing station specifically for poster art (I printed 18" x 24" pieces). An enormous drying rack that I never filled up to capacity, and access to a paint matching system, which both Amy and James can do custom color matching and they taught me as well. They obviously have a dark room and exposure unit too, which was on my list but did not get to learn yet.
Lastly, both Amy and James respect the artistic vision of the artist and never made any executive decisions without consulting me first. For instance, before my first piece, James called me to make sure it was ok to add a minor 1pt stroke to my top layer color on my four color print during color separation prior to burning screens. I was like "of course! That makes sense!" That level of respect and attention to detail are paramount to me. They also offer constructive feedback on pieces when asked and I trust I am getting the honest truth and not an ounce of BS from them.
I'm a native New Yorker and I know I will find more studios and shops to create my art back here at home. I will be grateful if I find a space that gives me 50% of what Amy and James provided. It's not just about a space and the tools, it's them as people and professionals. Their staff is also incredible! These are wonderful human beings with a great business that fosters a creative, inclusive and diverse environment for artists and creators from beginners to advanced experience.
I highly recommend! Just stop by the shop and see for yourself before committing. I guarantee you will find it to be an artists sanctuary nestled in Oakland!
Welcome to Paradise,
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