Monty and the mystical Mukulito

Monty Oswald is working on a textile design in the artist in residence studio at the Lorne Community Connect Arts Precint, Victoria Australia

Yesterday, my old mate Monty Oswald visited me at the Community Connect Arts Precinct in Lorne. He had made a date and drove down from Daylesford to hang in the studio and make some prints on T-shirts. Monty is a prolific creative practitioner and works from his home studio, painting and printmaking when he’s not guest-performing with edgy Avant guard guitar alongside experimental electronica. He arrived after lunch, and after a quick buzz-around-tour of Lorne’s new arts precinct, admiring the awesome hall/gallery, kitchen facilities and sunny community room that is home to Mrs Crab’s incredible shell collection, we hit the studio for some textile and print fun.

I inherited gel printing plates from Natasha, the previous artist-in-residence and have been having fun messing around with them. Monty and I used them to print some simple black logos onto white t-shirts. We also got into a pen and ink drawing session while we had a catch up. Monty was my high school art teacher, and since our lives have continually crossed through creative communities. Monty invited me to work in his print studio in Daylesford, where he is currently exploring the printing technique Mukulito.

I had recently been introduced to the printing process Mukulito by Melbourne artist Jan Crowe, who I met in one of my drawing workshops in Queenscliff. Mukulito is a printing process similar to lithography. using a wooden plate instead of stone or metal. The irregular qualities of the timber plate used in Mukulito are one of the key elements integral to the character and quality of the print. Jan recently held an exhibition What Water Leaves: The Art and Accident of Mukulito at Red Gallery in Fitzroy Victoria Australia. The title alludes to a watery process, another element used in Mululito that is distinct and significant when working with this printing process.

I am booked in and enthusiastically excited to learn more about the random mark making print process Mukulito and visit Monty’s studio in Daylesford.

It was about then that I remembered. I also had a project cooking with a group of Lorne locals who would like to make an artwork that highlights and educates audiences and beach goers about the recently eradicated Melaleuca on the beach foreshore. The timbers of these trees have been collected and stored for further consideration.

Watch this space: I think I am about to manifest a Melaleuca Mukulito Masterpiece with Monty!