Printmaking in guanajuato, mexico
Summer 2025
PRINTMAKING Workshop | July 9-July 16, 2025
After a hard day in the studio, enjoy Hugo's famous margaritas at Alma del Sol's B&B terrace surrounded by mountains, Spanish Colonial architecture, and music that funnels up from the cobble stone streets below. The enclosed yet open air printmaking studio is located at the Bed & Breakfast hotel on the top floor terrace. Participants can come and go at their leisure, sit and draw with an inspiring view or use one of the several printmaking presses while viewing the mountains in the distance. Lodging is in the center of town and walking distance to variety of traditional Mexican and International culinary delights, shops and tourist sights. You'll leave Guanajuato with an array of prints, memories, and lasting friendships from around the world. Printmaking is a labor intensive method of making artworks, often in multiples. The image is transferred from a matrix to a surface, traditionally paper. A matrix, sometimes called the plate, can be made of various materials that when manipulated, inked and pressed against paper results in the print.
This is not for PSU students. If you are a student wishing to earn university credit please visit PSU Education Abroad or email aschroer@pdx.edu.
Dates | July 9-July 16, 2025
Immerse yourself in a seven-day printmaking and travel experience in the heart of Guanajuato, Mexico. An enjoyable and challenging artmaking workshop, that offers tips, tricks and a portfolio full of exciting prints. The workshop is co-taught by Portland artist and professor Mandee Schroer & Guanajuato local printmaker and chef Hugo Anaya.
Printmaking is a labor-intensive method of making artworks, often in multiples. The image is transferred from a matrix to a surface, traditionally paper. A matrix, sometimes called the plate, can be made of various materials that when manipulated, inked and pressed against paper results in the print.
Artists will learn various printmaking techniques such as monotype, relief and intaglio. Participants can expect to leave with high quality handmade prints made during the five-day workshop. All printmaking supplies will be provided including plates, inks, and ample amounts of Rives BFK and washi papers. Additional Rives BFK is available to purchase from the instructor if needed. Personal art materials such as sketchbooks, drawing materials, and paints are supplied by the participant, however the instructors will have many materials for you to use and experiment with. No background in art or printmaking is needed. All levels welcome!
Workshop is co-taught by Mandee Schroer & Hugo Anaya
Cost
Printmaking participant // $1,365
Cost includes: 7 nights lodging, 5 days in the studio with demos and instruction, printmaking paper, inks, blocks, and tools, breakfast everyday, lunch on studio days, and farewell lunch or dinner.
Cost does not include: airfare, taxi’s, dinners, lunches on non-studio days, housekeeping gratuity, and travel fees such as travel documents, travel insurance or health insurance.
Non-printmaking participant // $525
This is perfect folks who would like to travel with their partner or friend, but do not want to participate in the workshop. The price is for double occupancy only (shared room with partner/friend) and you must be with someone attending the workshop.
Cost includes: 7 night lodging, breakfast everyday, lunch on studio days, and farewell lunch or dinner.
Cost does not include: airfare, taxi’s, dinners, lunches on non-studio days, housekeeping gratuity, and travel fees such as travel documents, travel insurance or health insurance.
MANDEE SCHROER & HUGO ANAYA
Mandee has a BFA and MFA in Fine Arts and is a printmaker & painter who currently lives and works in Portland, Oregon. She teaches painting and drawing at Portland State & Clackamas Community College. Mandee has also led PSU students and private groups to Italy and Mexico since 2012.
Hugo, a Guanajuato native, is a printmaker, chef and owner/host of Alma del Sol & Hotel Color Bed & Breakfasts in Guanajuato. Hugo studied Fine Arts at Portland State University, and lived in Portland, Oregon for 18 years.
The workshop is co-taught by Mandee & Hugo, and both will be present every day in the studio to assist with your projects.
Guanajuato city’s closest airport is Leon, just 30 minutes west of town, and is approximately 3.5 hrs from Guadalajara and 5 hours from Mexico City.
Printmaking ITINERARY
Day 1 / Arrive in Guanajuato, meet and greet, snacks and drinks on Alma del Sol Terrace.
Day 2 / Printmaking in the studio, 10am-5pm
Day 3 / Printmaking in the studio, 10am-5pm
Day 4 / Printmaking in the studio, 10am-5pm
Day 5 / Printmaking in the studio, 10am-5pm
Day 6 / Free day to explore. Option to visit San Miguel de Allende, Dolores Hidalgo, Santa Rosa (for ceramics), etc on your own. We can help you figure out bus or taxis to these locations.
Day 7 / Printmaking in the studio, 10am-5pm. Farewell lunch/dinner
Day 8 / Trip ends
Food ACCOMMODATIONS
Traditional Mexican breakfast every day at Alma del Sol, and a beautiful lunch is provided on studio days (included in workshop fee). Please let us know if you have any dietary restrictions. Vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, diabetic? We can accommodate you!
ALMA del sol & hotel color
Stay at the beautiful colonial Mexican home Alma del Sol Bed & Breakfast or Hotel Color, both located in the heart of downtown Guanajuato. Alma del Sol and Hotel Color both have large rooms with windows or balconies, and a roof top terrace with magnificent views. Alma del Sol Bed & Breakfast is around the corner from the University of Guanajuato, several galleries, and the architectural colonial masterpiece Templo de la Compañia, now celebrating 250 years, and can be directly viewed from your chair on the terrace while sipping on hibiscus coolers or margaritas. Hotel Color Bed & Breakfast is near shops, restaurants and bars, and a block away from the historic neoclassic Teatro Juarez.
NOTE about the terrain
Guanajuato is a very hilly town with cobblestone roads. Most of the downtown sidewalks are smooth and easy to get around, but with a combination of the elevation and hills it can be strenuous for some folks at times. Also, the hotel does not have an elevator so you would need to climb four short flights of stairs. If you’re older and like to walk you shouldn’t have a problem. The view is worth it!
click arrow to watch short video
Museums & galleries
Alhondiga de Granaditas, Diego Rivera Museum, San Gabriel de Barrerra, Pueblo de Guanajuato Museum, Regional Museum of Guanajuato, La Valenciana Church , Gene Byron Museum , Mummy Museum, Olga Costa Museum , Teatro Juarez, Contemporary Art Museum & others
GUANAJUATO
Located in central Mexico, and a city split by a small river and a hilly terrain, Guanajuato is one of Mexico’s famous silver cities, built with the wealth of the colonial mineral mines. The streets of Guanajuato follow the extreme irregularity of the terrain, with small alleyways, plazas and steep staircases up hillsides. Guanajuato is also the birthplace of Diego Rivera, and muralist Jose Chavez Morado. High in elevation (6,600 feet) with a moderate arid climate averaging 70-80° in June and July, Guanajuato is the perfect climate.
TechniqueS
Monoprint/Monotype
*Various in depth monotype techniques will explored throughout the workshop.
Monotypes are a unique print made by pressing paper against a painted or inked surface. A Monotype implies that the original impression cannot be reused, “pulled” or printed twice. Both Monotype and Monoprint refer to the production of singular works. In contrast, the monotype allows only one pull of the original followed by a ghost print in some circumstances. The monotype, like painting, is very direct and allows great flexibility as the range of marks that can be obtained. Marks can made using brushes, rags, hands, and found objects. There are many ways to create the image on the printing surface, and the work can be produced quickly and spontaneously or slowly and in great detail, depending on how quickly the ink dries. Impressions can be reworked, corrected, and removed as is possible in painting.
RELIEF
A printmaking technique whereby the image is printed from the raised surface with the cutting away of the non-image areas. Traditionally, relief prints are created using a block of wood or linoleum. Using knives, gouges, or engraving tools. the image is developed with a variety of delicate and broad marks. Th areas that have been cut away and exist below the surface of the block will not print, as the ink remains on the raised surface. The unprinted areas )sometimes referred to as the negative space) are integral to the image and will stay the color of the paper used. The final image is printed in reverse, so the design will be a mirror image to the one created on the block.
Intaglio Etching & Drypoint
A technique in which the image is incised into a metal surface, filled with ink and transferred to paper. The term “Intaglio”, meaning “to engrave” or “cut into,” refers to the process by which an image is created by gouging, biting, or incising lines into the surface of a metal plate. The print is produced by filling the recessed marked and lines in order to transfer the image to damp paper. In the final piece, the image will print in reverse from the design on the plate and the ink will stand proud of the surface of the paper. Etching is an abrasive substance that bites or cleans away areas of a plate or block. In etching, usually ferric chloride or copper sulphate used to bite a line into a metal plate. Drypoint uses a hard needle to create a scratch across the plate surface. This action creates a burr and flanges of metal or plastic fold back from the edge of the scratch. It is these flecks of metal that retain the body of ink. The characteristic of a drypoint is softer, more furry line in comparison to the controlled clarity of an engraved or etched line. The drypoint is very fragile and generally does not sustain more than 20 good impressions.
Chine Collé
Traditionally, the printing of an image on a very light, delicate paper that is then adhered to a stronger, supporting paper. The application of color using colored paper rather than the use of ink on multiple plates.
Participants’ work
Testimonials
“This originally wasn’t on my bucket list, but it should have been.”
“Hugo’s hospitality is by far the best. He made sure we were all happy with everything every day!
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“My husband and I attended Mandee and Hugo’s outstanding Printmaking workshop last summer in July. It was an experience that I’ll never forget and hope to do it again someday.”
“I’ve been lucky enough to participate in Mandee’s printmaking class twice, once as a student of PSU and once as a graduated attendee. I love this program so much, that I am planning a third trip. The experience not only grew my personal practice, but opened me up to a new sense of community. Though you are learning in a group, you are given personal direction and instruction as well as the opportunity to explore outside of the traditional techniques, which is something I really love about how the instructor Mandee teaches.”
“It’s rare to have dedicated time to try new techniques, experiment with materials, and have first class instruction while surrounded by inspirational colors, sights, and sounds. Each day was different and pushed me to explore my creative side in new ways. After working all morning and getting expert guidance from Mandee and Hugo, we broke for lunch, which was always mouthwatering. Think slow cooked pork, street corn, fresh-squeezed hibiscus juice and tasty fish. And the friendliest, most helpful staff I’ve ever met.”
