Red Tail Studios is the collaborative effort of Monique & Tim, who have been working along side each other in one capacity or another for 30+ years. Monique is the Printmaker & Artist; Tim is the Wood & Metal Fabricator. Red Tail Studios began in their San Francisco Bay Area home while the ‘green’ dream home / studio was being constructed in the Sierra Foothills. The process took 5 years, due to the fact that only Tim & one other guy built the vast majority of it. It has been Red Tail’s permanent home as of the Summer of 2013!
PRINTMAKING:
Fine art relief or intaglio prints are original works of art, each unique, within its limited edition printing.
Red Tail Studios relief prints are made using wood blocks of various species (to make woodcut prints) or linoleum plates (to make linocuts). I use traditional Japanese carving tools to carve my original designs and print using traditional water-based pigments or oil-based archival inks onto archival quality paper for your lasting enjoyment. Images may be transferred by hand using a hand-held baren, but more often they are run through my much loved “Alice”, a vintage Laguna Etching Press owned by the 3rd female, Gold-Rush Country artist in a row! It’s quite a legacy!
My intaglio prints are generally on copper using a variety of etching methods, printed with archival quality Charbonnel etching inks and always transferred using my etching press. I generally use a fairly nontoxic mordant, Edinburgh Etch for my copperplate etching.
ENCAUSTICS:
This extremely versatile, 2000+ year old medium involves heating beeswax with damar resin, then adding pigments to achieve color, etc. To be assured of archival quality, I only mount my work on solid wood or plywood. My encaustic pieces combine charcoal drawings, photography and some of the elements of my printmaking to make unique, yet simple compositions.
FRAMEMAKING:
Tim makes beautiful, custom Fine Art Frames that complement the prints that Monique makes. Currently,They will feature solid wood construction with fine woodworking details.
ENVIRONMENT:
We try to be as environmentally friendly as possible, while taking care to produce archival quality prints and works of art. This includes the actual process to all sorts of innovative cleanup techniques, using or recycling packaging, an energy efficient studio… I’ll hopefully pass on some of these tips in my posts. (I’d love to hear yours!)
VISITING
Nestled on a mountainside just 30 minutes from Yosemite National Park’s southern gate, daily doses of inspiration are just outside the studio door.
Red Tail Studios is located in Oakhurst, California. Visitors are most welcome by appointment. (Hey, we might be hiking!) If you can call ahead, we can plan a lovely visit. If not and you’d like to stop by on a whim, that’s OK, too! You just might have to dodge some ink or woodchips!
Where: 40681 Jean Road West, Oakhurst CA 93644
Studio Phone: 559.642.3298
Email: printmaker@redtailmews.com
Learn more here.
Red Tail Studios 
Hello – I have loved your work from afar via the internet 🙂 Do you do any workshops? I know we’re in Covid land and you might not be doing workshops. I thought I would ask and see if you are planning anything for the future. Best, Jennifer