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Aristea Charoniti

Griechenland, 2021
Bentlage feels like a second and distant home to me; I traveled by plane from Athens, Greece to Dusseldorf, and from then I was surrounded be very kind and warm people, who made their best to fulfill my needs as a printmaker in residency.
The surroundings of the forest are beautiful and inspiring, and the hospitality great. I worked a lot to produce quality prints while I was there, and I spent the time in the very well-equipped studios. The people of Bentlage Print Association were there, to see if somebody would need an extra material, or some assistance. That made me feel safe and capable of trying new techniques, or the techniques I was already familiar with, to execute them in another way.
Specifically, in Bentlage I used for the first time copper, instead of zinc for my etching, and everything worked excellent. Also, the aquatint, which I am so familiar with, there I did it with asphalt and not colophonium resin as I did before. Not only the Print Association guided me, but also, my fellow residents, who arrived from different places in Europe. We exchanged our practical experiences about printmaking, and that was helpful and valuable to me. I managed to see crucial facts about my art, as many of us came from other backgrounds, more or less, in education, in culture, in printmaking techniques, and in years of experience and expertise. And truth is, that when things go well, at work and living, other good things come too; our free time and our working breaks were full of happy talks, walks, and getting to know each other.
„As I look back to my stay in Bentlage, I feel proud and thankful for that precious piece of my artistic career.“