Ipu play a key role in hula by providing rhythm and sound for the chant and dancers. At times, the dancers will play the gourd while doing their hula steps and chanting. Ipu grow on a vine and mature into a unique shape. An ipu heke `ole is a single gourd cut off at the neck. A handle can be attached to make it easier to hold, play, and transport.

Drypoint Engraving is a form of intaglio printmaking. Lines are scratched into a copper plate with a sharp tool. The scratching doesn’t remove the metal but throws it up as a burr and makes a ridge similar to the ridge of earth thrown up when a plow goes through a field. A drypoint print has lines that are irregular, with a velvet quality. The term “drypoint engraving” is used as well as the word “drypoint” by itself.

To take a print, the plate is inked and wiped carefully, leaving ink in the lines. Damp paper is placed on the inked plate, covered with felt blankets and put through the printing under heavy pressure, embossing the plate into the paper. The paper picks up the ink and when the paper is peeled from the plate, the ink is transferred to the paper. The printed image is a mirror image of the drawing on the copper. A “plate mark”, made by the plate pressed into the paper is characteristic of original drypoints, engravings, etching and aquatint techniques.

For each print, the plate is inked and wiped as before. This intricate process leads to a drypoint engraving of lasting beauty.

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Ipu and Hibiscus CCH8$125.00