- Will you consider this?

You have a military career going strong.

Then you pursue your passion.

I'm Christine Zak-Edmonds.

Join me as we talk to Vintage Mike.

(bright music) Life is a process, and each step my guest takes moves him forward to create some lovely pieces.

Relief printer, Miguel Rocha, has been inspired by his life experiences, and he's here to share his story and some of his creations with us now.

Welcome, Miguel.

- Thank you.

- Vintage Mike.

- Yes.

- First, tell me about yourself.

You were, you're from Colorado.

- Yes, Colorado born and raised.

I was born in Grand Junction, and then I moved to Greeley when I was about seven years old, lived there ever since, and then moved to Peoria about a year and a couple months ago.

- Okay.

- Yes.

- Well, what brought you to Peoria?

- I first visited Peoria when I visited Alex and his wife, Chelsea.

We came out here, I think it was like wintertime, summertime, 2019, I believe.

And just fell in love with the area.

It's really, like all the trees, driving around, it's really gorgeous.

- Well, that's just wonderful.

We had Alex on this program before too, Alex Carmona, who does wood, not woodworking, but printmaking.

- Yes.

- But he's not the one that you learned from.

So you were in the military, you were in the Air Force.

- Yes, I'm still in the Air Force.

It'll be 13 years in July.

Now I'm just a weekend warrior, as they call it.

One weekend a month, two weeks a year.

Before that, I did it full-time for about 12 years.

So my printmaking professor, Johanna Mueller, is the one that showed me like all the different printmaking techniques.

- And that was when you were in the military, and you were also going to school or how did that work?

- Yes, so I was in the military full-time.

And then I was taking night classes at the community college in Greeley.

- And you always had an interest in art?

- Yes, since I was little, I loved to draw, would always go to the library and pick up the how to draw monsters, how to draw whatever book they had.

I always enjoyed checking it out and just drawing for hours.

- Did you do that mostly black and white?

Did you do color, or what did you prefer?

- It was mostly black and white.

That's my preferred method, is just, I love the black and white contrast.

- So this teacher, why did you take up the wood printmaking, or, you know, I mean, you have to carve it all first.

And how did you choose that?

Or that was just one of the classes that was available?

- So I first learned about printmaking from an art history class.

I loved to draw, and I love challenge.

So I was like, "Oh, how can I make drawing more challenging?"

And then I found out that the printmaking class was offered right next door.

So I signed up for the next semester.

Like, "I wanna take this printmaking class."

And that's how I fell in love with it.

And more specifically, the wood, just the way that it looks when it's finished, I love how the contrast of the wood and the black looks, and then drawing it, just every time I see it, I'm like, "I can't believe I made that."

- (laughs) Well, that's kind of fun.

And then, well, you do a little bit, you not only do wood, but you do linoleum.

- [Miguel] Mm-hmm.

- Copper.

- Yes.

- So that's kind of etching - Yes.

- on that.

- And then plexiglass.

Correct?

- Mm-hmm.

- Have you tried glass?

- I have not tried glass.

- Okay.

- I feel like it might break.

- Right.

- Just because of the incising tools might be too much.

The plexiglass is a safer version of the copper 'cause copper, you have to have all the vents for all the acid that the copper plate has to sit in, but it's easier to do because it's just like a drawing, except instead of a pencil, you can use something like a nail, just something sharp.

It doesn't have to be anything special.

But the printing process, the paper has to be damp, that way it can pick up the ink from below the surface.

- Right.

- So if you don't have all the acids, it's easier just to do it on plexiglass.

- Do you dip it in acid or you just rub it in acid?

Or how does that, or that seems pretty dangerous.

- You dip it in acid.

So it has, the darker the line, the longer it sits in the acid bath.

So if you start out with the line, that acid starts to eat at the line.

That way, when you go to ink it, they call it a bite.

That way it grabs the ink from the little, it's like a squeegee almost.

- Right, the well.

- Mm-hmm.

- Have you really screwed up badly?

'Cause I would've.

- Yes.

- You know, the epic, epic failure.

- Yes, the first time I did a copper plate, I left it in too long.

So it came out really dark, and I couldn't save it 'cause you can't make it lighter.

You can only go darker.

Same thing with the wood blocks.

I've messed some of those up that I haven't printed, that they just sit at my house admiring, or.

- What do you prefer most?

Do you prefer wood to linoleum, or?

- I prefer linoleum just because I'm trying to improve my carving skills.

With linoleum, it's a lot easier to carve.

It's just this easier surface to carve like knife going through butter.

Versus wood, you have to worry about the grain.

Some of the grain is softer than others.

It's also more time-consuming.

So I'll spend a lot more time on wood than if I use linoleum.

I can just focus on carving.

- Well, this one.

So I don't know if we can get a shot of this.

This is one of your wood carvings, and that's on poplar?

- Yes.

- And it is inspired by time that you spent with your dad going to different auto shows, correct?

- Yes, different car shows.

He also loved trucks, and he collected a lot of different ones.

Ford F-100s, Ford F-250s.

So this truck, every time I see it, just reminds me of my dad.

- Your dad.

And here it is, Taran, can you get a shot of this?

So here's the print of it.

And it's, you know, obviously you're doing things backwards.

- Yes.

- And then, You're printing 'em forwards.

And really kind of fun.

And was this one pretty easy?

It seems like.

- It seems like it's easy just because it's not much detail, and there's a lot of black surface, but when I first did it, it was not that easy.

Especially working with the wood, that adds another challenging aspect to it.

- And then, so you ink it.

What do you ink it with?

- A rubber brayer.

- Okay.

- You roll ink over on a plexiplate or something smooth.

- [Christine] That you can wash off later.

- Yes.

- Okay.

- So then you roll the ink, get the ink full on the brayer, and then you roll the brayer over the top of the surface.

And then you put your paper over the top of that, and you can hand burnish it or put it through a printing press.

- But mostly you do the hand, you do it by hand?

- Ah, yes.

- It depends on the size.

- It depends on the size 'cause I have a small printing press, the one that I showed you, which was for this one, I think I used the small printing press.

It was able to fit through there.

- And then, now there's some that you have used color.

- Yes.

- And then you destroy that beautiful piece of art that you have created in wood.

How does that make you feel?

I would have a hard time parting with that.

- The first couple times it was very hard to destroy it, but it makes the print more special.

And it also makes you really think of what you're carving because you want to think of, you think of the end result, and there's no going back once you start it.

- So some of the surfaces then would be a lot higher to get the different color on, and then you carve that out, and just kind of whittle it down, or how does that work?

- So it's the same surface.

So it's the same matrix.

On this one would be the woodblock.

It's just, you're carving out each layer.

So you're thinking in reverse when you have the finished product, and you go from lightest to darkest.

My printmaking teacher always played the song, "YMCA," but it was backwards, YMCK.

So it's yellow, magenta, cyan, and then the key block, which is the black.

- Well, that was a fun way to think of it.

- Yeah, so whenever I'm printing, I'm just thinking of that song.

- You're singing that song.

(laughs) That's pretty funny.

What do you enjoy most about what you're doing with this?

- I think what I enjoy most, aside from the carving and the printing, is just all the different ways that you can use the paper, the block, 'cause you're really limited by your imagination.

You can use this block as many times and as many colors as you want.

I also love the little facts of how printers title their prints and number 'em.

- [Christine] Yeah, how do you figure that out?

How do you come up with that?

- I think there is a certain process that you're supposed to do it, but every printmaker does it a little different.

You have your artist proofs, which if you change something, then that's why it's named an artist proof.

But if you wanted to print this block by yourself, it'd be printer's proof because you're printing it, and it's already been carved, which is also really cool.

Also, an open edition.

So you can make that block as many times as you want, or you can just have 'em numbered, and that's it, so.

- And do you prefer a certain number?

We just talked this a little bit before the cameras came on.

So do you limit your number of prints?

- Yes, I always try and go between 25 to 50.

That's also so I can move on to the next project, and I don't have so much inventory taking up space at home.

Especially when I travel, it's a lot to carry.

- Exactly, and you do several shows around the country?

- Mm-hmm.

- And sell your stuff.

Did you ever really think that this is what you would be doing?

Weekend warrioring, yes, sure, you kind of knew that, but that this is really your full-time inspiration job.

- I never thought about it, it could be my full-time job, just because I had kids so young, and it was just, "I need a job.

I need health insurance."

So military was the quickest way to get that.

As I kept going through the military, I was able to focus more on what I wanted to do and what brought me joy, which was art, and then finding printmaking, which I really love, and I enjoy each piece from the carving to the printing.

- So your supplies, you can get around here, but they're difficult to find a lot of times?

- A lot of the times, yes.

A lot of times, I have to order online.

Sometimes, I'm able to find good deals at Dick Blick in Galesburg, but most of the time, I'm having to order paper, especially.

That's a little harder to find.

- And you prefer a certain kind of paper for each of the prints, or?

- For my black and white prints, I really prefer rice paper or mulberry paper.

For my colored prints, I prefer BFK Rives paper.

It's just thicker, and it holds paint, especially 'cause it's oil-based paint, it holds it a lot better, especially each layer.

- So how long does it take to dry, the oil-based paint?

- These black and white ones are usually dry within a day.

The colored ones that are layered take sometimes multiple days, depending on the amount of layers are on the paper.

- Mm-hmm.

Well, you also told me that you do preserve some of your wood blocks to actually sell those, correct?

- Mm-hmm, yes.

Sometimes, I part with the woodblock.

So like this one right here, I built the frame and mounted the wood block, ready to sell.

So this one is sealed and ready to be sold.

It's waterproof.

The sun won't hurt it.

So it's ready to go.

- So you have that down to science as well?

- [Miguel] Yes.

- And now how about the linoleum though?

You were saying that you like carving the linoleum, but where do you get it?

- It's raw linoleum.

- Okay.

- You can order it online.

It's what you would find in your floor at home.

It just doesn't have a protective coating.

So that's what makes it easy to carve.

And that's also why I don't sell them is because they do dry out over time since there is no protective coating.

So I haven't figured out how to preserve those yet.

- So coconut oil or something like that.

- [Miguel] Maybe, yes.

- Experiment with all those kinds of things.

Interesting.

And you like doing that.

You like creating things.

This one you told me was very difficult.

Let me kinda look at this.

Like I said, difficult.

Now this one, he said, it's got the car, and then it's got the background, Monument Valley in it, and all the way down to the cacti in there.

So what was so difficult about this creation?

- What was most difficult about this one is just making the elements come together.

Most of the time, I only do just the vehicle itself.

I don't really normally do any of the landscaping or a background for that matter.

So incorporating both of these and making it look like it belonged together, as well as doing the landscape.

I think this was the first time I ever did a landscape.

That was very challenging to make.

- [Christine] And why did you do it?

It was just one of those things?

- I met a magazine when I was doing Good Guy Car Show in Arizona.

And he asked me to be featured on his magazine, Rodding USA, and I said, "Okay, I'll do a piece for you."

And this is what I came up with for that.

- Wow, and when was that?

- This was in 2020.

I believe it was March of 2020.

- Right before everything?

- Yes.

- And so it was featured in the magazine?

- [Miguel] Yes.

- That's awesome.

- Mm-hmm.

- And did you get any other kind of feedback from that to do any other pieces for anyone else?

- Every once in a while, I'll get customers that want their vehicle done in a wood block and frame 'cause they love just how it looks that way.

So I've gotten a few commissions from there.

- [Christine] Right, and you will do commissions.

- [Miguel] Yes.

- And what do you prefer with that?

I know you told me that you like to do faces, people.

- Yes, I love to draw people.

Before I did printmaking, a lot of my commission work was to do portraits.

Self-portraits.

The face is just something that I enjoy looking at, and drawing it is also another, I guess, passion that I love to do.

- Is it frustrating though?

I mean, if you get something wrong, you get the nose wrong, or you start all over again, or how do you decide that?

- Good reference photos, I always have to have multiple.

That way, I can see the face in different angles, but definitely, the eyes and the nose is where it is very challenging.

Sometimes, I do have to take a step away and just go do something else and then come back.

- Right, yeah, sometimes, you really do have to walk away.

- [Miguel] Mm-hmm.

- So how many hours a day do you spend in your studio?

- Usually, anywhere from 8 to 10 hours a day.

- [Christine] And that's discipline.

- Yes.

- How do you discipline yourself then?

It's in your home.

- Just going in there and staying in there and trying not to have any distractions.

I like to listen to music, mostly like music without words.

That way it's not distracting.

'Cause if not, I'm very easily distracted.

(both laugh) - Well that's your right brain going.

Well, so what time of day do you start?

Because you have family, and they go off to school and work.

And so when do you start, and when do you end?

- Usually, I start about 6:00.

So I'll get about an hour in the beginning before I have to drop off my son at school.

And then once I come back, then I have a majority of time until I have to go pick him up.

It's great when he has a sport to do so.

I don't have to pick him up until after practice, but sometimes on the weekends, I'll go in there for a couple hours as well.

- What's the average amount of time per creation, let's say, for a wood block and then for linoleum and then the copper and the plexiglass?

What's the average amount of time for each of those?

- It really depends on the size.

Something like this would be around 18 to 20 hours.

- Wow.

- And that'll be the same for almost each piece.

The copper, I think, will be the one that takes the longest just because - With the acid.

- you're at the mercy of the acid.

How long you want it to sit in there, and it can be anywhere from 10 minutes up to an hour.

So it just depends on the amount of time you want to sit in there.

- Will you, in that 10 to 20 hours, will you complete that work, or will you go to something else, and do you differentiate that way, or?

- Sometimes, I do.

If they're larger pieces, I'll usually have anywhere from two to three pieces that I'm working on at once.

So if I get tired of working on one, I can move onto the other that's a little smaller, and I can finish at least the carving process, or if I have just the printing process, I can do a few prints that day and then move on to the carving of a next.

So I try and scatter everything so I'm not just doing one piece and get kind of frustrated with that piece.

- Okay, well, so like when you carve it, then how do you get all of the shavings off?

Do you have to vacuum it, or, you know, is there a certain process for that so that it doesn't end up in your print?

- So usually I'll carve everything out, and then I vacuum everything and clean everything off just to make sure there is no more shavings.

'Cause I have gotten shavings on the print.

Usually, I have to just go back in there and take 'em out with the tweezer and then reprint it and do another one.

But usually, I carve everything first, clean it all off, vacuum it, making sure there's nothing there, but every once in a while, I do get some shavings that show up out of nowhere or dog hair, as well.

(both laugh) - Funny how that happens.

Isn't it?

- Yes.

- And then where do you get your inspiration?

So I know that the cars 'cause of your time with your dad, and then you have some commissions, but what about other things?

Do they just pop into your mind, and you go for it, or?

- Yeah, a lot of things.

It's just what I see on what's around me and things from my childhood, like movies that I liked, or when I'm outside, like nature, scenery that I like.

So I'll just take a picture and then use it for as a reference photo later as either a background or as the focal point.

- Mm-hmm, and again, you never thought you would be doing this for a living.

- No.

Very encouraged by my wife and kids.

They're very supportive, and she's like, "Why don't you start this?

Like you were really good.

You used to draw me lots of things when we were in high school."

I was like, "Ah, maybe."

And she just kept pushing me and pushing me.

I was like, "Okay, then let me see how good I can make something."

- Right, and then you both came here.

The whole family came here.

She still is with the Air Guard, full-time.

- Mm-hmm, yes.

- And you're part-time.

- Yes.

- And do you ever do any Air Guard kind of things?

- The one I did for my old unit was a smaller wood block, about 8 by 10 on oak.

And I did 400 prints of that one that I donated to my old unit.

That way each member could have a print, an original print for themselves.

That one was really enjoyable just because I've never printed anything of that size before.

So that was a lot of printing hours.

- Right, well, 'cause you did it all by hand?

- I used the small printing press.

But each one still took about 15 to 20 minutes to print just because inking the surface and making sure that it didn't move.

'Cause I had quite a few that would move while I was printing.

Either the pressure was too much or not enough.

- Mm-hmm, well, and you showed me, you have just a little plain glass elephant or something that has a smooth bottom on it.

And so you run it over the paper that's on top of the inked.

- Yes, so I have a small, it's a glass skull that I found at Home Goods that has a very flat bottom that's great for hand burnishing these small prints, especially the black and white ones.

I can just hand burnish 'em if they're too big for the printing press that I have, and I just needed something flat and that fit.

- So you're still enjoying what you're doing, and you're going all around the country to different shows, and people come up to you from, that they order from you, or all over the world, or they'll take this off your hands.

- Yes.

So it's easier to sell the wood blocks at shows just because I don't have to worry about shipping.

Same thing, 'cause I frame a lot of my prints.

So it's always easier to sell those bigger pieces at shows.

But I do have a website.

People order off my website after they see me at a show.

- And that is?

- Vintage Mike is my website.

I also have an Etsy store with some listings on it.

I use social media, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, just any way I can get my stuff out really.

- And that's fun.

Who have you met that's been the most interesting that has purchased one of your creations?

- Ah, the most interesting person?

- Or is there anybody who you thought was a little bit whacked out?

(group laughs) "Okay, if you want this?"

- No, not really.

I think the one that I enjoy is...

He was one person.

He's from my old unit, and he loves everything that I put out.

He's also, I think, my biggest supporter, and every time I carve something out, he's like, "Hey, how about you do this next time?"

- Aw, oh, that's nice.

- I'm like, "That's a really good idea."

And so I've done a few that he's really enjoyed based off of his ideas.

- So quickly, bucket list.

What haven't you done that you still wanna do?

- I still wanna do a large woodblock just because - That's a challenge.

- it's a challenge.

But trying to find a paper for it is gonna be, I think, a bigger challenge.

Or maybe I can just print it on cloth, is what I've seen at Dick Blick.

- [Christine] Oh, there you go.

(laughs) - A lot of material there.

Yeah, I think a bigger woodblock is the next challenge.

- Okay, well, we look forward to that.

Glad you live right down the street, I can check it out.

- Yes.

- Thanks so much, Vintage Mike, Miguel, for being with me today.

It's pretty fascinating, pretty beautiful stuff.

- Thank you.

- And thank you for joining us.

Hope you enjoyed it.

Have a good evening and stay safe and healthy.

Hold happiness (claps).

(bright music)