Joe
Crookston
Joe Crookston is a painter, printmaker and musician living on a 200-acre eco-village and CSA Farm in the town of Ithaca, NY. He has lived in Tompkins County for 22 years.
Since 2004, Joe has traveled and explored the Finger Lakes Region of New York, creating art and music that celebrates the small rural towns, natural beauty and the people living in his home state.
In 2006-2008 he was part of a creative action movement culminating in New York State purchasing and preserving the wilderness area of Canadice Lake.
As a long-time New York resident, Joe has grown a deep love for the natural beauty, and rural, glacier-carved landscape of New York. The land, the lakes, the farms, orchards, geology, history and people have become part of him.
THE PROJECT:
Roll homemade natural ink on exposed limestone during the dry season, lay large scale cotton rag print paper onto the inked surface, add pressure, rub and create original relief monoprints of the geologic patterns. Each print would be unique, one of a kind and singular, thus a “monoprint.” Eleven of the best, unique prints representing the eleven Finger Lakes of New York State will be chosen for a final exhibition.
THE INK:
Environmentally friendly homegrown and homemade natural inks from concentrated beet (red) cabbage (blueish purple) and onion juice (yellow) made in collaboration with local farmers West Haven CSA Farm. These vegetables will be harvested in mid-August 2026, boiled into a highly concentrated and colorful liquid, and then mixed with natural additives such as Gum Arabic (sap from an Acacia Tree) and Magnesium Carbonate (food additive) to create a supple, rich, colorful, permanent, non-toxic printmaking ink that is safe for the environment. The ink will be applied to the dry late-summer limestone riverbed using large homemade rollers. 4’x 4’ 90-lb printing paper will be laid on top of the inked surface and then burnished and rubbed. After each printing attempt, the natural homemade ink will easily wash into the natural environment with zero negative impact on the landscape or chemistry of the water.
