This project uses natural resources and helps rural families generate much-needed income. There are some 60 projects worldwide, many foundation-funded, to help people set up a studio, make paper and market various products. Allen is involved in planning a conference in Ecuador to share learning experiences from these projects in self-sufficiency. The keynote speaker a recent printmakers' conference in South Africa, Allen was invited by conference organizers Dominic Thorburn and Stephen Inggs, both former Tamarind students. Among the audience of printmakers was Tamarind alumnus Mark Attwood who has a shop in Johannesburg.
Printmaking is a tool like painting is a tool.
What makes an artist is content, not technique. Technique should not be paramount to the idea, but be balanced. The South African printmakers are newly organized, explains Allen, and the primary topic was the market. Allen has had a global perspective for some time. She taught art in Norway and the Netherlands before attending Tamarind and has since lectured and given printmaking workshops throughout the U.S. and in many countries, including Israel, Poland, Estonia, Slovenia and Sweden.