Gil is one of more than 100 artists who took part in the Monotype Marathon, an annual event, now in its ninth year, held by the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art. According to the event's coordinator, SJICA Business Manager Elizabeth Waldo, it's the institute's second biggest fundraiser, behind its annual fall auction. Although she says that organizing the event has become more challenging in recent years—partly because of the economy—the Monotype Marathon remains a very popular event. Waldo calls the marathon a win-win situation for everyone, which seems like a good description for an event that encompasses an artists' workshop, an exhibition and a fundraiser—a marathon event in all things.

On the weekend of June 7­8, artists attended monotype workshops at seven locations around the Bay Area. Every workshop was led by a master printer, who oversaw the printmaking process, giving tips and offering advice to artists. Volunteers also assisted in making sure the presses ran efficiently and that prints hot off the press were stacked properly to dry. On June 7, Steppin' Out visited several workshops taking place at the Citadel, a co-op of artists' studios in downtown San Jose.

It quickly becomes clear that how a design inked onto a Plexiglas plate will actually appear on paper can be a bit of an unknown. There seem to be as many variables in printing a monotype as there are exacting requirements in preparing the press and paper. The artists participating in the workshops seemed excited and sometimes a little apprehensive to see the finished results of their work come off the press.

Monotypes are so called because they really are one of a kind. The artist paints his or her design in specialized ink onto a Plexiglas plate, which is then run through a printing press that is set to exert 1,000 or more pounds of pressure on the plate and the moistened sheet of paper set atop it that will become the finished print. Dampening the paper enables the ink to better saturate the paper.

Unlike other printing processes, once the plate is run through the press, exact duplicates of the original design cannot be made because most of the ink is transferred onto the paper. After printing, the plate can be wiped clean and inked with an entirely new design.

Although printmaking is not the primary medium for a number of the artists taking part in the Monotype Marathon, they all expressed enthusiasm for the versatility of making monotypes. Although the ink is of a special formulation that makes it more viscous than most paints, inking the printing plates is akin to painting. Karen von Felten, who led one of the workshops in her studio, created the effect of a charcoal drawing that didn't necessarily look like a print at first glance.

Gil used stencils (the painted sides of which can be flipped over and the reverse image used in the making of another print). Michele Scott etched her Plexiglas plates using a Dremel drill the night before. She worked ink into the etched grooves and added layers of color over the inked lines, which, when run through the press, embossed the paper.

Also, objects can be incorporated before and after being run through the press: John La Bouff added small bits of painted vellum in a random pattern and Lynn Powers used a piece of a plastic lace doily that left an embossed lacy effect on the paper. Sometimes further details to a monotype are painted, drawn or glued on after the print dries.

Prints made by the 109 artists who participated in the workshops are on display in the Monotype Marathon exhibit at the SJICA. The exhibit will run until July 12, when the works on exhibit will be auctioned at a special closing reception.

The public is welcome and encouraged to attend the reception, but bidding in the auction will be open only to the sponsors, in order to guarantee that every sponsor takes home a print. In most cases, it won't be the one created by the artist he or she sponsored—these benefactors may bid on any monotype in the exhibit.

But one thing is for sure: The sponsor will take home a print that's truly one of a kind.

The Monotype Marathon exhibit is on display through July 12 at the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, 451 S. First St., San Jose. The prints will be auctioned at the exhibit's closing.