Ted Braggins

Pondside Press Graphics Workshop & Gallery, 4 Bollenbecker Road, Rhinebeck 12572 | 845-453-8562 | Handicap Accessible | Open Labor Day Monday
pondsidepress.com | [email protected]  | IG: @pondsidepressstudio | Facebook Page

Artist Bio

Ted Braggins is a Rhinebeck artist and printmaker. He has been working in his own graphic arts workshop, Pondside Press, since 1985. In addition to his own work, he has also provided a collaborative printmaking service with his wife Melissa for artists desiring to produce original graphic art. Through the years, they have worked with numerous artists, and participated in the Art/OMI international residency for 25 years.

Braggins attended Rochester Institute of Technology, College of Fine and Applied Art, (BFA, MST) majoring in Printmaking with a minor in Painting, and a Masters in Art Education and a minor in Ceramics. He attended the Lake Placid School of Art studying with John Sparks, from the Maryland Institute College of Art, and Master Printer, Irwin Hollander. He later attended the Tamarind Institute’s printer training program at the University of New Mexico, and studied with John Sommers, and Garo Antreasian in the College of Fine Art. Additionally, Braggins worked as an art teacher, lacrosse coach, and department chair at Arlington H.S. in Lagrangeville, NY, retiring after 33 years of service.

“Making art is both a challenge and a privilege,” Braggins believes, “that can be used for the greater good – striving to be moving, thoughtful and informative.”

Arist Statement

Much of my work uses the landscape as a primary source for expression on several levels. The breaking of the conventional picture plane into spaces that can function as pure form while working spatially is fundamental to the image structure. I like to deconstruct space and then restructure it in a changed form using line, shape, color and texture. The landscape images that I have been working with are used as metaphors for emotive qualities and expressions of personal meaning.  I believe in a psychological form of landscape that is able to represent aspects of sentiment.  I also use solitary images of forms in nature such as rocks, cliffs, waves, herons or trees that have qualities engendering perplexity and contemplation. 

Describing a sense of place is an important part of my work. The areas I have lived or travelled to are reflected in my subjects. The Hudson Valley, central New York, the Catskills and Adirondacks, the Maine and Gulf coasts, and the American Southwest are often featured in my works. In showing the long view, I will often select roads, distant mountains, valleys or other topographies that seemingly have something to say. Stands of trees in blush or in states of decline with broken branches are significant sources too. I believe that the features within a view shed can show life’s progression and transformation while providing personal interpretations of the landscape.

Reflecting on contemporary issues in culture, and politics are important in other expressive works. Interpreting violence against Blacks, the Flag, the Pandemic, and Empty Chairs collectively represent racial injustice, despair, deep loss, and hope. I believe drawing attention to agonizing issues offers a responsiveness to difficult themes.

Most of the work is produced on paper in a variety of media including monotypes, lithographs or in combination with other print media. I find that working in printmaking provides both a level of control and experimentation allowing for the use of strong color, layering and transparency. The works produced seem to have a uniform surface with a sense of depth and richness achieved by the printer’s ink interacting with the rag paper. I have been hand printing original graphic art since 1985 at Pondside Press in Rhinebeck, NY.