Applause Is Great But Wonder Is Better...
Hey- I have an Art Show opening on Friday. I have had 1000s of stage shows, but this is my very first foray into making big pictures, hanging them up and getting people to come drink wine and look at them. But, you know, it’s really not all that different from writing some songs, teaching them to a band and getting folks to come drink IPA while you sing them.
At the core of it, my art making is very simple. The world has shown me wonder, and I want to show it back. Wonder walks in the woods, is at bedtime with my son, burns in the backyard fires with my husband, and finds me when I’m watching the thousands of names that appear in the credits of a Marvel movie. When curiosity blends with awe: that’s what it's all about. Wonder is what ties the day to day with the greater story of my life.
In relief printmaking the image is made by what you take away, not what you add. You also work in reverse and manage multiple mind puzzles of registration and layering. All those things in combination mean that what you end up with is always a revelation. It’s a built in devotion to wonder.
Before printmaking, Art was rare and most people didn’t have access. Printmaking brought images and ideas to the masses; it’s the proletariat art form. I believe art is for everyone, and working in this medium connects me with a lineage of artists who felt the same way.
I first studied printmaking under Lucia Harrison at The Evergreen State College in Olympia WA. I couldn’t have had a better teacher to understand that the inevitable mistake, or deviation from the planned path, is where the real creativity begins. (Form follows fuck-up: Her words not mine)
I am surely inspired by the print work of Matisse and Picasso, especially the reduction technique that Picasso is credited with pioneering. Also, Contemporary printmakers Anita Klein and Sabra Fields have shown me how to find depth in everyday subjects. I’m delighted by the translation of inspiration from other mediums and art forms- and especially anyone who can say something complex and piercing with simplicity. A wildly incomplete list might include Charley Harper’s paintings, Bob Dylan’s lyrics, Twyla Tharp’s choreography, Chris Coole’s clawhammer banjo and the way Nina Simone sings.
The Two Rivers Printmaking Studio has pushed me to grow as an artist, and therefore as a person, and I thank them for this opportunity.