Interview with JJ Eisfelder of Prairie Rose Press

Biography

I grew up in Kansas City where I was able to start exploring many different art forms at a young age. I went to college in Missoula, Montana, where I earned a B.F.A. in Printmaking and also studied Ceramics. A few years after college, I moved to rural Virginia to set up a studio where I have spent the past twelve years making nature-inspired prints and functional pottery.

Why do you like to print?

I find printmaking to be a challenging and surprising medium. It is challenging because I really have to think about how to break apart a particular scene into different layers and also to anticipate how a certain texture will print. It is surprising because my favorite prints have been the ones that are not planned, but are the results of trying a different color scheme or of experimenting with a new way of layering my plates. I also like the freedom to change the colors of an image and to explore how that changes the mood of the print.

What is your favorite print medium and why?

I enjoy relief printing, specifically woodcut, linocut and collagraph. I love the stark lines of the wood and linocuts and also the looseness and the freedom to experiment of the collagraph. 

How long have you been printing and how has your work evolved?

I have been a printmaker for more than 15 years but really dedicated myself to it about 5 years ago. I started out making limited edition representational prints of trees, veggies and flowers. I still use some of these images, but my work has become much more experimental. I like to experiment with layering these landscape images with crazy colorful patterns as the background, exploring how color changes the feel of the print. Most recently I have been tearing and reassembling my prints into what I call “collagraph collages.”

What inspires you?

I am inspired by all things natural, by trees, flowers and leaves, but also by the patterns created by blades of grass or the ripple of water. 

How do your promote your work?

Besides my Etsy site, I sell at a few craft shows in Virginia every year and do a home sale in Kansas City (where I am from). I sell my work at a few galleries, including j fergeson gallery, where I currently have a solo show of my most recent work. I am also working on developing a personal website through artspan.com that will highlight my larger and more involved prints and collages.

 Are you working on any particular projects now?

I just finished a solo show of my most recent work at j fergeson gallery in Farmville, VA, and am continuing to experiment with this body of work. The two newest prints in this show were inspired by patchwork quilts, where the printed squares were actually sewn together to form a quilt-like piece. I am continuing to work with this idea and am hoping to find some other galleries to show this new work.

Tell us one random fact about yourself.

Besides being an artist, I also grow and sell a unique heirloom onion called Egyptian Walking Onions through Local Harvest, which I like to describe as “Etsy for farmers”!

Check out: 

Prairie Rose Press Etsy shop

Prairie Rose Press Facebook page

Interview with Nieves Waleska Pumarejo Blanco of Toshisworld

Biography:


Born in Brooklyn, NY and raised in Puerto Rico where I currently live, in the capital, Old San Juan. I made my BA and a Master degree in Visual Art in the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, San Germán campus.


Why do you like to print?


My love for print came since I was in the kindergarten [and] the teacher showed us how with leaves and empty spools deep in painting create “prints” of them in the paper. Later in my printmaking classes my love grow much more. Printmaking became one of my favorite mediums to work.

What is your favorite print medium and why?


At this moment my favorite is linocut because it is accesible, easy to print if you doesn’t have a workshop and relatively easy to cut and design in it. I love printing in other colors than black and feel the texture of the print papers. On the other hand, if I would have a studio or workshop to print, my other favorite is the collography because of the mix of textures and ideas for work with it.


How long have you been printing and how has your work evolved?

I’m [began] printing again about two years ago. I feel like I’m still learning, every time I do a print something new happens in my mind, so always I’m seeking for knowledge. A new way to cut, a new line to draw, a new paper to try. I want to evolve to perfection, in the meantime I’m really happy learning and printing.


What inspires you?


My inspiration is nature. My culture, my thoughts, my feelings. I’m searching [for] my own language, my own mythologies, my own symbols. Inspiration is an infinite resources that will help me to find my own space in art and printing. I love the form of the leafs, the shells, the lines that defines our environment.

How do you promote your work?


I’m using facebook, twitter and my blogs. [especially] the blogs I feel very comfortable talking about my creative process my thoughts and ideas that I would love to develop in some time.

Are you working in any particular projects now?

Not really, well I have something in mind with print and jewelry and my big project is learning.

Tell us one random fact about yourself


I don’t like talk about myself too much because I’m a shy person but one fact is I love art in all the ways especially photography, jewelry design, printmaking and bookmaking, art is my religion, I love learning about the creative process of other artist and I’m always looking for knowledge. Recently I started my own private print art collection.

Check out Nieves' Etsy Shop and Blog 

Interview with Leila Hooper Zeitler of Aurafinearts

Biography


My professional background has been in the field of antiquities and fine arts. My professional background brought me tremendous satisfaction.

My artwork gives my a similar sense of gratification.

I am mesmerized by the bright spontaneous nature of light, atmosphere, patterns and textures created in our magnificent environment.

I create etchings from my original painted images featuring flowers, wildlife and landscapes. My images are infused with multiple layers of color using eco friendly modern printmaking materials and techniques.

I live in Cambridge, Ma. with my husband. We live in a small and lively city which is in close proximity to both the mountains and the sea which we both enjoy immensely.

Why do you like to print?

I love the spontaneous nature of printmaking.

I also enjoy exploring modern eco friendly materials and techniques. There is something very rewarding about learning to successfully use materials which are gentle to our planet and to ourselves.

What is your favorite print medium and why?


I am thrilled with modern printmaking materials and the success you can achieve with them once you have mastered their quirky characteristics.

I love the eco friendly inks which are made with soybean oil instead of toxic chemicals. I love being able to cure a solar etching plate with the natural light of the sun instead of acid. I adore using recycled, repurposed and found organic objects to create works of inspiration.

What a treat to have access to mediums that reflect our recognition to conserve and protect own natural environment.

How long have you been printing and how has your work evolved?

My first recollection of printing is when I was a child and I was teaching people to ink leaves and create intriguing patterns with them. A number of years later I am still encouraging people to experiment with this wonderful option in order to explore their own creativity. It’s an irony really.

In between, the need to experiment has allowed printmaking to be a true ally for me. Learning to recreate sketches, carving woodblocks and linoleum and learning how much passion I feel for the painterly monotype and gelatin printmaking have all played a significant role in the evolution of my artwork.

What Inspires You?

Sometimes, I feel like an explorer. I will get an idea and then I will pursue different methods I can use to interpret it.

Mostly, my inspiration is directly from our natural environment. It is so rich and abundant that I never lack new ideas and challenges.

Being engaged in my artwork keeps me very focused and gives me enormous sensitivity to our surrounding environment. Color, light, textures and patterns are all a part of what I may attention to. These sensitivities afford me a freedom in the way that I interpret and see the environment around me. And thus, the way that I interpret it in my work.

How do you promote your work?


Someone once said that you are either good at doing the artwork or good at promoting the artwork, but rarely are you good at both. I believe there is a lot of truth in that.

I stay connected to the various outlets of exposure.

I will enter several juried competitions this spring and summer. I will also be in several group and gallery shows. A small group of us have formed an environmental printmaking group and we are scheduled to promote several shows over the next year. I have two etsy shops featuring my work.

Are you working on any particular projects right now?

I am always at work on one project or another and manage to feel that there are not enough hours in the day.

To get back to something I am very passionate about, I am pursuing the field of promoting eco friendly printmaking materials and techniques. A small group of us recently formed and we have put together various proposals which will lead to exhibitions in the near future.

It’s a tremendous amount of work but it’s also something that can be very rewarding.

Tell us a random fact about yourself.


The first thing that comes to mind is related to the work we’ve been discussing.

Recently my husband and I have begun to produce videos which are a combination of my artwork and his musical accompaniment. We have worked on several now and they are highly effective and have been very well received.

We are in the process of producing another one which will feature a new batch of artwork I’ve been working on over the past 4-6 months, including new wildlife and botanical images. These will be accompanied by my husband’s music. He is a professional classical guitarist.

You can take a look at the one’s we have done. They are available on my website and on Youtube.

Check out Leila's Etsy Shop and Website

Interview with Anne van Oppen of Annevo5

Biography

I was born and raised in Southern California. After twenty plus years of living, working and playing in other parts of the country I moved back and met my husband. We live on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Los Angeles County. My working years were spent in the apparel industry. Skiwear in Vermont and surfwear in Hawaii. I was an apparel and surface designer often using relief prints to achieve a desired effect or application.

Why Printmaking?

I love printmaking for many reasons but primarily because of the multiples. I do not find it as difficult to part with a piece when there are more in hand.

What Is Your Favorite Medium and Why?

Currently my favorite print medium is Galvanic Etching on copper. I recently set up a studio at home and resolved to keep it as non-toxic as possible. The journey has been frustrating and the disappointments abundant but well worth the trip. I am developing my process and gaining control of the effects I want to achieve. The discovery and successes are very exciting!

How Has Your Work Evolved?

I have been printing for many years, off and on, and seriously for the past ten years. My work has evolved into simpler images with interesting texture. I am interested in expressing a feeling along with the image and not saying too much. I want the viewer to participate and formulate their own feelings related to the piece.

What Inspires You?

I am inspired by the nature around me. I try to sketch regularly and many pieces are developed from there. I love gardening and spend a lot of time outside among my plants. Insects and their ways entrance me, so they are often subjects as is my funny and charming cat Big Guy.

How Do You Promote Your Work?

I am a member of several local artist groups and I enter the local shows. As much as I would like to sell more work, I do not enjoy the running around to accomplish this. I admire other artists that have the energy. I love Esty and Printsy and I hope they will help get me out there!

Any Special Projects You are Working On?

Yes, as I mentioned I am exploring Galvanic Etching and I am working on a series of ten or so prints that express my achievements in this process. They are all 7 1/2 x 7 1/4" with varying sized plates, 2 x 3" or so and a chine' colle frame or background. Once printed, I hand color areas of the piece with watercolor. The first three are on Printsy.

Tell Us One Random Fact About Yourself

A random thing about me is that I am a very good sailor.

Check out Anne's Etsy site and The Los Angeles Printmakers Link

Interview with Christopher Sheek of Sheekart

Biography

I received my BFA (in painting) from Indiana University. After graduation, I moved to Silver City, New Mexico with two artist friends and we painted landscapes in the Gila National Forest. This is when my art really became focused on nature.... sky, clouds, birds, trees, mountains, the moon. Two years later, I moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, and it was here I began exploring relief printing. It is now my medium of choice.

Why do you like to print?

I thoroughly enjoy the whole process. Coming up with the idea, sketching it out. Deciding on the colors. Rolling up my sleeves and going to work. It’s a very physical medium. Then comes the moment when I get my first look at the print, and it almost always looks different than I thought it would. For all the forethought, preparation, and precise work that goes into it, I love how it always surprises me in the end.

What is your favorite print medium and why?

The only medium my time and resources have allowed for up to this point is relief printing. I would love someday to experiment with others, especially screen printing. But I think I would still call relief printing my favorite. It is a very simple and direct way to create graphic, bold art.

How long have you been printing and how has your work evolved?

I’ve been printing off and on for the past 8 years. I would like to believe my work has improved, but aside from the art itself, the biggest difference is that now I feel much more attentive to the entire process instead of rushing to get to the final unveiling. Now I enjoy all the steps that go into creating the finished piece. I take my time and allow for more interaction with the materials and the emerging image.

What inspires you?

Hundreds of  different things. Art books. Watching the wildlife in the back yard or when I’m walking the dog. Etsy printmakers. Classical and jazz music. Good coffee.

How do your promote your work?

I count on the kindness of strangers.

Are you working on any particular projects now?  

Right now I’m recreating some works from several years ago. I lost the blocks!

Tell us one random fact about yourself

I’m a voracious reader. Anything from Stephen King to Stephen Hawking.

Check out Chris' Etsy Site!