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Valerie Willson, QMP 25

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Max Beckmann wrote "Art is creative for the sake of realization, not for amusement: for transfiguration, not for the sake of play. It is the quest of our self that drives us along the eternal and never-ending journey we must all make."  Valerie Willson's quest brought her and a very large etching bed press to Vashon Island in 1993 where she founded Quartermaster Press and has shared her excitement for print process ever since.  Her journey has also led her to explore other media as well, including: pastel, paint, en caustic and most recently photography.  ValerieWillson.com For the Quartermaster Press 25 year retrospective exhibit at Vashon Center for the Arts Koch Gallery,  April 6 - May 25, Valerie Willson has chosen to display etchings created in the period that the press itself was made and when she was exploring everything that multiple copper plate etching might yield.  This is Nasturtiums a three copperplate etching with Intaglio and aquatint, 19 3/4 x 14 3/4

Quartermaster Press 1993

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QMP, Quartermaster Press, was founded in 1993 when artist Valerie Willson moved to Vashon Island, Washington with a very large etching bed press.  The press was new.  Valerie had commissioned Ray Trayle to build it two years before when her second story studio in the Pearl District of Portland, Oregon could easily accommodate it and two other presses. Valerie's new, smaller, Vashon Island studio could not accommodate the press and so she and a handful of Vashon Island artists came together to form Quartermaster Press.  The new cooperative shared a press, studio, ideas and friendship. Twenty five years later those foundational ideals are still common denominators of Quartermaster Press.  Below is a 1995 publicity photo of QMP artists Jill Stenn, Valerie Willson, Sue Grant, Bonnie Wilkins and Ilse Reimnitz.  Valerie Willson has been the constant in this artistic equation.  Thank you Valerie for your dedication and contributions to the exploration of print process.  You are one

Monotype Print Workshop

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My good friend and fellow printer Ilse Reimnitz and I shared our print passion with 9 students this past weeknd.  Most of them were new friends and new to monotype print.  Ilse introduced me to monotype 20 years ago.  It continues to be my inky hands-down favorite way to make imagery! 

Quartermaster Press 25

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The 25th Quartermaster Press Anniversary Retrospective Exhibition will show at Vashon Center for the Arts, Koch Gallery, 19600 Vashon highway SW, Vashon WA April 6 - May 25.  Opening April 6 at 5:30 p.m. with an introductory talk by Valerie Willson.  Featured- Print demos, QMP history, talks about Print Techniques, Print Tradition & Transformation, and a Collectors Conversation are all part of this special show highlighting print art created by 31 past and present Quartermaster Press print artists. Pat Churchill and I are co-curating this show.  Deborah Taylor has created dynamic promotional invitations, posters and banners from the artists work featured in this exhibition. See details, dates below and please visit the VCA, Koch gallery website for more information-  http://vashoncenterforthearts.org/event/qmp25/

The Goddess of Forgetting

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Lethe, Monotype Print, 24kt gold leaf, 36 x 15 in. Lethe Come to my arms, cruel and sullen thing; Indolent beast, come to my arms again, For I would plunge my fingers in your mane And be a long time unremembering — And bury myself in you, and breathe your wild Perfume remorselessly for one more hour: And breathe again, as of a ruined flower, The fragrance of the love you have defiled. I long to sleep; I think that from a stark Slumber like death I could awake the same As I was once, and lavish without shame Caresses upon your body, glowing and dark. To drown my sorrow there is no abyss, However deep, that can compare with your bed. Forgetfulness has made its country your red Mouth, and the flowing of Lethe is in your kiss. My doom, henceforward, is my sole desire: As martyrs, being demented in their zeal, Shake with delightful spasms upon the wheel, Implore the whip, or puff upon the fire, So I implore you, fervently resigned! Come; I would drink nepent

Cygnus at Vashon's Holiday Art Studio Tour

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"Cygnus"  Monotype Print Cygnus is among the most recognizable and brightest constellations in the Northern sky from June to December.   Look up. Of course those are heavenly wings spread; a beak and tail!   Yes, I see a swan! According to Ovid, Cygnus was a close friend, maybe lover, of Phaethon.   Phaethon died (by his grandfather Zeus’s lightening bolt) when he recklessly scorched the earth while driving the family’s (Sun) chariot. Poor Cygnus’s grief for his beloved transformed him into a swan fearful of fire from heaven and so he chose to live in damp marshes, lakes and rivers. “As he mourned, his voice became thin and shrill, and white feathers hid his hair. His neck grew long, stretching out from his breast, his fingers reddened and a membrane joined them together. Wings clothed his sides, and a blunt beak fastened on his mouth. Cygnus became a new kind of bird: but he put no trust in the skies, or in Zeus, for he remembered how that god had unjustly hurled

Masters in Miniature

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 VCA's Koch Gallery presents: The 11th Annual Masters in Miniature Exhibition   Small works of art encourage us to get up close and personal with the piece. Once we are drawn in we are often surprised by the unexpected. That's one of the inspirations behind the Vashon Center for the Arts Koch Gallery 11th Annual Miniature Exhibition.    Below is "Morning" (6x6 in.)  One of several images I have in this show Show. The exhibition showcase works by over 30 Island artists. On view December 1-22, 2017