It’s the last show in the Schack Art Center’s year-long series focused on print makers.
The series opened with an exhibit of prints by iconic Northwest master painter Guy Anderson and was highlighted with the exhibition of Chuck Close prints, including a visit from the Snohomish County native and internationally renowned artist. Also in the series was the show “Skagit Women in Print” that involved 18 artists from Skagit Valley.
Now, art lovers are treated to “Pressing On” from Seattle Print Arts, a regional guild. The exhibit is displayed through Christmas Eve.
Artist and guild member Lorie (“LA”) Hoffman, who earned a master of fine arts in printmaking at Montana State University, created “Cityscape: Hive.” The work has been a part of the promotion for the show at the Schack.
Hoffman grew up in the small town of Bridger, Montana, and after grad school lived for several years in the Netherlands. Currently she is the executive director of the Shoreline-Lake Forest Park Arts Council.
Seattle Print Arts was founded in 2000 with the mission of supporting print makers, Hoffman said. The guild offers workshops in all the print arts, sessions with visiting artists, talks with museums, galleries and collectors and open portfolio sessions.
“People in Seattle Print Arts are involved in wide swath of art-making processes, and more recently in digital work,” Hoffman said. “We have about 220 members and the show at the Schack involves about 93 of our members.”
Hoffman describes print making as the “democratic art.” While a wealthy collector can buy an oil painting from a well-known artist, more people are able to buy from a print artist who makes multiple copies.
Print making, including letter press and ancient screen prints, became a fine art when the medium was no longer a necessity in conveying information.
“When well-done, print arts are technically challenging, and incredibly and intrinsically beautiful,” Hoffman said.
Her “Cityscape: Hive” is part of a series focused on downtown Seattle buildings and the “homes of the worker bees.”
“Moving to a big city has been mind-boggling for me. The city is a living organism, and, because I have an engineering background, I want to know how it works,” Hoffman said. “I am fascinated with what happens below street level, too, and those complex layers and roots appear in my drawings.”
Hoffman and her fellow members of Seattle Print Arts are pleased to have their work shown at the Schack.
“It is a treasure in your community,” she said.
In addition, the Schack is displaying a wide assortment of glass, pottery and wood by local artists during its holiday show.
If you go
“Pressing On” with Seattle Print Arts is displayed daily through Dec. 24 at the Schack Arts Center, 2921 Hoyt Ave., Everett.
More about Seattle Print Arts is at www.seattleprintarts.org. More about the Schack is at www.schack.org.
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