Betsy Best
Before my printmaking studies at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington, I earned a degree in Graphic Arts from Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan. In subsequent years I attended a printmaking residency in Japan, studying woodblock printmaking with master craftsmen, with further printmaking studies in Florence, Italy. These opportunities are significant to my art practice. While in Italy I studied under the American printmaker, Karen Kunc, learning an innovative reduction method using two woodblocks. In Japan, I attended the Nagasawa Art Park Japanese Woodblock Printmaking Program. During this two month residency I learned the Japanese water based printmaking technique called moku hanga; best known as the technique used in the ukiyo-e genre of Japanese prints. This approach employs precise carving and registration techniques, and the use of water-based pigments.
I am enchanted by the printmaking process, and respect its historic capability to make both information, and original works of art, available to everyone. Relief printmaking has been my primary medium for the past two decades, and my work as a graphic artist in my early career has influenced my aesthetic. Using a preponderance of pattern, color and line, stylized figures, and a personal visual vocabulary, I examine the familial constructs, and the meaning of home. Some of my inspirations include athletics, fashion, textiles, ceramics, and architecture.
Recent Instagrams
