abstract & nature inspired monotypes
Each portfolio above opens into a gallery and store
Meditations on Samsara series, monotype with gold paint
About Kathleen Thoma
My background is varied. I was in publishing for many years, mostly as an illustrator. From 2004 to 2013, I was a founding member of West Cove Gallery and Studio in CT. This was a working printmaking co-operative, which meant that people would come by and watch us work. This was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed interactions with other artists and the public. The details of all that are in my bio above, but people always ask how I started in monotypes to begin with.
I first discovered monotype printmaking back in the year 2000. I had found that Irene Valincius ( a wonderful teacher) offered a weekend intensive workshop at Mass Art in Boston and got in. I fell in love with the spontaneous process of working with monotypes.
To me, the best part of creating with anything new is the unknown journey and it’s mysterious destination.
Working at West Cove Studio
Monotype printmaking is a medium which seemed to demand spontaneous action, and this matched my own hunger for losing control after so many years of illustration work, which requires a plan for every aspect of the finished artwork. I enjoyed the use of colors, shapes and cutting stencil shapes out when my ideas pushed into my work. I often felt that they cut themselves out of the plastic sheets I used.
Our instructor pushed us hard, she kept on saying “Don’t think! Just do it! Make ten prints in the next hour!” We would all groan and look at her like she was crazy. But, somehow, with someone saying that to us over and over again, we all did it. And we made good prints. When they were all up on the wall we were all happy about our work. What a great teaching it was, this was an experience of trusting the flow of creative energy using our experience as artists to push on through our fears and simply create without fear.
Garden, Kathleen Thoma, monotype 12 x 24
My background as both a painter and a printmaker during my university studies provided the experience needed to just jump in and start creating.
Back in that first workshop in Boston, I had no idea of where I was going with this new medium or how long I wanted to work with it. To me, the best part of creating with anything new is the unknown journey and it’s mysterious destination.
I use color to express moods and I am influenced by what I have seen on my morning walks or a dream from the night before. My shapes are like thoughts and the colors are like emotions which overlap in a dance of layers during my creative play on the paper.
My primary medium these days, is both relief and monotype printmaking. I also paint, collage and draw.
