Portfolio

abstract & nature inspired monotypes

Each portfolio above opens into a gallery and store

photo of series called Meditations on Samsara

Meditations on Samsara series, monotype with gold paint

About Kathleen Thoma and her portfolio

 Kathleen Thoma has been a practicing artist since 1983, and a fine art printmaker since 2000. She creates hand-pulled, one-of-a-kind monotypes, sometimes incorporating linocuts and chine colle. She is a member of the Los Angeles Printmakers Society, an artist-run organization. 

From 2005-2013, she was a founding member of West Coast Studio and Gallery, a printmaking co-operative in West Haven, CT. While at West Cove, she assisted with gallery promotion, printmaking demonstrations, gallery sitting, and open studio events. In addition, she has taught printmaking and expressive arts to both children and adults in various locations. 

Originally from the Washington D.C. area, she has relocated a number of times until her current location in Orange County, CA. Her work is in a number of private collections in the USA and in Canada. Her current portfolio is above, which shows a number of available fine art prints created in her home studio. 

To me, the best part of creating anything new is the unknown journey and my mysterious destination.

Kathleen Thoma creating a monotype in her studio

Kathleen at West Cove Studio

 

 

Print is ready to pull off the plate

Garden, Kathleen Thoma, monotype 12 x 24

 

 

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Recent Posts

Printmaking and the Imaginal Realm

In this post I am sharing recent printmaking work inspired by personal explorations into what Carl Jung called the “imaginal realm”. 

A very short story

In 2009, before I moved away from the east coast, I viewed a show at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City. The show featured “The Red Book” by Carl Jung, which had never been available for exhibition before. I had read much of Jung’s work over the years and jumped on the train for a chance to see it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Red_Book_(Jung)

I spent all the time that I could to study the pages of art which Jung had created from his own explorations of his personal imaginal realm. Without going into this topic too much, it is a way of restraining the conscious mind so that images from the “collective unconscious” may by explored.

The Treasure

For an artist, this imaginal realm is a treasure of endless images to work with! Many techniques can be used to make this exploration; among them are forms of meditation, shamanism and dream work. An abundance of information on this topic is online already, so no need to elaborate on that.  

I am sharing a recent work from my personal explorations into this realm, the most recent one shown here is called “The Queen of the Nagas”. This archetype appears on and off in my dream world. And I felt the need to give her image a boost into this ordinary world by means of a technique called a “collagraph”. This is a way of creating textured images and, by using inks of various viscosity, it is possible to build-up multiple colors onto one plate.

Queen of the Nagas, Kathleen Thoma, collagraph, linocut, chine College 14.75x11 in

Queen of the Nagas, Kathleen Thoma, collagraph, linocut, chine colle, 14.75×11 in

What is a Naga?

They are mythic Buddhist serpent people who have great powers, guard inner treasures, and you definitely want to stay on their good side according to the myths. As protecting nature spirits, they don’t like people polluting their rivers, streams or oceans. They bring rain, wealth, and fertility when honored. I imagine they are not very happy with humans these days. The link shows more information about Nagas and their myths world wide. https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/naga

In terms of artistic explorations with printmaking this image took me some time to work out. But I enjoyed it very much. I have been creating a number of images symbolically related to climate change recently, so this is one more. I used several printmaking techniques, as indicated in the caption. 

Photos from “ImMigration Project”

Photos from “ImMigration project 3” a collaborative traveling group exhibition showing at Self-Help Graphics and Art.   Showing : Saturday, January 11th to February 22nd, 2020  Opening Reception, January 11th, 7PM – 9PM I am showing a few shots from the opening night of “ImMigration Project” just to give some idea of how the show looks, […]

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Kali as a symbol of Climate Change

Art, Earth Day & Climate Change While creating an entry for the upcoming show; Sweet Earth/Bitter Earth at the Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock, CA; the myth and stories of the Hindu Goddess Kali, jumped into my mind.  The theme this year is our relationship to the environment. And for me, that is the heartbreaking […]

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Dreaming, Spirit and the Creative Impulse

I thought that I would post some of my recent images, which continue my explorations into the intersection between dreaming, spirit and the creative impulse. “Evocation of Spring” begins with a memory and a dream. The dream involves the image of huge open book, which has forms within it that I am still learning how […]

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New series of Monotypes

  Meditations on Samsara is a series of monotypes based upon my practice of focus on one symbol in order to quiet the mind. This practice is the basis for this new series of works showing the slowly developing changes in the object of focus. This series of monotypes documents the many other images, which […]

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What have I been up to? Preparing for fall events…

The past few months I have been very busy working on new relief prints for some fall events. I will participate in the annual The Los Angeles Printmaking Society’s show “Give and Take”, which opens November 9, 2017 at the Angel City Brewery. This is part of an effort to raise funds for student scholarships […]

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New work, shows, invitations from the 7 planets

This month has been busy with work, a series of out-of-this-world invitations, a few shows and lots of printmaking. With the addition of collage to my monotype work, my images have been expanding in many new directions. You can view a number of new monotypes with collage worked into their compositions in my galleries. See […]

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My work now available through Saatchi Art

  It’s been very busy year for my work. I have worked with new techniques, entered new groups and relationships and made my work available through Saatchi Art.com, in addition to my own web store. My work was in a number of shows and I look forward to the next one, which will be called […]

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Studio News-new work-LA Printers Fair

I’ve been very busy in my studio these past months, creating a series of new works for my portfolio-nature on my website. I have also been busy exhibiting in a few shows, and preparing for the 2016 LA Printers Fair, which is a blast. Last year I had so much fun seeing everyone else’s work […]

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The Many Levels of Creative Exploration & Expressive Arts

If anyone had asked me back in art school if creating art was a healing thing to do, I would have said “well, yeah, duh”, because making art was only thing keeping me sane for most of my life. Since childhood, art was my escape from family issues, and since I hated school, it was […]

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