Casey Blanchard

Casey Blanchard
Shelburne, Vermont

STATEMENT

I stand at the printing press armed with my tools, plates, paper, and inks. Images funnel into my well, ready to be transformed into tactile expression. Glistening globs of chemistry and pigment color the palette tempting the bristles and the sticky smack of the brayer. The smell of the oils blending and the moment the brush tip touches the surface is enticing. Print by print, the image starts to breathe. My heart feels its rhythm. Pattern develops; color and values take a stand. Monoprinting is engaging, surprising, fluid, and in the moment.

It is not what is apparent that interests me, more what’s behind the frayed veil and the torn edge. It is the hints at the essence of existence and the glimmers of truth that draw me in. My search for relevance is a bit like an archaeological dig. I look for clues in the natural and man-made environment. Understanding the world can be a challenge, creative expression is my sanity check.

As important is witnessing when people see it in the art. It can be anything that wakes up the viewer’s perception. From the most mundane to the most significant matters–a bug, a feather, a fern, the rhythm of nature, a musical note, a mountain peak, or an idea–I sense exciting interconnections within them. I strive to translate that inspiration to the viewer in a nonverbal, nonlinear way. I offer and encourage reflection, exploration, and a connection to meaning. That connection is what inspires me.

BIO

Primarily a self-taught artist, Casey explores her experiences through the engaging and often unpredictable print medium of monoprinting. She is most interested in the spiritual aspects that emerge in the image, particularly relating to how we live in the world and how the world lives in us. In the beginning the work may be a search for answers, but in the end it’s more about being here without them.

Creating a monotype or monoprint is a process using moistened paper with oil paint and/or etching inks. Working with a press and printing plate, an additive or subtractive method is often used with multiple layers of images to create an individual work. Casey often works on a theme which becomes a 10 to 15 piece collection. Each work is on archival 100% rag paper, and is one of a kind.

Casey Blanchard was born in Greenwich, Connecticut in 1953. She lives in Shelburne with her husband, Dan Cox. Her artwork is in UVM and Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Centers’ permanent collections, the new Burlington Hilton Garden Inn, private residential collections, corporate offices, the hospitality industry, on web designs and various published materials. She has exhibited at the Burlington International Airport, Frog Hollow State Craft Center, Burlington’s South End Art Hop, Shelburne Farms, Furchgott Sourdiffe Gallery, and Seventh Generation’s corporate offices. Her art can be digitally printed in larger images on different media, such as aluminum panels.

ARTIST CONTACT

[click to email]
www.caseyblanchard.com

IMAGES