Karen Waggoner

Karen Waggoner’s daily art practice began back in January of 2021, and she quickly found that relief printmaking was the medium where she wanted to focus her energy. “The first time I saw what ink could do, how carving made me feel in the dead of winter, how an edition of prints looked all together – I was hooked,” says the printmaker. The idea of reduction prints began to penetrate Karen’s mind early on, so she learned how to make these prints using very primitive methods. Her printmaking practice has now evolved to using hand built registration devices and Ternes-Burton tabs and pins. She tells us; “I am proud of how my practice has grown slowly and organically so that I may understand the engineering behind the various methods I utilise”.

Although Karen has a full time day job, working as a perfustionist in cardiac surgery, she has always been a maker. “During the pandemic, things escalated at work, and life became so incredibly stressful that I knew I had to find a balance to keep myself from spinning out of control,” comments the printmaker. The Artist’s Way, a twelve week program/book by Julia Cameron, found its way into Karen’s hands and she believes from that that her “life has been forever changed”. An unused room in her basement in Michigan has been transformed into a beautiful, evolving home art studio. Karen states; “I am committed to spending time there everyday – whether I am tearing and tabbing paper, carving, drawing, pressing flowers or inking – I show up daily”.

Inspiration for Karen’s artworks comes from being outdoors in nature, and from “inanimate” objects such as the sky, trees, and landscapes; “I am drawn to the way trees sway, bend, and hold so much silent knowledge that humans cannot comprehend. Trees withstand the elements, the seasons, air pollution, the light and dark. Pondering trees, the moon, landscapes, and the seasons, or the light as the time of day changes – these are the common themes I explore with print.” Japanese shin manga prints, literature, poetry, and children’s book illustrations are also a big influence on Karen’s compositions. Expressing the everyday magic of nature steers her work in a slightly dramatic way.

Recently, she has been experimenting with botanical cyanotypes within her art practice; “The Prussian blue colour with white shadows make these prints addicting to make. The process forces me to take my time, mixing chemicals and painting papers in my studio in the dark with just some candles burning, taking long morning walks to collect plants and flowers, pressing the plants, drying them for a few weeks, then waiting for a nice sunny afternoon when I can print.” The process has brought Karen even closer to nature and the wild, and she now even finds that roadsides have “the most beautiful ‘weeds’, abundant shapes, all of them changing so rapidly”.

Both relief printing and cyanotype printing have given Karen the balance and stress relief she needs to cope with her career and survive in the modern world. “Like practicing yoga or meditation, with printmaking I can go deeply inward and know that the potential for exploration is limitless. My journey in printmaking has only just begun, and I am not looking to end up at a final destination, but wish to continue discovering methods and finding ideas to express which contribute to my health and connect me to the outside, wild world.”

@outdoorartlove

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