Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Sarah Bogdal is the face behind Spaghetti Bolognese Press. Primarily working in linocut, Sarah experiments with a range of scales, with a particular focus on medium and large sized pieces (12” x 18” and 18” x 24”). She also makes greeting cards, and has recently started producing bookmarks made from scrap paper left over from larger prints.
Sarah has been interested in art from an early age, and fell in love with relief printmaking in 8th grade when she was first introduced to the process in art class. She went on to attend Watkins College of Art, Film & Design in Nashville, TN where she enrolled in the BFA program. Printmaking became the majority of her body of work, and here she had the chance to explore other processes such as polyester lithography, screen printing, and copperplate etching. She tells us; “While I enjoyed screen printing, especially for creating more colourful work, the carving process was always my first love, so linocut remained my favourite medium.”
While still in college, Sarah began working at Paper & Ink Arts, a small art and calligraphy supply business in Nashville. She has now been with the company for 9 years. Telling us more about her time there she states; “I love being connected to art, artists, and art supplies during my workday. They have been very supportive of my art career, whether by making it easy and affordable to get the supplies I need or being flexible with time off for personal pursuits.”
Sarah’s prints are a blend of both real-life places and imagined settings. She describes; “If I’m depicting a local park, I’ll use photographs of that park for reference. If I’m aiming to represent a group of rats in a movie theatre, I’ll pull my favourite elements from various inspiration images of rats and theatres to craft something entirely new.”
Frequently drawing inspiration from the Nashville community, Sarah’s linocuts often feature the city’s architecture or parks that she has spent time in. She states; “My goal is to create Nashville-inspired work that resonates with fellow residents and community members. I love hearing about moments people have had in a particular park or watching a building grow and change over the years. These stories make me feel connected to my community through our shared love for the places I’m representing.”
Creatures such as jellyfish, rats, fungi, rabbits, and various birds, also frequently pop up in Sarah’s work. “I am definitely partial to representing animals over people,” says the printmaker. She continues; “I also like to have a sense of humour with my work, often drawing ideas from funny thoughts or images that pop into my head while spending time with friends or absorbing other creative outputs like movies, books, and television. Sometimes I’m just inspired by looking out the window of my home.”
Each of her works typically start with sketching her ideas by hand, with details refined and precise elements, like text or perspective, added in Photoshop. Sarah comments; “I feel that my sketches are pale in comparison to the final prints because I hold back on adding too much texture or detail, saving that for the carving process.” Once the sketch is complete, she prints, transfers it onto the block, carves, prints, signs, titles, bags it up, and done!
Still in the early stages of being a working artist, Sarah is primarily involved in the local market/festival/group show scene in Nashville, and hopes to travel further afield as she continues to develop her practice. Last year, she was part of a display at the Nashville International Airport for about five months, and she is currently designing a t-shirt for a local art festival.
Sarah concludes; “Right now, I’m going with the flow of opportunities around me and not putting too much pressure on myself to make big future plans or worry about what things will look like 10 years from now. I grew up hearing that creating art professionally was a waste of time, and that it was too hard to make the jump from creating work for fun to selling it. The fact that I’m doing that now, and having fun doing it, feels like a dream come true––I just want to sit back and enjoy it while I have the energy!”
www.spaghettibolognese.work
@spaghetti_bolognese
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