BFA Candidate Katie Blanchette
For her Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship last year, Katie Blanchette '12 explored printmaking techniques not taught in introductory and intermediate courses at UNH. She usually met twice weekly with her faculty mentor, Professor of Art Scott Schnepf. "He was there just to help me," says Blanchette, who's pursuing a bachelor of fine arts degree. "It was really good just to sit down and talk to him about the printmaking process, to ask him about his work and get his thoughts and opinions on my work."
Now he's using some of the methods she learned last summer in her senior thesis, which consists mainly of small prints depicting everyday moments that are easily overlooked. Blanchette says her summer experience highlighted the value of experimentation in learning, including the process of trial and error and the need to challenge oneself to go beyond the familiar. "Most important is developing the ability to make your own decisions and to think for yourself where something could go next."
Blanchette does intaglio printmaking, drawing with a needle directly onto copper plates and woodcuts. Intaglio is a family of printmaking techniques in which the image is incised into a surface, known as the matrix or plate, and the incised line or area holds the ink. "There's hundreds of ways to do things and that's what I like," she says. "With a copper square and needle I can be more spontaneous, stopping a walk when I see something. Woodcuts take longer and are more labor intensive."
After finishing her B.F.A., Blanchette plans to get a master's of arts in teaching with the goal of teaching high school art. "My main purpose as a teacher would be to introduce students to a world that I find fascinating and wonderful and empowering," she says. "Being able to make something of your own and claim it as your own and take pride in it is very powerful, and at that age, when things often seem so out of control, it's so important."
Slideshow: Bridget Finnegan, New and Emerging Media
Slideshow written by Erika Mantz, Media Relations. Intro written by David Moore, Editorial and Creative Services.
Special thanks to Julee Holcomb, UNH Art and Art History
Blanchette does intaglio printmaking, drawing with needle directly onto copper plates and woodcuts. Intaglio is a family of printmaking techniques in which the image is incised into a surface, known as the matrix or plate, and the incised line or area holds the ink. Intaglio literally means to carve into or to impress and includes woodcuts to engraving into copper plates to monoprints. "There's hundreds of ways to do things and that's what I like. With a copper square and needle I can be more spontaneous; stopping on a walk when I see something. Woodcuts take longer and are more labor intensive."
Detail from "Anticipation"
4 3/4" x 8 1/4"
Wood block
print
"When I did the original drawing I was standing in the stairwell that leads up to the BFA studios. It was the summer before my BFA year and before I even had a key to my studio. I liked the angle of the stairwell and how the light was coming in. I was feeling such an eagerness to get up there and make it a space all my own." Blanchette puts her early doodling skills to use before starting almost all of her prints.
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"Warm Home"
4 1/2" x 3"
Wood block
print
"The idea for this print came from a series of drawings I was doing on taking small things and trying to blow them up. This seashell I had was about the size of a human thumbnail. I was trying to get a gradient effect, like many Japanese prints have, but it's very difficult." Blanchette had inherited some water-based ink from a professor and wanted to experiment printing with it. This print and "Anticipation" were done thanks to a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship. Her proposal was to experiment with different printmaking techniques as well as water-based ink.
"Porcelain"
3" x 3"
Copper drypoint print
"This print is of a urinal my soon-to-be father-in-law had in his warehouse. He works in architectural salvage and I thought it would be fun to take something so ridiculous and make it into fine art. Before putting any hard lines on the copper I was doing light sketches to make it fit on the 3 inch square. Originally I was just going to do a line drawing but then I started seeing all the detail. I liked the challenge fitting tiny details in tiny spaces."
"Caution Cone"
5" x 3"
Copper drypoint print
"This print is a view on campus; it's looking under the little bridge behind the service building. "I had just gotten a new canvas chair that was easy to carry around and I was looking for places to sit and draw. I saw the cone and at first wasn't going to include it. It seemed like an accessory but at the last minute I threw it in."
"Horizon"
18" x 4 1/2"
Wood block print
"My main focus on this piece was experimenting with mark making, which is using big scoop tools to carve."
"Dappled Self"
4" x 7"
Wood block print
"I was sitting on the floor in my studio working on a different woodcut. I had a mirror propped up against a stool and when I glanced in the mirror I liked the way the reflection looked and decided to do a self portrait right then and there."
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