I’m a regular at the Whatcom Museum’s first Friday events every month - if you don’t know, every first Friday the museum offers free admission, and there is always a series of activities related to the current exhibit. Go there! It’s so great!
This month I visited the Lightcatcher’s newest exhibit, Forested: From the Vault, where a curated collection of forest-related pieces had been pulled from the permanent collection. Among them was a local artist I hadn’t heard of before named Elizabeth Colborne. Colborne was a woodblock artist who lived in Bellingham in the 1920’s and 30’s.
Do you ever see a piece of artwork and feel instantly connected to the artist? That’s how I felt when I saw Colborne’s work. I felt completely drawn in, and I wanted to ask her to coffee and talk about her technique and inspirations. Just by looking at what she chose to print and how she did it, I felt like if we lived at the same time, we could be kindred spirits. What a cool feeling! And something to strive for in my work.
Another really fun thing I learned about her work was that she created unique pieces by taking these multi-layer prints and painting tempera details on top of them. I loved the effect of her mixing of mediums and feel inspired to try that myself in my next set of prints.
It’s always good to take a day out of the studio to gather inspiration from other places. You never know what you might come across and how it will influence your own work in the future.
Onward! In the meantime, though, you should definitely get down to the museum and check out her work. The rest of the exhibit was also exceptional. I particularly loved these owl sketches and wish I had noted the name of the artist who made them in practice for their sculptures. I guess I’ll have to go back next month and pay closer attention. Maybe I’ll see you there!
