Introduction

Greetings and welcome to my blog! 

Over the next several months, I will be exploring various works of art with you. But first, a little background. I am an undergraduate student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks pursuing my degree in Psychology and minoring in Art. I selected Art as my minor after spending many years appreciating art and yearning to learn more, all while pushing myself to test my own abilities. I have spent many years dabbling in various artistic endeavors - painting, drawing, photography, graphic design, interior design, and, more recently, printmaking. If I had to choose my favorite of those, it is without a doubt printmaking. I recently hosted a workshop in my community and taught roughly 20 attendees how to create a cyanotype. 

So, what is a cyanotype? Well, it's like a blueprint. With the right mixture of chemicals, paper, organic materials, and UV exposure, you, too, could end up with a pretty cool print to display on your walls! It's simple, easy, and anyone can do it. It yields different results each time with a wide range of possible outcomes depending on different variables. What's not to love, right? The print below was done by my 7 year-old son, Jackson. 

This short video is a great visual of the cyanotyping process:

I grew up just outside of Washington, D.C. and spent many a day meandering around the National Gallery of Art, The Corcoran, attending various art shows, sifting through art books at the bookstore, and skirting around to other small local galleries in my hometown of Fredericksburg, Virginia. I had just graduated from high school and wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with my life, so I enrolled in college courses and began my journey. One of those classes was Art History. 

It was during this time of my life that I learned to truly appreciate Art and all of the wonderful ways in which people have been expressing themselves for centuries. The painting below is titled The Birth of Venus, by Sandro Botticelli. It has always been one of my favorite works of art. I love the muted colors, the sea, the beauty of the goddess, the way you can almost feel the wind from the breath of the gods to her left, and the general ethereal beauty of the scene. The painting has its share of imperfections - the perspective isn't quite right in certain spots - but, to me, it is perfectly imperfect.  

 

The Birth of Venus 
Painting by Sandro Botticelli
1483-1485
https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/the-birth-of-venus-sandro-botticelli/MQEeq50LABEBVg?hl=en