Elaine Grodaes

As a kid on the prairie, I loved the outdoors, horses and drawing. I always had a flare for art and crafts, but never really considered art a viable career option. During university I did manage to slip in a few drawing and design courses and was able to express my interest in visual communication and interpretation through my thesis. Most of my career was spent in marketing communications where I especially enjoyed the strategy and creative element in the design of ads, events and marketing collateral. Since moving to the island, I have had opportunity to devote more time to artmaking and have explored a range of mediums. I am primarily self taught but have taken courses and workshops along the way. Currently I am enthralled with printmaking.

Printmaking has a tactile, physical quality that appeals to me because I like making things with my hands. I am attracted to the unexpected and alluring mark-making you just can’t seem to get elsewhere. And, of course, there is nothing quite like the excitement of the big reveal when you pull paper from plate. 

I am inclined towards abstract realism often with bold graphics and find I am drawn to figures which somehow just seem to appear.

Collagraph, linocut and drypoint all offer a structured approach, each with their own limitations and opportunities, and I enjoy trying to achieve the result I envision. I also relish the fact that you then get to experiment with your plate.

But I really gravitate to the spontaneity of monotype; the process of laying down of one colour and texture, and the intuitive response to what is then on the surface. Lately I have been experimenting with combining printmaking methods to create interesting backgrounds that give a completely different attitude to a figure.