Kathy Beachler

This is a print by Kathy Beachler who is an artist that does mainly linocut pieces. When she does a print it can be just in the one color that was used to print the piece, or it can be in that ink color and then water colors as well. I really enjoy her use of water colors along side print making because its an interesting way to make each piece unique. When I think of print making, I generally think of many pieces that are identical, or close to it anyway. With this water color technique, each piece is one-of-a-kind. I also think this is a sophisticated way to treat a piece that would generally be used as a decoration for a child. The animals are not your run of the mill animals that are commonly used with children's alphabet primers and the style and technique used by Kathy are also a more "grown up" treatment of a child's subject matter. I really like the idea of treating art work for children in the same manner that one would treat art work for an adult and this is a concept that children's book illustrators like Eric Carle seem to have mastered. Although his subject matter might be geared for a child, its treatment is not. This is a great way to create unique illustrations, but especially when dealing with children it seems like a key selling point. If a parent is reading to their child night after night it seems only logical that they would enjoy reading books with sophisticated, interesting artwork over run of the mill cartoons and flat looking animal figures.