Featured Artist Katie Dean

Printmaker Katie Dean shares a refreshing collection of colorful linocut and block print designs inspired by the natural world. Visit her website to see more.

 

 

I’m an artist and printmaker who is currently finding creative inspiration in the Pacific Northwest—specifically Tacoma, Washington. I was raised in this beautiful green landscape and have many fond memories exploring the woods near my home as a young kid.

 

 

This love of adventure, exploration and natural beauty has continued to influence my work. I consider myself a curious soul who is open and fluid in my ways of navigating the world and I tend to shy away from viewing it through a black and white lens.

 

 

Deep down, in that intuitive place, I knew I was an artist.

 

 

The art classes in school were the only ones I truly enjoyed. Pursuing a career in the arts is my most authentic and honest path and a gift I can share while I’m here.

 

 

My educational background and formative work experience is in graphic design and this has helped me build my creative business. In 2005, I left my in-house graphic design job to entertain the ideas of developing a greeting card collection. It would be a long return back to this idea after I had my first child in 2007.

 

 

I am a mother of two. When my kids were very young and keeping my full attention, I was afforded the time to explore my love of printmaking, something I had been exposed to in college. Having some time and space to explore, I found myself trying new things to really experience what “art as therapy” is all about.

 

 

I have an illustrative style. When I was a kid, I loved looking at picture books and redrawing images I liked. This was reinforced while I was a young mother. I had the pleasure of revisiting the children’s section of the library where I found the illustrations in the many books we read inspiring.

 

 

I am also inspired by the human experience and have begun incorporating figures in my images as a way to tell a more complex story. Life can offer such joy and such sorrow. My mission in creating art is to illustrate the whole spectrum.

 

 

As my kids got older, I started entertaining ideas of growing a creative business once again. I realized I could combine my fine art printmaking work with greeting cards and fabric products like towels and tapestries. This branching out has enabled me to take my work in many directions, offering a variety of beautiful items to my customers.

 

 

These days, you will find me raising two amazing teenagers, working on new art prints and selling my work at local events and online through my Etsy shop. If I’m not doing that, I’m outside enjoying the beautiful landscape I call home.

 

Artist Katie Dean invites you to follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Etsy.

 

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