GALLERY NEWS

Paula Schuette Kraemer creates multilayered artwork using a variety of printmaking techniques that use metaphors to explore life’s ups and downs. Schuette Kraemer lives and works in both Madison, WI and Silverthorne, CO, where she draws her inspirations, witnesses and interacts with wildlife. Paula Schuette Kraemer is a featured artist in Unrestrained, on view at Ann Korologos Gallery March 1 to 31. Below is an interview that has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.

AKG: Do you have any stories or statements to share about At Night, In the Northwoods and In the Meadow? We love story time around new arrivals!

PAULA SCHUETTE KRAEMER: At Night and In the Northwoods are both based on an experience which I had years ago of seeing two white deer running in dark woods up near Boulder Junction, Wisconsin. There have often been sightings in those woods of these unique animals for over 100 years. At first, I was not sure what I was even looking at! The forms of the white deer against the darkness of a November forest was so incongruous, mysterious and surreal!

What a very special experience that nature shared with me!

AKG: Will you share more about the mixed media process utilizing etching, monotype, intaglio and collage

The first run of both prints is a monotype of dark blue-black. The white lines of trees printed on top is the etching plate carrying the blue-gray and tangled trees. The next layer is an Intaglio plate carrying the deer images. Each of the three plates are printed with the printing press.

After the printing press, I utilized collage for the pink ears and eyes, as well as the brown trees of In the Northwoods are cut from separately printed pieces of Japanese Kozo (Mulberry) Paper and then adhered to the already printed ‘background’ of woods and white deer.

The same collage process was used for At Night, only the campfire and trees are etchings cut out and applied to the etching, monotype and intaglio background. As there are no dotted lines for how to cut out the trees, each finished print has variation. These two prints are labor-intensive, to say the least!

AKG: It’s not too often that you see eight moose together. What is the story behind In the Meadow?

PAULA SCHUEUTTE KRAEMER: In the Meadow documents another rather miraculous sighting: Eight moose all grazing at the same time on a snowy day up in our meadow. When nature shares these extraordinary experiences with us, it seems necessary to document them. In its own way, this print is also a complicated one, because if its size and the number of plates used. There is one etching plate and three Intaglio plates created using a light sensitive process to transfer my oil stick drawings to create a printable matrix.

AKG: How do you know when a work is finished or what color to use? 

PAULA SCHUETTE KRAEMER: It is intuitive and part of my artistic ability to judge, often after trial and error, what comes closest to my ideal expression of the subject. I know that’s vague, but it’s the decision-making process I go through in proofing a new print before it is ready to be editioned. How does the new piece meet my aesthetic and make it a fine work of art? 

AKG: The process seems seamless once it’s finished. What’s an example of an idea that you had to change in the process? 

PAULA SCHUETTE KRAEMER: A good example of this is the Greek Cat Series which was inspired by a trip I took to Greece. When I think of Greece, I think of cats, and I think of blue. I photographed and then drew the cats, making decisions on which compositions would be the best, then I etched the plates. The question was how to incorporate the blue. I tried making the cats blue. I tried making the backgrounds blue and nothing “worked”. The color overwhelmed the drawing of the cats in each case. Finally, after many failed attempts, I came up with the idea of simply naming each color of blue and printing it in that color and Chine colléing it onto the print. 

The moral of this story is that printmaking is all about problem-solving. I think you could even say that art making is all about problem-solving!

AKG: You’ve spoken to this in the telling of these stories, but do you see any crossovers between animals and humans that you’ve observed? Or marked differences that you either celebrate or lament? 

Most of my work is about the interaction between man and nature and what are those animals thinking? There is often evidence of the passing of animals nearby or of their being nearby.  Also, quiet and melancholy, as well a little humor is incorporated.

AKG: This Women’s History Month, is there anything you’d like to share about being an artist in a male-dominated industry?

PAULA SCHUETTE KRAEMER: What is important is the art and who best expresses it in the finest aesthetic way.

AKG: Are there any new prints or ideas you’re developing?

PAULA SCHUETTE KRAEMER: Right now, I am out in Colorado watching my two grand boys. When I get home, it will most likely take me a month to finish assembling In the Northwoods and At Night. After that, I hope to do a print about my English Cream Golden Retriever. He constantly assumes the play position and I think our poor world needs a happy print at this point. It will most likely be 36 x 24.” At this point, all I have is a drawing and it probably will not get born for about three months.