Linda Larochelle – What keeps me going as an artist is striving to achieve an interesting juxtaposition between texture, pattern, color and the division of space. This fascination with pattern and color seems to run through my work whatever medium I am using.
Right now my work is focused on relief block prints although I am also a painter using watercolors, oils and pastels. I first became interested in Printmaking as a child in school and later developed it at the San Francisco Art Institute where I focused on fine line etching. My prints are often “Unique Variations” meaning although the image is the same, colored ink is rolled on by hand in non -identical ways making each print unique somewhat like mono prints.
Sometimes I also hand paint over the print itself, adding color to achieve an effect and making the print one of a kind. However I set a limit to the number of variations of one image. Many of my prints are pulled by hand without a press so my editions are generally small. Recently I have begun to use a press but it is hard work and time consuming which again keeps my edition size down. The mother and child theme appears often in my block prints. It ‘s meaningful to me because it reflects my own experience as a mother. Also I feel the simple contrasts of block printing lends itself to these figures and helps me to get my message across.
Working as a painter is a nice balance to my printmaking because it offers the freedom and flexibility that printmaking cannot. I am a graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute and have done graduate work at the University of Maryland and VCU. After over twenty years as an art educator I have retired from the Arlington County Virginia public schools to devote full time to my art.
My work is represented by the Loft Gallery in Occoquan and at Stifle and Capra in Falls Church. I was a resident artist at the Lorton Workhouse for some time but now prefer to work out of my home studio. I am also an active member of Falls Church Arts and the Fredericksburg Center For The Creative Arts.