KC Hancock started out life as an art major in college, but worked in technology for a living … until she found a way to blend both. Now, after taking a monotype printing class, she is working with papers, inks and her imagination to move her future forward.
“The whole process just clicked for me,” Hancock says. “I would say I am leaning towards the right brain – the mystical side now.” That pivotal class was in 2004. The following year, she quit her middle management job and became a professional artist. “It feels wonderful. I think I am the happiest I have ever been,” she says.
For Hancock, the art has to be a challenge. She explains that questioning how to convey a certain feeling or emotion is extremely satisfying and rewarding. “It gives me a reason for being,” she adds.
A spiritual connection to her art prompts her to create. She says, “It makes me happy because it is an expression, even years ago when I was taking spiritually oriented classes, because I wanted to understand the connection. I can see my thoughts and feelings in images, so I am never at a loss for images.”
Monotype is an art form where artists work with heavy print papers and etching ink. “It’s heavy and sort of viscous. You roll it onto a plexi-glass plate until you get the image you want. I mix colors off one plate. It is always backwards, and I am a little dyslexic, so that is why I like it so much. When you are working on the glass plate you can manipulate that in a way that is very expressive. It is very fun,” says Hancock.
The expense of owning a press pushed Hancock to try unusual means to avoid buying one. “I even tried a lawn roller. I tried things like running over the paper with a car. But I finally broke down and bought a good press. I will carry that with me even if I am homeless; the press will be going with me.”
Creating the unique expressions can take anywhere from a couple of hours to a month. “It’s all about getting the expression. If it is not it, then I don’t keep it,” Hancock says. Hancock took her artwork to a fifth-grade classroom. “Each child got to make up stories; it was abstract so each child had their own story to tell.”
Hancock says that her art is almost exclusively abstract and often non-objective. She adds, “It’s all mental pictures and they come from my brain and emotions. It is all emotions, feelings, concepts and spiritual ‘aha.’”
MONOTYPE MOJO WORKSHOP
Saturday, October 8 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Cost: $45 for the day
About the class: “The prints we create can be kept as original art or used as papers for collage, greeting cards, book arts, scrapbooking, book arts, and more. No experience is required. Students can bring leaves, ferns, lace, lattice, mesh or netting to create different textures. We will be working with 10” x 10” plates. Bring a sack lunch as this will be a full day. All supplies provided.”
