Biography

KC Hancock - Monotype Artist

KC Hancock has had a life long love of the creative process and has long enjoyed creating both two and three dimensional art pieces for friends and family. She began college as an art major, but in those tender times, she changed course to something more “practical.” Consequently, she spent an inordinate number of years relegating her artwork to hobby status and in conflict with her “day” job. Her Masters work in psychology focused on the effect of creativity on human development and included a study of the Creative Connection with Natalie Rogers, daughter of famous psychologist, Carl Rogers.

KC has taken many art classes over the years, but the pivotal class was in September of 2004, when she attended a Monotype class given by Portland artist, William Park at the Sitka Center on the Oregon Coast. When she discovered the monotype print process, she was not able to contain her inner artist any longer. After several months of taking classes and working at her art “off hours,” it became impossible to ignore this passion and she made the shift from middle management with the State, to full time artist.

KC works primarily with abstract images; working a plate, rolling colors on and wiping them away (both additive and subtractive); to see how the colors, shapes, and textures work and play together. She loves the vibrant colors that can be achieved with fine printing inks on paper.

“Monotype has provided me with a vehicle to explore images that relate to an internal landscape; to experiment with creating an elemental dialogue that is sometimes mystical, sometimes whimsical. Most of my work is abstract or has a contemporary feel, in which I work with multiple colors and textures. Part of what I love about monotype is the way I can work the image until it feels right. It allows me to be both spontaneous and very detailed and deliberate. I have made a major shift in my life to accommodate what has become an obsession.”

Monotype is a printmaking process in which an image, pattern or color composition painted directly onto an individual plate is transferred, typically by using a etching press, onto a sheet of printmaking paper. The process results in a single, unique impression that is painterly in feel yet has the deep intrinsic beauty of a print. Flexibility, simplicity, and openness to chance effects are the overriding features of monotype prints. Many artists have worked with monotypes—William Blake, Edgar Degas, Paul Gauguin, Matisse, and Picasso are a few of the more prominent. KC uses the finest printing inks and papers to produce her unique and one-of-a-kind original images.