Artebella On The Radio: October 29

Open Studio Weekend is November 7 & 8, so the next two weeks we will be talking with a few of the participating artists. LVA leader Kristian Anderson joins me along with Trish Korte, Philip High, & Rebecca Norton. Tune in to WXOX 97.1 FM, or stream on Artxfm.com each Thursday at 10 am to hear Keith Waits talk with artists on LVA's Artebella On The Radio. https://www.louisvillevisualart.org/osw

Trish Korte is a exhibiting artist and licensed visual arts educator and currently an MFA candidate it the University of Louisville’s Hite Institute for Art. She has taught for LVA’s Children’s Fine Art Classes for many years Her art classes exceed the Visual Arts Standards so that you always know kids are getting rich learning experiences while having fun.

Philip High was born in Louisville, Kentucky and studied painting, printmaking and ceramics at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. His career in graphic arts took him to Atlanta, Georgia, and Mobile, Alabama. Years later he returned to Lexington, he shifted his focus back to fine art. Philip has received regional, national and international awards for fine art and illustration in both digital and traditional media and currently lives in Louisville, Kentucky.

Rebecca Norton,’s work examines theories of synthesis and connectivity as they relate to the activity of reconstructing reality in vision and thought. She takes a special interest in color theory and problems of the mathematical intelligibility of natural phenomena. Norton has exhibited nationally and internationally. She has been a contributing writer for The Brooklyn Rail, Arts in Bushwick and Abstract Critical. Rebecca Norton currently lives and works in Louisville, KY.

LVA Executive Director Kristian Anderson has 15 years’ experience in the arts and culture sector, most recently as Senior Policy Advisor to the Mayor of Salt Lake City. In that role, he oversaw a variety of community, operational and political projects encompassing arts and culture as well as land use, urban design, economic development and more. Prior to his mayoral appointment, Kristian was for four years the Executive Director of the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art and Executive Director for the Association of Academic Museums and Galleries in Seattle.

Open Studio Weekend Spotlight: Debby Stratford

“Untitled” by Debby Stratford, printmaking, 16x30in, linoprint, $175.00

Debby Stratford is an artist and living in Louisville, KY. She spent many years teaching art to public school students in Louisville (as well as a stint with Louisville Visual Art in 1980s), and is now printing full-time.

The journey of any individual artist to find the medium that offers them the most satisfaction is not always easy. For some, once a brush is picked up, the search has ended, but for others, it can be trial and error over a period of years. Debby Stratford is a printmaker, but her first efforts frustrated her and she turned to clay for many years until she was reunited with linocut in graduate school at the University of Louisville.

“The cuts on the plate contain my tears of joy and sorrow as I have traveled through my life,” explains Stratford. “My subject matter is life as I see it, feel it, and remember it. My hope is that those looking will find a common ground with me.”

That relationship with medium and, in the case of printmakers, process, is a crucial aspect of the artist’s identity: “I work in the printmaking process because it affirms my place as an observer and participant in life. Through printmaking, I can turn an image around and get another view. It is like looking in a mirror to see who you are. My conception of an image happens on the sheet of linoleum. I draw directly on the linoleum block; revising my image as I cut into the linoleum using a one millimeter gouge. The gouge is like my pencil or brush. I develop my image as I create the print. Because life moves on, my style is constantly evolving, much like a painter. I don’t concentrate on developing a style and then repeating that look time after time.”

“Untitled” by Debby Stratford, printmaking, 16x30in, linoprint, $175.00

Stratford’s images have the feel of storybook illustrations from far back in time, framing snatches of narrative from tales full of darkness and foreboding. Her forests are dense, she uses formal framing devices, and animals appear in symbolic and metaphorical roles, characteristic not the sanitized fairy tales of today but more the traditional European stories in which authentic threat and peril taught children a healthy respect for fear.

Debby Stratford will be participating in the Louisville Visual Art/ University of Louisville Hite Art Institute 2019 Open Studio Weekend on November 2 & 3. She also is included in the Open Studio Weekend Juried Exhibit at The Cressman Center, which opens November 1, from 6:00-8:00pm.

Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Education: BS Art Education, Edinboro University (Edinboro, Pennsylvania); MAT with Emphasis in Printmaking, University of Louisville, Kentucky
Website: debbystratfordartist.com

“Untitled” by Debby Stratford, printmaking, 16x30in, linoprint, $175.00

“Untitled” by Debby Stratford, printmaking, 16x30in, linoprint, $175.00

Written by Keith Waits. Entire contents copyright © 2019 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved. In addition to his work at the LVA, Keith is also the Managing Editor of a website, Arts-Louisville.com, which covers local visual arts, theatre, and music in Louisville.

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