About Alyson Markell
Alyson Markell explores the potential for the unexpected. The Images in her work reflect her surroundings as well as her love for the natural environment. She often uses horses not only for her love knowledge of them but also because they express freedom and movement. The abstract nature of the work allows for a more spontaneous expression, blurring the lines between the fine art of painting and printing. Markell’s background is steeped in the tradition of the nude and figure as subject matter. She spent 10 years using her creative and artistic talents at Industrial Light & Magic, a division of Lucas Digital in San Francisco, California, where she created animal and human characters for dozens of blockbuster hit movies. Trained as a traditional sculptor, painter and modeler, Markell has garnered a reputation for capturing the likeness of animals and fanciful creatures on film and in fine art. In 2006, Markell returned to Cazenovia, New York State where she is engaged as a full time artist.
The Art of Monotype
Alyson Markell
Ready to make a print, Alyson lays archival paper over a inked plate
A monotype is a one of a kind, hand-pulled print. Even though a monotype is a print, it is an original, not a reproduction. I create an image with etching ink on a smooth glass plate, and transfer the image to paper on a printmaking press. By pressing the plate & paper together with the pigments sandwiched in between, I am able to create a texture not possible when painting directly on paper. After the paper is squeezed against the still-wet image on the plate, I literally peel the paper off the plate. The monotype pulled off the plate almost always has an element of surprise since the art created on the plate is flattened, squeezed and moved around when the paper is pressed into the ink. The final result on paper may look quite different than the image on the plate.Why not just paint on a canvas instead of a plate? This is another common question and a good question. Printmaking encompasses many printing mediums such as lithography, etching, silk screening and monotypes. I find monotype making the most interesting of these mediums. Monotypes are a very experimental form of art work as even the artist never knows for sure what the final result will be until the monotype is pulled off the plate. I love that element of surprise! For me making monotypes involves all the aspects of the creative process that I love exploration, experimentation, discovery, intuitiveness and a willingness to let go of the need to totally control the outcome. It requires a lot of faith in the creative process.
Figure Monotype
This series of monotype incorporates the transfer of photographic images on to print paper using a solvent. I then incorporate the ink to create movement and flow. The once the image has been inked I run it through the press. The paper is lifted of the plate to reveal the transferred and inked image. The plate almost always has an element of surprise since the art created on the plate is flattened, squeezed and moved around when the paper is pressed into the ink. The final result on paper may look quite different than the image on the plate.
Crow Monotype
My Art Studio is located in rural Central New York in a beautiful setting surrounded by luscious greenery & trees within earshot of small family owned farmlands. Crows sitings are regular and common throughout the year. From the occasional mischievous crow circling above wondering what we humans are up to, to the vast murder of crows that often pass overhead. Their mystique, their temperament and their highly intelligent nature has attracted me to their beauty. I began sketching crows many years ago and found that often times I would be drawn to their dark side of nature. My prints and monotypes of crows portray them in their setting in a way that evokes the dark side of their nature, wheather in winter or spring when they migrate through the region or settling in a nesting area near me.
An Equestrian Art Story
Horses have been a theme of mine since I was a little girl. Over my life I have explored the equis as a theme in many media including painting, sketching, sculpture and digital format. In this series, I have adopted a mixed media technique where I start by painting with acrylic on paper, and then methodically tearing up the paper into random shapes, as a child might tear into wrapping paper. I then assemble the paper into series of colors forming the basis for the re-assemblage into a new image. These canvases then can be considered as a combination of acrylic paint and collage, a technique taught to me in collaboration by the artist Jim Ridlon, of Central New York. Though the horse theme is the basis for this series, other forms provide the backdrop, in some case the reason, for the horse. In a sense this series is in an abstract form of a painterly manner built up, or layered, by the tearing and ripping of other artwork, unrelated, yet once combined, related to the final piece.
Contact
If you are interested in purchasing a print or would like additional information:
Alyson Markell
(315) 825-5539
alyson@alysonmarkell.com
4634 Ridge Road, Cazenovia, NY 13035