The Spotlight April 10, 2009

Marcia Thompson is the third artist to be spotlighted from The Brown Dog Studio, a cooperative that uses only “Green” non toxic materials to produce their art.  The studio was founded by Marianne Stanke and named after her chocolate lab Buster Brown who can often be found sleeping under their printing press.  The other member of the printmaking trio is Lynne Burgess who was in the spotlight last week.

Marcia’s prints are primarily monotypes or monoprints which are produced by applying ink directly to an acrylic sheet.  She then removes the ink so the colors beneath are revealed.  Lately she has been experimenting with Akua inks which are water-based and Caligo inks which are oil-based but both of which can be cleaned up with soap and water.  Because of the process she uses, applying and removing layers of colored ink, each print can go through the press up to 20 times.

The prints Marcia produces are usually related to memory and old photographs and are often inspired by a collection of dolls which reside in her studio.  She was an art teacher for almost 30 years in West Salem and currently teaches Art Methods at UW-La Crosse.  Her artwork has been exhibited in many regional shows and galleries including a group exhibit at St. Mary’s in Winona, Edgewood College in Madison and the Kohler Art Center in Sheboygan.  Her most recent show was “Under Pressure” held at the Pump House last month.

Check out her print “Emerging Alphabet: Go” in the Coulee Region Art Slideshow.  Just click on the “Local Area Artists” box below.