While some printmakers use large presses for there work, Lisa VanMeter presses by hand in her home studio. She is holding the linoleum block she used to create the framed print. The Tippy Lake resident sells her art at shows and also through her Etsy store, www.etsy.com/shop/LisaVanMeter. (Photo by Rebekah Whirledge)
“I believe everybody can do art. They just may not have found their medium yet,” says Lisa VanMeter. “Once I found printmaking, I knew I’d be doing it the rest of my life.”
VanMeter, her husband JB and children, Claire and Ben, split their time between a cottage on Tippecanoe Lake and a home in Carmel. Coming from a family of artists in Georgia (her grandfather was an engraver and mother hooked rugs), VanMeter first learned the art of printmaking from Patrick Flaherty at the Indianapolis Arts Center in Broadripple.
“Prior to that, I mostly did painting,” said VanMeter, who also taught art at Sacred Heart School in Warsaw for eight years. “I like the process of printmaking. Making multiple prints makes original artwork more affordable.”
Using a carving tool, VanMeter carves a reverse image into a linoleum or wood block. This single block is used to print multiple colors of ink onto paper. She uses mulberry paper from Thailand.
The lightest ink is applied first, pressed into paper, then dried. VanMeter then makes additional cuts into the same block, applies another ink color, and repeats the process until the final print emerges.
“Since the block changes after each press, I can only do one series of prints,” said VanMeter. “Once I’m sold out of those prints, they are gone. A series of prints could take three weeks from start to finish.”
Inspiration for VanMeter’s work comes from the world around her. She especially enjoys reproducing nature and the outdoors. One set of prints she created show a series of birch trees in Colorado while another depicts a beach and surf shack at St. Barths. She has prints of sunflowers and vases full of figs.
While some printmakers use large presses for there work, VanMeter presses by hand in her home studio. She sells her art at shows and also through her Etsy store, www.etsy.com/shop/LisaVanMeter.
After their children graduate high school, the VanMeters plan to make Tippecanoe Lake there full time home. Although her prints have been inspired by various travels around the world, she has yet to do a print of the lake itself.
“We love to travel,” said VanMeter. “But perhaps this summer is when I will make a print of the view out of our cottage onto Tippy Lake.”