Artist Spotlight: Maryse Lörtscher

Mosaic Series, March 2014, watercolor, collage, ink, pencils by Maryse Lörtscher 

January 2015

Recently I was able to connect with Maryse Lörtscher, someone who lived in Senegal when I first arrived.  I did not get to know her there but friends connected us in Ghana.   Like me, Maryse is a world traveler.  She has lived in Mali, Haiti, Oman, Senegal, Indonesia, Egypt as well the United States where she will be moving shortly.
Marsyse studied biochemistry in her early years and later studied art, first obtaining a BFA in printmaking/drawing then an MFA in painting.  Her printmaking background predisposes her to create a lot of series on a theme.


detail

I discussed with her some of her thoughts behind her artwork.  She reflected that her interests studying biology and chemistry early on perhaps explain how her work evolves to sometimes microcosmic renditions.  She also mentioned that her mixed media- collages and painting- derive from the interest in "shadowing the information", something is erased and to writing that she refers to as asemic writing or pseudo writing.  She explained 'My work refers to altered communication.  You can see ghost images through and then make connections between the marks, symbols, images and text.  Trace of memories and events in my life.'
 

detail

Collaged images layer in combination with paint and the psydocalligraphy to peek through.  Those collaged elements come from museum pamphlets acquired from all over the world, her late father's stamp collection and magazines collected during her travels.  Many of her works have a strong fiber or fabric element as well.  She mentioned that quilters frequently pin her work on Pinterest as inspiration.  Color play is also a strong mark of her work.

The painting below, Writing on the Wall, symbolizes the signs of events to come, good and bad.  Many of her works are stories and expressions of her internal musings.  Maryse, however, prefers viewers to tell their own stories when looking at her work.  She says 'I don't consider my interpretation of my work to be the best.  My work is not there to pass on a message.'


Writing on the Wall 2011

More of her work can be found on her Facebook page or her website.

You can also view many more works and follow her work on Pinterest. 

*note Maryse spells her surname alternate ways, Lortscher and Loertscher.

Writing on the Wall detail 2011

Writing on the Wall detail 2011

recent works on paper

watercolor, ink and collage

Sewing Friends & Dresses

My sewing friends

 Today was a sad but sweet day with my sewing group.  A couple of my friends are leaving the country within the next few days.  We have had such a lovely time working on projects together and giving each other support.  We bring our backgrounds and talents from all over the world.  We are from Mauritius, Belgium, Portugal, USA, Germany and Senegal. 
Today, Arlette's gift to us was Yassa Poulet, a traditional and delicious Senegalese dish.  You can find a recipe here but I won't guarantee it will be as good as Arlette's.  We exchanged gifts and the watercolor portraits above were my gift to my friends.  It is has been a great couple of years together.  Below, Sigrid and Maria are wearing dresses made from some of my fabric designs.  Sigrid is wearing African Lace in Midnight Blue printed on Cotton Silk.  Maria is wearing Circus Tiles on Violet printed on Kona Cotton.  These and other designs can be found in my Spoonflower shop.

Stylin' Sigrid in a 1940's dress

Sexy knitter Maria

Fabric8

Fabric8, a fabric design contest, sponsered by Spoonflower and Kaufmann fabrics is up for voting over the next week.  The contest was to use pen and ink with watercolor.  If you click on the link for voting you will see that they were searching for a particular look.  My fabric, Love in All Seasons, did not make the first cut but I think it was a strong design.

I once read in a sewing book that if you improve your fit by 10% each garmet you will be sewing like a pro in no time at all.  I hope this axiom is true about designing fabrics as well.  My fabric is being test printed and will be available for sale in about 3 weeks. 

Owls & Project Selvage Update

These are North American owls, the Eastern Screech owl, and the Northern Saw-whet owl.  These ATCs (artist trading cards) are watercolor and pen drawings.
I didn't make it as a finalist in Project Selvage.  It was not surprising to me once I looked at the body of 968 entries.  I will keep on working on my fabric design to bring it up to the level of the finalists.  Tami Levin of my online doll-making group, DollStreetDreamers, did make it as a finalist.  I hope you take time to vote on the entries.  Make sure you also check out her beautiful art on her blog.