3 Owl Tree: Inviting Nature into Urban Spaces
We are thrilled to welcome Liz Neuman to our coworking community as our latest Featured Artist! Liz’s beautiful block prints and etchings come alive with birds from the Pacific Northwest featured in their natural habitat. We are over the moon to have these works reminding us of all the incredible natural beauty in our region.
Just spending a few minutes looking at each print has us packing up our binoculars and heading outdoors. We bet you’ll feel the same way.
“Surfing” by Elizabeth C Neuman of 3 Owl Tree
We spent some time talking with Liz about her process, her experience in nature, and what it means to be an artist in an urban environment.
Office Nomads: Tell us more about your use of block prints. What about that medium works for you for your artistic expression?
Liz Neuman: I love the process of block printing. There are so many steps and I love seeing the final outcome – or truth revealed – when that first print is pulled.
“Forest Haunt,” by Liz Neuman
ON: What does your process look like? Do you start with photographs, sketches, or paintings from the field before they turn into block prints? I’m curious as to how you first capture your subjects before they get to the block printing stage.
LN: It starts for me with an experience in Nature, coming to know a place and a bird that is resident or passing through. I take photos, make sketches, and if I’m staying in the area will start on a block on site. The environment is a critical element in each piece, so I draw and photograph the trees and terrain. I continue with design and bird studies in my home studio.
I like to make a lot of drawings of the featured bird and will use reference photos to add to my own. If I don’t have photos and take a particular image from a bird watcher, I will get permission and credit the photographer if I’m doing a close likeness.
Liz and her husband hanging her work at Office Nomads.
ON: You show your work in various spaces all over the city. That is a lot of work! How does it feel when you walk into a space that is filled with your prints?
LN: It is a pleasure to hang bird-in-habitat images in urban spaces, for I believe a sojourn in Nature refreshes the human spirit. As all my work connects with a real place and a bird in that place, when it’s up on cafe walls I time travel! Most of all I hope to spark that sense of peace and celebrate a bird of the Northwest.
ON: Where is your work heading after it leaves Office Nomads?
LN: I will be showing at Espresso Vivace mid-May and am still arranging bookings for this year. Being a coffee lover, I am always on the lookout for a likely cafe. I have a great collection of coffee cards!
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We hope you’ll come by the office sometime soon to take a look at Liz’s work. We’ll be hosting a special edition of our weekly Wednesday Snack on Wednesday March 4th at 3:45 to have Liz chat with us about her work. All are welcome.
Please head on over to Liz’s website, 3 Owl Tree, to learn more about her work.
Are you an artist looking for a great space to hang your work? Send us a message and we’d love to talk with you about sharing your work with our coworking community on Capitol Hill.