Linda Hoetink, one of ACA’s innovative art teachers, has loved art for just about as long as she can remember. “I don’t remember a specific moment when I decided to become an artist,” she says. “I was surrounded by art from a young age. Both of my parents were art historians, and I remember my mother dropping me at the museum where my father worked, leaving me free to roam through the galleries and look at art, from Flemish altar pieces to German expressionists. I felt completely at home there. That feeling of self-evidence is important to me, and I try and convey that in my teaching.” Hoetink will bring that very sensibility to her “Family Printmaking” workshop this fall – a fun family workshop in which children and their families will design relief prints, and more, with simple, safe materials. The workshop, which takes place on Sunday, November 6 from 1-3 pm, is one in a series of newly-introduced “Art for Everyone” programs – inclusive classes and workshops designed to offer accommodations and to support each individual student as they explore different mediums and let their imagination run wild.
“Printmaking is one of the oldest art forms on the planet,” Hoetink exclaims. “Think of the hand prints and hand stencils that were discovered on the rock walls in ancient caves, some of them 30,000 years old! Printmaking can be very simple and direct. Dip your hand in paint and press it on a piece of paper and—voila!—you have a print. Printmaking can also be very sophisticated and complicated. It is a very varied medium and there are many different techniques within printmaking—mono-printing, linocuts, stenciling, etching, screen-printing.”
The daughter of art historians, Hoetink is a firm believer in the importance of learning about art through its history. “I find it important to incorporate some art history in my practical art classes,” she says. “We can learn so much from looking at artworks and putting into words what it is we are actually seeing. I regularly hear from my students that they are looking at things differently since they have been drawing or painting. They don’t see an apple as only red anymore, but see the different colors in that red, not only in art class but also when they are in the grocery store! Making art is an enriching experience on many levels.”
When asked why art was important to her, she offered: “The urge to make art is what makes us human. Art can soothe, heal, excite, upset, invigorate, make you laugh or cry. Good art makes us recognize we are part of a larger whole.”
Indeed. Make sure to join Hoetink for her “Family Printmaking” workshop this fall at ACA – we can’t wait to see what you create!
For more info or to register, visit www.acarts.org
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