Vendor Spotlight: Katie Muth

I spoke to Katie Muth about her beautiful hand printed graphic lino-cuts prints and cards. Katie is an independent artist, illustrator, and printmaker based in Toronto, Canada. She designs and prints in her home-based workshop. The lino-cut images depict things from her life that she cherishes most. Her intent is to make beautiful creations that share this joy. You can see more of Katie's beautiful work on her website.

Thea Haines: Where do you draw creative inspiration from?

Katie: Things in my life that I enjoy and value. I think I'm a designer at heart, so I really enjoy solving a creative problem. I like to do collections that follow a calendar year because I thrive on the framework of finding the best representation of what's good about each month.

T.H.: What do you love most about your craft?

Katie: A lot! I love the clean, binary nature of the lines in lino-cut (there is no grey - it's either printed or not printed), and the way the hand is slowed by the process of carving, making the images strong and deliberate. It's also a bit of a magic trick! You have to carve everything in reverse, so you don't know exactly what it's going to look like until the first time that you roll ink on, burnish the paper onto the lino-block, and reveal! It's pretty exciting. And finally, the BEST thing about my craft is that while it's a big investment of time and work to carve the block, you can continue making prints from it for years (unlike a painting that you have to say goodbye to when you sell.)

T.H.: Do you have a favourite place/spot/time of day/etc. to work?

Katie: I recently moved to a place with a lovely deck overlooking my vegetable garden. I used to have to heat the linoleum in the microwave to make it easier to carve, but now when I work out on my deck, the sun warms it to the perfect temperature!



T.H.: How do you get your work out in the world? Where else can one find it?

Katie: The internet is a wonderful thing. When I first started my card business, I would get a few orders in one day (from California for example) and it would be because someone blogged about my work. Mixed Media on James St. in Hamilton has been a great supporter of mine, and they carry a wide selection of my cards. I really love doing arts and craft shows though, because nothing compares to seeing all of the original prints displayed together, and the lovely tactile quality of ink on paper that can only be appreciated first-hand.