THR Artist Spotlight Series: Virginia Moore
Visual Artist Virginia Moore has two things in common with Pop Art Icon Andy Warhol. She’s a Pittsburgh, PA native and she has been involved with printmaking for a very long time. She was engaged with printmaking before software tools such as Adobe Photoshop. While the techno-help is appreciated, she’d still be printmaking, even without those types of innovations, she says. At the Booth Museum in Cartersville last year, she visited the Andy Warhol exhibit. There was a printmaking example (screen-print) that showed all the stages involved in getting to his final print, and she really enjoyed being able to see that. Moore, who lives in Paulding County, doesn’t want to see printmaking decline or cease to exist, she says. Moore teaches classes in drawing, painting, printmaking, and more in Cobb and Paulding County.
She obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a minor in Anthropology and a concentration in printmaking from KSU in spring 2021. Her degree gave her a solid formal foundation in drawing, figure drawing, 2 and 3D design, ceramics, jewelry and small metals, painting, printmaking, and sculpture. She also acquired digital skills in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. Virginia has garnered numerous awards throughout her career.
According to a promotional flyer for her children’s art classes, the natural world is a source of inspiration for her.
“Art has nourished my soul throughout my life, I feel a strong connection with nature around me. Flora/Fauna best describes my organic subject matter in my art. I’m inspired by the seasons and how nature reacts. I also incorporate everyday life as subject matter and media.”
More than once, she refers to her involvement with art as “my journey” implying that it is beyond being just an interest or work, but a much more consuming and dedicated path that is very central to her identity.
Richard Grant: Describe how you gravitated to visual art and print-making specifically. What was your evolution?
Virginia Moore: My grandmother used to encourage me to paint and draw...
I have a style and a process that’s evolved over the years. The majority of my work’s subject matter is nature driven. We kind of take nature for granted. If I see a photo of something I’ll convert that into something of my own. The one type of printmaking I like to do is called Reductive Printmaking and it’s a process of layers, like with Photoshop you use that to break down into layers, but I like to do that in my own mind.
RG: You were older and working and then decided to get back in school for the art?
VM: From 1998 through around 2007 I was in the corporate world, but I knew it was time to move into something different and headed back to school. I earned an associate’s degree in early childhood education at Chattahoochee Tech, but then ventured into art classes. And that was one of the first steps that got me transferring from the corporate world into something I wanted to do for myself: Visual Arts.
But at KSU I was signed up for art education and then I decided to switch it to a bachelor's in fine arts and that exposed me to a whole world of art, which enhanced everything I’d been taught in the past, but now I have more skill sets. I had a strong painting and drawing foundation and once I decided to test the water with printmaking. I knew this is where I belong.
RG: Talk about your ethos and the driver for your creative process. What are you striving for inside the frame?
VM: I seek an idea. Landscape photo images inspire me the most. Printmaking is not just a drawing or a painting; there’s so much that goes into it. A lot of thought and a lot of process and I’m a process-driven person. I breakdown the image in layers stemming from the colors in the photograph similar to Photoshop. I do this manually. I then transfer my image in a reverse stage since when I print, my image will be reversed on my paper. Layer after layer reveals my final print. Everything starts from behind. I know it can be somewhat difficult to comprehend, but once you understand the process, it becomes second nature.
RG: Talk more about what you view as the value of a ‘traditional’ approach. What’s most important about that?
VM: Traditional as far as nature color, line, theory, all the basics of art, I got into incorporating computers when I got to KSU about seven years ago. Printmaking goes back to the 1500s, it’s considered Olde world and I strive to keep this alive. I visited France and Italy with an art history group and visited Monet’s garden. I love Monet’s work and other impressionistic art. My professor Dinah McClintock was the best tour guide ever. Her experience with art history totally enhanced our experience that I will never forget. We no sooner hit the ground in Paris and were climbing the Eiffel Tower. We visited the Louvre and many other art museums.
RG: What is your tie to the School of Art and Design at KSU?
VM: A few years back, KSU obtained space in Chastain Pointe. This is currently where the School of Art and Design (SOAAD) resides. Painting, Drawing, and Printmaking are completely set up and in operation. Professor Valerie Dibble teaches printmaking at KSU. Her background is photography and printmaking. I’ve been connected to printmaking since 2014. We were in the 411 Bartow Ave Visual Arts building. Over time Valerie collected many presses and printmaking tools. Everything came together a couple of years back and I helped Valerie set up one of the most spectacular printmaking labs in the south located in Chastain Pointe. It’s a working studio with so much history and worth a visit.
RG: Where are you teaching, where is your art displayed, and do you sell prints? And some places where your prints can be seen?
VM: Going on six years now I’ve taught over at the Art Place, part of Cobb Parks and Recreation. I teach printmaking and book arts to children.
With the Rockmart Cultural Arts Center, I’m teaching mixed media arts to children. I also teach mixed media arts to children at Paulding Fine Arts in Dallas, Ga.
I enter in different competitions. I’ve entered in all kinds of international exhibits through KSU. Some of my work is in Japan, some has gone to Germany, and some is up in the SOAAD. Prior to Covid, in 2019, I participated in the Berlin Wall 30 Yr. Commemorative, KSU, Kennesaw, Ga. Postcard Initiative, Artspace at Untitled, Oklahoma City, OK. Homelessness Project, KSU Marietta, GA. Cuba Orisha Project, KSU, Works from the Red Onion Press, Mable House Arts Center, Mableton, Ga. 20 Year Gap, Mother/Daughter Art Exhibit. The Arts. Rockmart Cultural Arts Center, National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) Kennesaw 33rd Annual Conference. Print XL, KSU, Visions 36th Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition, KSU, PFAA Members Show, Spring and Fall Juried Shows, Paulding Fine Arts Association, Dallas, Ga.
I’m currently involved with Empty Bowls at KSU. My ceramics class is creating most of the bowls that will be sold during the Empty Bowls Luncheon at KSU. I’m also a member of the Print Club at KSU. Even though I graduated, I’m still connected to KSU and always will be. And, after Covid, I’m getting back into entering exhibits.
RG: Do you have some favorite examples of your work? Why?
VM: Prior to Covid, I created a 2’ x 2’ reductive print of the Statue of Liberty. I titled this print Passage to Liberty. So much has happened to our country over the past few years. America is my home and to so many other people. We’ve been tested and will survive. Here is a copy of my print:
Passage to Liberty/Virginia Moore©
RG: Goals for the future?
VM: Beyond earning my degree, I’ve continued with classes here at KSU in printmaking, ceramics and art history. I think that everything I do somehow is going to fit in with my journey, especially with the children, I want to keep doing this and pass it along.
