Story posted Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Perfecting Printmaking

Niles Resident's Love For Art Brings Her To Rare Form Of Expression

By KAREN KOZENCZAK Special to the Journal & Topics Newspapers

There are artists and then there are artists.

When you meet Printmaker Grace Kroll, you not only want to own a piece of her artwork because of its uniqueness and grandeur, but also because of the fine woman who created it. This Niles resident, who began a lifetime pursuit of art at the age of 12, radiates charm and wisdom that is apparent in all her work depicting all facets and walks of life from "down and out" Chicago bagwomen to elegant debutants in flowing gowns and heels.   

Kroll's artistic evolution occurred over her lifetime, but she has spent the last two decades perfecting an art form that originally had it roots in the 14th century- printmaking.  Putting it simply, printmaking involves the artist inscribing an image onto a surface, such as a metal plate or wood, inking the surface, and using a press to imprint the image onto paper. Colors and tints can be applied at various times during the process. Artists' images are often extremely tediously detailed and take hours, days, or months to complete. Kroll's work is no exception. Individual hairs on her subject's heads, upholstery patterns, pursed lips, furrowed brows, wrinkled hands and Chicago skylines are depicted to the finest detail and that means they first had to be intricately inscribed onto a plate, usually metal.

Chatting with Kroll, you find yourself listening intently to her life's story from her "only child" childhood, growing up in Wrigleyville, when she began painting with oils, to her early days out of high school studying part time at the American Academy of Art.  She studied under several great instructors including Irving Shapiro, a respected watercolor artist.

 "About five years ago I learned of Shapiro's passing and it occurred to me that when I was young studying with this excellent teacher I was just not aware and appreciative of his talents. He was a great instructor from whom I learned a great deal about color.  At the time I didn't realize just how great he was," Kroll reflects.

While Kroll's artistic ability seemed to be innate, she suspects that some of her talent could have come from her father who, at an early age, drew maps. Both her mother and father, and later on her husband Conrad, and even her daughter and son, were extremely supportive of her artistic talents and efforts to learn more about the fine arts.      

Early on, Kroll had the fortunate experience to take private oil painting classes from an elderly lady who gave lessons in an effort to support herself. The woman's name was Hildegard Melin, a respected artist who had garnered information and her teaching abilities from her vast life experiences and put them to play in her art, as well as in her instructions.  Kroll credits much of her knowledge of painting to Melin.

While art was always a love of her life, Kroll took pride in her family and managed to raise her children, play an active role in their lives, and still pursue her artistic talents. She enjoyed everyday life in their community, Niles, and made the most of her days. Her husband, a tool and die craftsman by trade, thereby himself having an artistic eye, was supportive of her artistic quests and, to this day, makes sure the plates she uses for printmaking are polished to a high mirror sheen. 

Kroll reflects admirably on her daughter Colleen, a physical therapist in Houston, her two grandchildren, and her son, Jeff, a computer analyst and a swing dance instructor in San Francisco.  Responsible for vintage dance parties, some of the period clothing worn at the Swing dances have become subjects of Kroll's work.  She also recently illustrated a poem written by her grandson about all the things he enjoys in Chicago.   

At home in Niles, one of Kroll's good friends is her neighbor who is the same age as her daughter. The woman shares her love for art and they frequently exchange artistic ideas while visiting exhibits. "She's in the same position I was in when I was her age. I was raising my family and still trying to pursue art," Kroll said.  

Fifteen years ago Kroll signed up for classes at the Evanston Art Center.  She initially started with figure drawing and a few watercolor classes.  "I was already into art on my own and I did a great deal of work at home in my basement, but I liked going to the Evanston Art Center where there were other artists.  It was a type of social gathering," Kroll said. 

In 1994 Grace Kroll decided to take her love for art even further and go back to school to learn more about the fine arts.  She enrolled at Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, and became a student again, a role she liked very much and adapted to quite readily. As part of the curriculum she had to take a class on art history, during which time she learned about printmaking.  With less than one year from graduating Kroll had to make decisions about her class schedule, which was a difficult task, as she had taken many of the offered courses.  That left the printmaking class. 

"'Printmaking-' all I could think of was that it sounded rather complicated, but I needed two more classes and it qualified so... I decided to take it and I loved it!" Kroll says with the same enthusiasm that one imagines she experienced during those creative days at Northeastern Illinois University.

In 2001 Grace Kroll graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Fine Arts, something that, as a young girl growing up in the 1940s, she would never have dreamed of!

What followed would be years of enjoyment- using her skills and art to perfect her printmaking abilities.  At the Evanston Art Center, she was continuously signing up for Printmaking Classes that would end up being cancelled due to a lack of enrollment. At the time it just wasn't one of the popular art forms. Then, finally, around 2003, Julian Cox, master printmaker, was hired as the director of the Printmaking Department and everything changed for the best. Word spread quickly that Cox was inspirational and that his classes were extremely worthwhile. Before long, Kroll's resume included all of the printmaking classes Cox taught.  In addition, she had formed a network of artist friends that, to this day, meet several times a week to create and fine-tune their abilities.

Inspired by Cox, who holds a Master of Fine Arts Degree and has literally studied all over the world, Kroll took her printmaking to another level: "At Northeastern I had been exposed to a great deal.  I had a taste of wood engraving, lithography and etching, but Julian Cox taught me things concerning printmaking that I had never experienced," Kroll said.

According to Kroll, these included chine colle (pronounced sheen collay), which involves a fine paper being adhered to the print paper, thereby adding color and dimension. Another method Kroll studied at the Evanston Art Center was aquatint, which involves adding shading and/or texture to a print by applying   paint or rosin to a plate before printing.

Kroll has also taken classes at the North Shore Art Center, Winnetka.  Highlighting her work there was a rather unique course on photo etching.  It is a technique that involves the use of chemicals to create negative images on plates. It can capture intricate details. 

This was the case with one of Kroll's favorite works- a photo etching of her mother at 10 years old wearing a locket which Kroll has today. 

A positive force, Kroll's mother often spoke about a lighthouse keeper that her family knew and would frequently go to see in the wintertime, forcing them to walk over frozen Lake Michigan.  A picturesque moment, Kroll later depicted her grandmother, her mother as a child, and her mother's younger brother walking in a serene frozen world. She preserved the moment forever in an etching.

Having roots in Chicago and being "in love" with the metropolis, a great deal of Kroll's inspiration can be credited to the "Windy City," its architecture, as well as its people.  Her "Chicago Collection," as she refers to it, consists of prints of many of the City's buildings, bridges, the river, the Chicago Theater, the Art Institute lions and many of its inhabitants- from all walks of life.

Her subjects are often derived from actual experiences: "I remember being in Chicago one day seeing a 'down and out woman' in a doorway by an antique store on Belmont Avenue.  Hours later she was still there.  That was the start of a series of prints of women, some in wheelchairs, who, due to life's circumstances, have found themselves on the street," Kroll said.

There are six prints depicting the hardships of some of Chicago's women. One woman who inspired Grace was standing by the Pacific Gardens' sign, a shelter for those in need.  Kroll's message seems clear- these women comprise a portion of Chicago's fabric. They are not to be forgotten.

Contrasting these women is Kroll's print series of elegant, sophisticated ladies wearing evening gowns and finery.  Their faces are often not complete with the image being cut off the page. The artist's ability to capture the human figure is apparent in Kroll's dramatic depiction of fabric draped over the subjects' limbs: "They are not full face because you do not have to see their face to see their grandeur. They have a good life- it is obvious in their posture and clothes that they live a lovely life," Kroll said.

The future for Kroll and her printmaking career is bright. Several of the Chicago Collection prints will be featured in upcoming exhibits both locally and nationally.  Woodcut Artist Jessica Lucas of the Simply Chicago Art Gallery, 1318 Oakton Street, Evanston, has invited Grace Kroll to exhibit her work through the month of November. 

Kroll professes that printmaking is undergoing a revival. She is obviously an active part of this movement: "Printmaking is a complex process.  You never know what you're going to get.  I remember working on my 'Chicago Bridges...' I spent hours aquatinting plates- WOW!  What turned out to be!  It is my most favorite print.  I have always said that printmaking takes 50% talent, 50% chemicals, and 50% luck."

Grace Kroll has it all.

 

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