Family Tree. Jean McLaughlin, artist
Artist Jean McLaughlin presents new work including woodcuts and lithographs at Mica, a cooperative gallery in downtown Bakersville.
McLaughlin’s work focuses on printmaking that is rooted in drawing and photography. She is inspired by traveling, a love of gardening inherited from generations of southern women, her experience weaving and designing textiles, and, most recently, her exploration of the integration of language into her work, and family history as a form of self-portrait.
Two of McLaughlin’s new woodcuts resulted from her recent travels in Puerto Rico, where the exotic flora and fauna captured her attention. “The flowering bush Ixora coccinea, or Flame of the Woods, was ablaze everywhere in Rincón in February,” McLaughlin says. “And watching the forest for iguanas was another captivating pastime.”
Some of her latest lithographs evolved from a family photograph, with resulting prints that integrate text and become a fantasy environment or precursor to an extended family tree. The photograph, taken in 1947, features McLaughlin’s parents and captures an imagined moment from their past. “My mother was showing off her fiancé to her best friend,” says McLaughlin. “She and my father had just become engaged and letters show how eager her college friend was to meet my dad.”
Mugs made by local potters are another focus of her recent work. As popular purchases for shoppers in the gallery, the mugs seemed like an obvious subject for McLaughlin, who created notecards featuring them.
“Jean’s woodcuts of mugs in the gallery are a great way for all the artists to connect,” says Mica president Robbie Bell. “Her print of my mug hangs in the midst of my mug collection. It’s the perfect collaboration.”
McLaughlin’s lithographs were completed at Obee Editions, the collaborative studio of master printer Perry Obee.
Mica is located at 37 North Mitchell Avenue, Bakersville. Hours are Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, 12–5 p.m. For more information or to sign up for a monthly e-newsletter, visit MicaGalleryNC.com or call 828.688.6422. Follow the gallery on Facebook and Instagram.
