we're all kinds of creative
Michael Shumate
I have always been fascinated by the unique line quality of woodcuts and linocut prints (short for linoleum cut). This quality happens because the artist does not cut the lines but removes everything else but the lines.
I taught myself to do linocuts with knives and the modern lino materials but turned to doing them on the computer and like them better. No one need suppose that makes it effortless. They still take 2 to 3 days to finish the line layer alone; then I must deal with the background colors as well. I love the never-ending beauty of the Island.
These prints are made with Dura-Brite inks which are rated for permanence up to 105 years under glass.
I paint abstracts because non-representational art allows for a free-associative kind of viewer experience that representational art may not. One can relate to it on a visceral level of color and form alone, without the distraction of subject matter. However, with non-representational art it is also possible to render subjects that would otherwise be invisible like emotions, feelings and abstract concepts. I've had people say that looking at some of my work is like a spiritual experience. To me that's the highest compliment I could receive.
