Spaghetti Bolognese Press | Print People

Sarah Bogdal, based in Nashville, Tennessee, is the face of Spaghetti Bolognese Press. Working primarily in linocut, Sarah experiments with a variety of scales, with a focus on medium to large-sized works (12” x 18” and 18” x 24”). She also makes greeting cards and recently began making bookmarks from scrap paper left over from larger prints.

Sarah was interested in art from a young age and fell in love with relief printmaking in 8th grade when she was first introduced to the process in art class. She then attended Watkins College of Art, Film & Design in Nashville, TN where she enrolled in the BFA program. Printmaking became the majority of her practice and here she had the opportunity to explore other processes such as polyester lithography, screen printing and copper engraving. She tells us; “Although I enjoyed screen printing, especially when it came to creating more colorful work, the process of carving was always my first love, so linocut remained my favorite medium.”

While still in college, Sarah began working at Paper & Ink Arts, a small art and calligraphy supply company in Nashville. She has been with the company for 9 years. Telling us more about her time there, she says: “I love being connected to art, artists, and art supplies during my workday. They have been incredibly supportive of my artistic career, whether it’s making it easy and affordable to access the supplies I need or giving me the flexibility to take time off for personal pursuits.”

Sarah’s artwork is a combination of real life locations and imaginary settings. She describes: “If I’m depicting a local park, I’ll use images of that park as reference. If I want to depict a group of rats in a movie theater, I’ll pull my favorite elements from different inspiration images of rats and theaters to create something completely new.”

Sarah often draws inspiration from the Nashville community and her linocuts often depict the city’s architecture or parks she has spent time in. She states; “My goal is to create Nashville-inspired work that resonates with other residents and community members. I love hearing about moments people have had in a particular park or watching a building grow and change over the years. These stories make me feel connected to the community through our shared love of the places I represent.”

Sara’s works also often feature creatures such as jellyfish, rats, mushrooms, rabbits and various birds. “I definitely prefer to represent animals rather than people” says the graphic designer. He continues; “I also like to have a sense of humor in my work, often drawing ideas from funny thoughts or images that pop into my head when I’m hanging out with friends or consuming other creative productions like movies, books, and television. Sometimes I’m just inspired by looking out the window of my house.”

Each of her pieces typically begins with a hand-drawn sketch of ideas, with finer details and precise elements such as text or perspective added in Photoshop. Sarah comments; “I find that my sketches pale in comparison to the final prints because I refrain from adding too much texture and detail, saving it for the sculpting process.” Once the sketch is ready, he prints it out, transfers it to a block, carves it, prints it, signs it, titles it, bags it up, and that’s it!

Still in the early stages of her artistic career, Sarah is mostly involved in the local fair/festival/group show scene in Nashville and hopes to travel further to develop her practice. Last year, she was part of an exhibit at Nashville International Airport for about five months and is currently designing a T-shirt for a local art festival.

Sarah concludes; “Right now I’m just going with the flow of opportunity around me and not putting too much pressure on myself to make big plans for the future or worry about what things will look like in 10 years. I grew up hearing that making art professionally was a waste of time and that it was too hard to go from making art for fun to selling it. The fact that I’m doing it now and having fun doing it feels like a dream come true – I just want to sit back and enjoy it while I have the energy!”

www.spaghettibolognese.work
@spaghetti_bolognese

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Spaghetti Bolognese Press last modification: September 9, 2024 By POP members