Although artist Kim Morski has just moved to Denver, she’s making waves in the Dabble community- selling out her first class, Intro to Bookbinding! We welcome Kim with open arms and know she’ll be a successful and influential addition to the budding arts community here in Denver (and beyond)! Her work in printmaking and book arts has been awarded by the 2014 Spudnik Press Studio Fellowship in Chicago, the 2012 St. Louis Artists’ Guild Printmaking Residency, the SLOUP Artists’ Grant award, the 2010 John T. Milliken Foreign Travel Scholarship, and the 2010 Nancy Spirtas Kranzberg Award for Outstanding Achievement in Book Design. Sign up for Kim’s Intro to Printmaking: A Holiday Card Workshop– before it sells out…
Can you tell us a little about yourself?
My roots are in the Midwest. I studied printmaking and book arts at Washington University in St. Louis, and I lived in St. Louis and Chicago before moving to Denver this past summer. I started coming to Colorado with my dad every year when I was nine years old. It’s been my goal to move here for a long time, and this year things fell into place! Being able to spend so much time outdoors and in the mountains has been a wonderful balance to my studio practice. I am excited for this new season in life. Anyone who knows me can also tell you I am outgoing and very good at keeping busy. Now that I am in a new place, I take pretty much every opportunity to meet new people and get involved in exciting projects, like the Letterpress Depot in Englewood (being started by letterpress printer Tom Parsons) and Red Delicious Press. I also try to find ways to connect my artwork to projects that facilitate interaction and help build community. This past summer I was in Israel for 3 weeks, studying printmaking at the Jerusalem Print Workshop and teaching an art camp for Palestinian high school students with a group in the West Bank.
How did you get started with Dabble?
I heard about Dabble through another teaching artist here in Denver. She teaches clay classes.
What do you do when you’re not teaching with Dabble?
When I’m not teaching classes, I work as a sales consultant for WESTAF, the Western States Arts Federation, here in Denver. I also work on my own artwork at Red Delicious Press in Aurora, CO. When I’m not working, I love cooking and spending time outside, road biking and camping. Recently, I decided to get out of my comfort zone and start taking Krav Maga classes. It’s intense, but so far, I love it.
How has Dabble affected the way in which you conduct business?
I think Dabble has helped me think more about my strategy for planning and teaching a class. Since I want to make sure my class is on the site for at least a month, I start planning my classes and the marketing materials earlier. I think it has made me more intentional about my approach to teaching.
Tell me about some of the people you’ve met while teaching.
Since I am new to Denver, I am still developing a network in the arts community. My first class really grew by word of mouth, so I ended up meeting friends of friends who are also interested in creative projects. My first class had a full range of students — from people who are terrified of anything crafty to trained artists. I think everyone, regardless of their abilities and past training, found the projects challenging and learned something new. My hope, having recently joined the Dabble community, is that it will help widen my circle here in Denver and allow me to meet people I would not otherwise.
What other classes would you like to see on Dabble?
Well, I am definitely going to sign up for one of Susan Walicki’s clay classes, since I’ve never done any work with ceramics. Somehow in four years of art school I managed to avoid all the sculpture courses, which I now regret. I would also love to learn how to build my own frames. I have done some woodworking in the past, but it has been a long time. Those are skills I constantly wish I had. Can you get Nick Shigouri to teach on Dabble? He is a Denver woodworking artist, and his work is GORGEOUS. Textile arts, particularly weaving, would be interesting, too. I’ve done a bit of self-taught weaving on a frame loom (thanks to an awesome vintage copy of a Better Homes & Gardens needlework book), but I want to learn from someone who actually knows what they are doing.
All artwork featured in blog (including main image) is the work of artist, Kim Morski. Check out additional work here: http://www.kimmorski.com/