INTERVIEW: Beth Schaible

Posted November 18, 2009 by bec_young in Interviews

I met Beth Schaible when I was at Penland School of Crafts last Spring. Her print work struck me as coming from a sincere and hopeful sense of the world, which, combined with an slightly old school aesthetic and a deep sense of craft, is a great thing in this age of slick computer-generated sarcasm. She also works with Shoestring Artists' Collective, "a widespread group of emerging artists, craftspersons and makers of stuff banding together to create an alternative method for communicating and distributing our work." On their blog is currently posted a great video about Distance Don't Matter, a show currently up in Portland, Maine, which includes Swoon. Two of Beth's letterpress prints, Take Root and Action Postcard, are available on Justseeds. I recently interviewed Beth to find out more about her.

What is your background?
I attended Shepherd University in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia and studied Graphic Design. Shepherdstown itself is quaint, beautiful, rich in history, and still influences my work today. While I learned a great deal I was continually frustrated because I always felt there was a disconnect between my ideas and my means of production -- I wanted to feel my hand in my work and at the time was primarily creating on the computer. I felt like technology was getting in the way instead of helping. I moved to D.C. and started interning at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center in Silver Spring, Maryland making paper, books, teaching myself Letterpress printing, and trying to make work that spoke environmentally and socially to the new urban area I found myself an outsider in. A short time after moving to D.C. I was accepted into the Core Fellowship Program at the Penland School of Crafts in Western North Carolina where I have been studying and working for the school for nearly two years. Penland really values the handmade object and lifestyle over the mass produced and I'm very grateful for my time here learning traditional and contemporary craft skills.

When did you know you wanted to be an artist?
I've always loved drawing, I've always kept a sketch book but I think it wasn't until my time in West Virginia when I realize an 'artist' is something tangible, something anybody can be. I knew I wanted to be an artist when I realized that I could get away from the corporate world of graphic design and make work and images about things that felt more real to me and seemed to have a positive impact with my peers and my community.

How do your political views intersect with your art work?
I'm fascinated with the idea that both a hunger for power and human complacency can often coexist so easily. I want my work to be a subtle reminder that in a million ways we can still take little steps towards changing society. I still hold on to the romantic idea that individuals can really make a difference and when working collectively, doubly so. I think artists have the opportunity to stir up their communities in ways that are necessary and vital.

What are your favorite art-making processes?
I love letterpress printing... carving blocks, rolling ink, setting type by hand. While there is a lot of time and labor involved there is something really powerful about working in multiples. You can make work that reaches a greater amount of people and it can be more accessible and affordable to all people. On the other hand I love drawing fast and loose and seeing what ideas emerge when I don't over think things and I let my hand do the work. I also love anonymous mail art.

What are you excited about doing in the future?
Well, in a few months my fellowship at Penland is over and I'm not quite sure what's next for me but I'm excited to have more time to make work that in addition to being well crafted is deeply enriched with content. I want to start a print shop and a garden and keep making prints in reaction (& celebration) of my community both locally and nationally. I'm working on a show and workshop with the Shoestring Artists Collective in Sewanee Tennessee in early January and am excited to continue working collaboratively with that group in the near future.

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