+
+
ARTS & CULTURE
HOROSCOPES »
WHAT'S YOUR SIGN?
KANSAN.COM | MONDAY, NOV. 16, 2015
Aries (March 21-April 19)
Creativity flowers naturally.
Romance blossoms through communication. Enjoy meaningful conversation.
Friends are a big help today and tomorrow. Show the team your appreciation. Celebrate together. Get outside and savor a sunset or go for a walk.
Taurus (April 20-May 20)
Career opportunities show up over the next two days.
Keep your eyes open. Forge ahead. Take advantage of an unexpected windfall. Learn by doing. Pay off bills before buying toys. Practice makes perfect. Refine as you go.
Gemini (May 21-June 20)
The next two days are good for travel, exploration and studies. Your friends bring out the best in you. Don't rely on an unstable source.
Use humor with a heckler. Disagree respectfully. Creative negotiation wins big. Investigate possibilities.
Cancer (June 21-July 22)
A startling revelation awakens you. Pay attention to what's going on. Make a decision you can live with. Think from both emotional and logical perspectives. Today and tomorrow are good for financial planning. Work
out priorities together.
Leo (July 23-Aug. 22) -- You're especially charming now. Someone's noticing. Fun and passion hold your interest today and tomorrow. Try exotic new flavors without breaking the bank. Create together. Do it.
pretty eyes.
Cook together. Dine the kitchen and catch some pretty ones
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
Get into the details of your
work
work over the next few days. Organize and track who's doing what. Changes may require adaptation. Travel could be included. Dress the part. Get expert advice for the tricky parts.
Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
Relax and play today and tomorrow. Enjoy time with family and friends. Practice your favorite games, arts.
crafts or sports. Teach someone younger than you. Watch where you're going to avoid accidents. Distractions around.
Putter and ramble.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov.
2) Family matters need attention. Fix up your place over the next few days.
Paint renews at minimal expense ... change colors.
Find a fantastic bargain on a useful tool. Repurpose stuff you already have. Someone thinks you're pretty clever.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) Communication unlock
doors over the next few days. Offer assistance, and let people know what you're up to. Let go of how you thought it had to be. Anticipate changes, and roll with them. Clean messes later.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
Advance professionally over
Advance professionally over the next six weeks, with Mars in Libra. Move forward boldly. Pour energy into your career. Consider options over the next few days. Make plans and consider logistics. Rest and recuperate after physical activity.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) Easy does it. You don't know your own power today and tomorrow. Prepare to launch an initiative.Everything's possible, with the right team. You're attracting attention .. smile and wave
New friends open new possibilities.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)
Pisces (Feb. 19-Mar 20)
Peaceful surroundings
provide support. You're
under pressure regarding
deadlines for the next
couple of days. Break through to a new level with an amazing development. Go further than expected. You're gaining knowledge and confidence. Push past old barriers.
old barriers.
ALEX ROBINSON/KANSAN
Mark Raymer, a graduate student from Texas, stands with two of his collages in his studio.
Art in Focus: Mark Raymer, printmaker
HARRISON HIPP
@harrisonhipp
The latest chapter in the life of Mark Raymer, printmaker and University graduate student, has been unfolding in Lawrence since the printmaker chose to attend the grad- ate art
the gradu program years
ate art three ago.
www.markraymer.com for more artwork
Raymer was born in New Zealand and raised in Texas for most of his life. Before he came to Kansas, Raymer received a Bachelor's degree in printmaking from the University of North Texas in Denton. Raymer took a break following the completion of his degree at North Texas and returned to New Zealand to live there and take a break in between grad school. He then returned ready to focus on his art schooling.
"I can make these pieces and put them up. This is me. This is my aesthetic. This is what I am into."
MARK RAYMER
Printmaker
campus is beautiful," Raymer said. "I visited Lawrence, and it was a really cool town, very similar to Denton."
"I applied to 13 grad schools because I wanted to be sure I got in somewhere. I chose Kansas because the facilities are amazing in terms of printmaking, and the
Simply known before as the Art and Design building, Raymer's studio and part-time home exists among a host of other studios. This part-time home is inside the recently renamed Chalmers Hall in honor of former Chancellor E. Laurence Chalmers, who served at Kansas from 1969-1972.
"I usually get here at about eight in the morning and usually leave here at about eight or nine at night," Raymer said. "In between there, I do a lot of sitting and staring and thinking, as well as making. I teach the Intro to Printmaking class here, and then I teach a screen printing class at the Lawrence Arts Center."
Raymer takes prints that he produces and cuts them up to form different collages. He said the collage process allows him to take prints and put them to use in a way that they were not originally intended for. Raymer combines his prints with personal drawings and fabrics to create complex, artistic visions with texture.
"I get a lot of my fabrics at the antique mall. I like finding old fabrics that have a history to them that were made for a specific purpose," Raymer said. "I like to take those and cut them up and reshape them and reuse them, much like I do with my prints."
He describes his first experience with art as placing Ninja Turtles figurines on his kindergarten desk and attempt to sketch them as best he could.
"Like how most kids do, when I drew the muscles I would just be a bunch of humps. They were just extra strong," Raymer said.
A class experience in Raymer's past influenced him and solidified his interest in art and the potentiality of a career in art. He cited a high school art class in which he was drawing a self-portrait and was able to successfully capture his own likeness.
"It actually looked like me, and I was really excited by that," Raymer said. "Like, wow, I can just look at something and translate it through my eyes into my hand onto the paper and have it resemble what
I am looking at."
With a more sophisticated stylistic palette, Raymer now draws influence from artists like Canadian painter, illustrator and sculptor Marcel Dzama as well as printmaker Dennis McNett.
"The world of printmaking has been a great place to find who I am as a person," Raymer said. "It's that sense of community that I have found really strong in printmaking as an art form itself."
Art has not only given Raymer a sense of community with the collaboration and camaraderie he finds with fellow printmakers but also a sense of individuality.
"I can make these pieces and put them up. This is me. This is my aesthetic. This is what I am into," Raymer said. "I think as humans it is important to express ourselves. It is a very human thing to look at something that was made by another person and relate to it and find meaning in it. If we were ever to lose that, we would lose our humanity."
- Edited by Abby Stuke
"Printmaking, as a medium, allows me to realize the aesthetic I wish for my work to convey; this process, as reflected in the print, hints at the foundation of a story," Raymer said.
CONTRIBUTED/KANSAM
⊙