Printmakers seek to marry their personal image that is “Fit to Print” with the printing process that “Prints to Fit” their vision. Toe River Arts is hosting a new exhibition in their Spruce Pine Kokol Gallery, “Fit to Print, Print to Fit,” showcasing the prints of twenty-five WNC artists who choose printmaking processes to make their personal works of art. They are members of an independent artist alliance called the Asheville Printmakers. The exhibition runs from August 2 through September 6, 2025, and the artists’ reception is Friday, August 15, from 5:00-7:00 pm.
This exhibition introduces the WNC community to the wide range of technical processes that can be used to print an image. Central to all the different processes is that the artist embeds an image onto a surface, inks that image, and then transfers it onto another surface to achieve the final print. The artists choose their printmaking technique(s) for the expressive potential achieved through the interaction of image and process.
Some of the exhibiting artists chose printing processes with a rich history of precise technical expertise such as etching, wood block and lithography. Other artists chose innovative mixed-media processes combined with contemporary photographic processes. Historical and contemporary processes are often mixed in unusual combinations.
The Toe River Arts Gift Shop and Gallery is located at 269 Oak Ave, Spruce Pine, NC. Hours are Tuesday-Saturday from 10:30 am to 5:00 pm. For more information go to toeriverarts.org.
Fish by Claudia Dunaway
Nothing Last Longer than a Mood by Amanda Gaebel
Book by Kim Obee
