Betsy Best
My practice is rooted in relief printmaking, a medium I have worked in for over two decades. I am drawn to printmaking’s long history as a democratic form—one that makes both information and original works of art widely accessible. My early training in graphic arts continues to shape my visual language, which emphasizes intricate patterning, vibrant color, strong line, and stylized figuration.
I studied printmaking at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle after earning a degree in Graphic Arts from Ferris State University in Michigan. My practice has been further shaped by international study, including a residency at Nagasawa Art Park in Japan, where I learned the traditional water-based woodblock technique of moku hanga, and printmaking studies in Florence, Italy. In Italy, I studied under American printmaker Karen Kunc, learning an innovative two-block reduction method.
Informed by athletics, fashion, textiles, ceramics, and architecture, my work develops a personal visual vocabulary that explores composition, rhythm, repetition, and the expressive potential of color and pattern.