Conversations with Vidabeth Bensen

Today we’d like to introduce you to Vidabeth Bensen.

Hi Vidabeth, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I never remember a time when I didn’t make art. I drew constantly and as I got older I painted and experimented with various media. In college, I majored in Art Education. Many of my friends were actors and they asked me to make posters for their plays. Using pen and ink, paint, and brushes (no xerox machines or computers then) was very tedious. I researched printmaking options and found Silk Screen Printing was the simplest and least expensive printmaking process I could teach myself. The first time I pulled a squeegee across a screen I was hooked.

For over 60 years, Screen Printing has been my major medium. My husband was also a teacher and we decided to try teaching overseas for the Department of Defense Dependents Schools on military bases overseas. This led us to remain overseas for 27 years. My experiences living in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East impacted my subject matter. In Germany, I worked as an illustrator for the U.S Army and serviced 40 military facilities. About 350 of the original, multi-colored posters I created for the army can be seen in the Museum of the American Military Family near Albuquerque, N.M. I returned to teaching high school art on a military base near Tokyo.

Living in Japan for 12 years afforded much subject matter for my prints. My years in Turkey and Morocco have also influenced my work. I raised four children as well. I enjoy teaching screen printing workshops, especially encouraging teachers to include the medium in their curricula. In 1991, my husband retired in Pittsboro, NC. My studio is in my home in Chatham County and I continue to create original, hand-pulled Screen Prints.

I often refer to the hundreds of drawings I made while living and traveling overseas in my current prints. The nature surrounding my studio here in Chatham County also impacts my work. I love sharing screen printing with anyone who is interested in learning a simple method of making multiples of their artwork. I teach and exhibit my work wherever and whenever I can.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I am fortunate in having been able to continue creating my prints while raising four children and living in so many places. We moved frequently but as soon as we were settled I engaged with other artists and continued my work.

Printing on my dining room table was a challenge in the various places we lived. I am fortunate to have my own studio now.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
When my husband retired in 1991 we moved to Chatham County. My studio is in my home and I continue to make original, hand-pulled Screen Prints. Much of my subject matter is based on the hundreds of sketches I made while living and traveling overseas. My years in Japan, Morocco, and Turkey have influenced my work, I also use the natural scenes around my home for many of my repeat pattern prints.

I have been a member of what is now the Chatham Artists Guild and have participated in the annual Open Studio Tour since its inception. The abstract compositions I create today are influenced by my teachers in college, several of whom were abstract impressionists.

I taught Screen Printing at the JC Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC for 18 years and was a CAPS artist in Durham for eight years. I taught classes at the Durham Art Council, the Carrboro ArtsCenter, and ArtSpace in Raleigh and was an artist in residence in several Chatham County schools. I also returned overseas to teach workshops for students and teachers in DODDS schools in Germany, Japan, and Turkey for several years.

For the past 34 years, I have taught a class at the University of Connecticut every July at Confratute, an International conference in Gifted. Education for teachers of all grades who want to incorporate Screen Printing as an enrichment activity in their programs, I have conducted workshops for Art Teachers at the National and North Carolina Art Education Associations for the past 25 years.

I love teaching students of all ages. “A Simple Guide to Screen Printing” written with Barbara Forshag, was published by Royal Fireworks Press in 2010. It is in its second printing,

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Screen Printing is a basically simple method of creating multiples of artwork, but it is not always easy, Most screen printers now use photographic methods.

The simplistic methods I have devised over the years are easy to learn and not very expensive. It can be done on your dining room table as I did for many years. All my prints are done by hand and I use water based ink and additional materials.

To find a mentor, I suggest visiting studios and attending exhibits in your area to find an artist whose work inspires you and whose techniques intrigue you.

Pricing:

• Hand printed greeting cards $5
• Hand printed T-shirts $25
• For short sleeved T shirts $25
• For Long sleeved T shirts $35
• Unframed original prints $30 to $100
• Framed prints $100 to $500
• Calendars and calendar tea towels $25

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.houseoflifeprints.com
• Instagram: Vidabeth
• Facebook: Vidabeth

Image Credits
Eric Saunders