“Leaves of a Linden: Collages from a Dying Tree” is the first exhibit of works by Michelle Block of Staunton in a long time.
Block began creating the 32 pieces of collages with leaves from a linden tree in her yard in the spring with a process called ecoprinting.
She chose 22 pieces for the exhibit which will open at Art Hive on Saturday with an opening reception.
“It feels really good to stretch these muscles,” Block, who grew up in Virginia Beach, said. “I’m really happy for people to see them.”
The collage pieces were inspired by her love for the tree and a way to preserve the tree just before she has to make the decision to cut the tree down.
“I can maybe preserve some thoughts I have about the tree with the leaves,” she said of her creative process.
Ecoprinting is a natural dyeing technique of using organic materials in boiling water and vinegar to imprint an image and color onto paper. While ecoprinting leaves some of the creative process out of the artist’s control, Block found excitement in not knowing what would be the result.
“Different leaves make different prints. Different leaves leave different colors behind. The linden leaves leave these gray-green, these mustardy-colored greens, but maple leaves tend to leave these purple-y colors behind,” Block said of ecoprinting.
The exhibit’s title pays homage to the tree that inspired her art. The tree has shaded her house for the 20 years she has lived in the house and provides a place for pollinators.
“I thought it was important to focus on the tree itself,” she said of the title.
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In her artist’s statement for the exhibit, Block said the process of ecoprinting is slow, unpredictable and faithful to the materials she used. “They carry the presence of touch, weather and time.”
After ecoprinting each piece, Block’s work continued as she painted the edge of a leaf. Collage involves layering materials and “adding and removing until the work holds a history of change.”
Block pursued a bachelor’s in art at Old Dominion University after high school with the goal to become an art teacher. She also earned a master’s of fine arts in art history. Life detoured her from the path of making art, but she said it feels good to make art again now and the collages using ecoprinting came very easily to her in the creative process.
She also really enjoyed the process and has a long list of new projects to begin after her exhibit at Art Hive opens. She wants to be in conversation with others about art. Her new art makes her feel as if she is having a conversation with the world that she was not having before.
“Over the past year, I really feel like I’ve been coming back to life,” Block said of the art she has created.
Previously, Block created art by painting and printmaking, and viewers will see some of her painting talent in the collage pieces at Art Hive.
“I hope they look twice next time they see a tree,” Block said of what she hopes viewers take from seeing her exhibit.
In her artist’s statement, almost a love letter to the tree, Block explains that the linden taught her the way to work and create her art: “to pay attention, to let change happen in increments, to see what remains even as the rest falls away. In the spaces between what we notice and what we overlook, form, pattern and color take root; the meaning grows from there.”
“These wanted to be here,” Block said of the 22 collage pieces in the exhibit.
The opening reception at 2 p.m. on September 6 will feature light refreshments and an opportunity to meet the artist. The event is free and open to the public.
Art Hive is at 835 Spring Hill Rd., Staunton.
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Rebecca Barnabi
