Author Spotlight: Ellen Heck

Ellen Heck is a printmaker working in North Carolina. Her print projects often deal with the theme of identity—its persistence, variability, and change. Recent bodies of her work include Forty Fridas, Lonely Hearts, and San Francisco Color Wheels. She is currently represented by Wally Workman Gallery in Austin, Groveland Gallery in Minneapolis, Davidson Galleries in Seattle, and the Kala Art Institute in Berkeley. More about her work can be found at www.ellenheck.com

Ellen Heck is an extremely talented printmaker based in North Carolina. She began using Blurb back in 2010 when she wanted to put together a book to accompany a show she was doing at the Wally Workman Gallery. The show included a series of limited edition prints combining woodcut and drypoint. She wanted a book to explain the techniques in detail as people unfamiliar with printmaking are often curious to know how the work is made. She found it helpful to have a book available to explain the techniques with words and pictures. Since then, she has been continuing to make books on Blurb in accompaniment with her shows and to document projects. Ellen was gracious enough to tell us more about her work, her books, and herself in the QA below.

Your chief characteristic

I have been called “prolific” and I think this might be true.

Your favorite heroes or heroines in real life…

One creative inspiration is Audrey Niffenegger. I met her in person, fleetingly when she came to speak in a class that I took at SAIC. She graduated with a degree in printmaking, bought a press, created beautiful work, and taught papermaking for a decade. Then she decided to write a book and wrote a bestselling novel about time travel. I admire people who are able to work in a variety of fields—synthesize multiple pursuits. I like Neil Gaiman for the same reason.

Your favorite author?

Not sure I have one. But I do have a favorite book—or rather, a book that made such an impact on my life that I can’t imagine what it would look like without it: Mary Cassatt: The Color Prints, Mathews and Shapiro. I found my copy used at Moe’s Books in Berkeley, CA. The jacket is covered in one of those protective polyurethane library sleeves.

For what fault have you most toleration?

Ooh, these questions are getting harder. Perhaps messiness. Staying tidy is not my forte, though I have a deep appreciation for the people in my life who can keep their desks clear and studios organized—and I like it when they let me use their desks and studios.

If you could live anywhere, where would that be?

Anywhere real? We just moved and we’re still unpacking, so I’d like to say right here in North Carolina!

Interested in seeing more of Ellen’s Blurb Books? You can see them here.