Artist explores ‘nature’ art in new exhibit

When it comes to Sara Steffey McQueen and printmaking, it was love at first etching.

A Bloomington artist for almost 40 years, Steffey McQueen completed her undergraduate and graduate studies in printmaking at IU. Her newest exhibit, “Nature

Play,” is on display at the By Hand Gallery in downtown Bloomington.

Steffey McQueen was approached by the gallery to show her work in the special display area reserved for single exhibitions. “Nature Play” features a collection of prints.

“I am playing with my love of the plant world, paper and my inner world,” Steffey McQueen said. “I’m extending my love of the landscape and nature in a more
contemplative way.”

Together on the wall, the prints create a collage. On the night of the exhibition opening, one of the prints sold, and Steffey McQueen immediately replaced it with another print to continue the collage.

The prints all represent a variety of printmaking techniques. Steffey McQueen used dry point, lithographic and relief printing to create her artwork. Local plants including cattails, gingko leaves and homemade paper are all used in the prints.

In Steffey McQueen’s other artwork, she explores inner and outer landscapes. She is a landscape artist because of her particular lifestyle, being very in touch with nature and being “stuck in the woods,” describing where she lives in Monroe
County. She escapes to work on art in a studio gallery next to her house.

Located inside Fountain Square, the By Hand Gallery sells fine arts crafts by area artists. The gallery is open 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and until 8 p.m. on the first Friday of every month.

By Hand Gallery has been a co-operative since 1979, currently with 10 owner members. The gallery features mainly Indiana artists, some of which are from Monroe and Brown County.

The gallery sells fine art that is functional, said Sharon Bussert, manager of the gallery.

“Our regular customers are people who appreciate art and surround their life with art,” Bussert said.

Artists’ works are chosen for the gallery through a juried process, whereby the 10 owner members determine admittance based on the quality and price of the work, the sell-ability in the Bloomington market, space availability in the gallery and similarity compared to other artwork already on display.

Steffey McQueen’s main inspirations for her work come from her love of nature, her interest in the region and the way in which people worship. She reflects her spiritual studies in her compositions.

Other important pieces of Steffey McQueen’s “Nature Play” are her sketchbooks. Steffey McQueen is an art teacher at Jackson Creek Middle School in Bloomington, where she requires her students to keep sketchbooks as journals.

“The sketchbook is the element of ‘play’ in creativity,” Steffey McQueen said.

At her exhibition’s gallery opening, Steffey McQueen brought along many of the sketchbooks she uses for people to look through, as well as materials to demonstrate how to make some of the actual prints in her exhibition.

“We are very interested in having artists who will showcase their skills and workmanship,” said Marilyn Greenwood, an owner member of the gallery and longtime friend and neighbor of Steffey McQueen. “We wanted people to get the idea of how art
is made.”

Greenwood and Steffey McQueen became friends through shared interests in herbs and art, and they trade their art with each other.

In a community with many successful local artists, Steffey McQueen is aware of her competition. However, she said she believes the sincerity in her artwork and of the region help her stand out as a local artist.

“I’m too expressive to not be making something,” Steffey McQueen said. “That’s
just me.”