Statement

My current work is a natural extension of the philosophy I’ve always followed. Through drawing and the making of prints, I wish to communicate the healing power in the beauty of our natural world. My hope is to help people experience this connection in whatever environment they find themselves. This powe r is available to all of us when we simply learn to focus on the world as it is under our feet, right in front of our eyes. By finding the simple beauty around us, we take the first steps toward a better world.

My chosen medium, intaglio printmaking is harmonious with my goals. In my early years, and for hundreds of years before me, etchings were done using toxic acids and chemical grounds. Today, using solar plate etching techniques, I happily etch my plates using sunlight and clean water.

Biography

DAVID SPOHN is a childrens book writer/illustrator, printmaker, and the senior art director of Hazelden Publishing. Over the past twenty five years, he has designed and illustrated hundreds of books, from children’s books to best-selling daily meditation books for people in any form of recovery. He has also written and illustrated several children’s picture books of his own, including Nate’s Treasure, Winter Wood, Starry Night, and Home Field, (Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, NY.) Recently, David illustrated the children’s book The Creation Story, (Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN 2007) and translated the text into American Sign Language.

His books and design have won awards and praise nationwide. His first children’s book, Nate’s Treasure, was a Golden Kite Award finalist in 1992. Other books he designed and illustrated have won the Benjamin Franklin Gold Award in 1989, the Bay Area Independent Publishers’ Best Book Award, 2001, and Art Director’s Award for Design, 2003. In 2003 David was awarded a Blacklock Nature Sanctuary Artists Fellowship. The Creation Story was winner of the Moonbeam Award in 2007. He recently began operating a printmaking studio at his home, making intaglio prints. His etchings reflect his interest in literature as well as the shapes of the Saint Croix Valley landscape and eastern Minnesota. His work has been included in regional and national exhibits. David’s art has long been directed toward healing and the restorative power of an intimate relationship with the natural world.

David grew up in Chicago, attending the Chicago Art Institute Day School as a young student. He graduated from Loras College where he studied drawing, painting and printmaking. Before settling in Minnesota some thirty years ago, he lived and worked in lllinois, California, and Iowa. He currently lives in the Lindstrom area with his wife, Sandy.

Contact

David Spohn
27930 Quarry Road
Lindstrom, MN 55045
651.257.4488
spohnhouse@frontiernet

 

Nocturne

December