“Black and Gold” by Jess Pautsch

Jess Pautsch is an artist who lives and works in Eau Claire. She received her BFA in printmaking from UW-Eau Claire in 2014. After graduating, she and her family moved to central Japan for two years before returning to the Chippewa Valley. Jess stays busy with local and regional art events including the Banbury Art Crawl and UWEC’s annual GeekCon.  

Jess works primarily in relief and intaglio printmaking, as well as ink and pastel drawings. Her work focuses heavily on the natural world, with decorative design influences inspired by the Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts movements. 

“Black and Gold” (2018) • Watercolor, Graphite, Micron Pen, Silver Leaf •  From the artist: “ ‘Black and Gold’ is a painting created during my second year living in Shirakawa, Japan. The image was inspired by a visit to a park in Tokyo, where I saw several blue-black crows sitting in a ginkgo tree. I loved the vibrant color of the ginkgo trees, which turned a brilliant yellow in the late autumn. The border element is taken from the many styles of decorative breezeblocks that dotted the garden walls of the homes and shops in our neighborhood.

The initial image was drawn with Micron pen, then washed over with gouache-like Japanese gansai watercolors. A final layer of texture was added with a soft graphite crayon over the entire surface before finishing with silver metal leaf.”