We at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop want to celebrate our visual arts friends this summer with a peek into their work or studio spaces on Instagram. We are curious about the spaces and rituals that give rise to creation. Do folks leave home to go work in a studio, or clear a corner of the kitchen table? Is the creative space a physical one, or perhaps a set of tools that signal it’s time to make art. Read the full length features and follow us on Instagram @chawindc to meet and learn about some of our favorite, local artists.

This week we’re featuring CHAW’s very own Program Director and Multimedia Artist Stephanie Morse. 

1. In a few sentences introduce yourself.

I chose to study art in college in NY and that was one of the best decisions. I was always pretty shy. Art gave me the voice I didn’t know I so desperately wanted and needed. My favorite art nerd thing to do at that time was to have a me-date at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. I’d pack a PB&J, sync up a solid playlist, and take the subway uptown. Back then folks could make a free appointment with their drawing collection and see original drawings and prints in person with no alarm sounding at you or frame separating you. I sat there for hours trying to replicate Michaelangelo, Egon Schiele, John Singer Sargant. I felt so cool! I try to tap into that feeling of awe each time I sit down to make art.

2. Briefly describe your work and/or artistic process 

I’ll be honest and say creating during COVID has been tough for me. I taught myself how to bind books so learning to write and illustrate is my next challenge. Bookbinding takes a whole lot of patience and precision, neither of which anyone who knows me would say I innately have. So teaching myself that has been just as much a brain exercise as a creative project. Lots of trials and errors and pricked fingers! 

3. What is your favorite art supply at the moment? Or tell us about a happy accident in your studio. 

Happy accidents galore! I learned a whole lot about paper while making books. Who knew paper weight mattered so much or that there is a direction of paper grains? Needless to say I have a TON of scrap paper that will last the rest of my life from all those mistakes.

You can find Stephanie’s work on Instagram at @stephosaurus_designs 

Stephanie was also a featured teaching artist with the National Gallery of Art, where she taught a virtual series of sketching lessons.