Rita Noe - Lifetime artist/teacher, photographer, printmaker, woodworker, jeweler.
As a lifelong artist, I’ve explored many forms of expression, and used a variety of mediums. My current choice is wood, particularly exotic hardwoods. They provide both a visual and tactile pleasure for me. As a long-ago member of Iowa Designer Craftsmen, when I was a jeweler, we struggled to have our expressions accepted as ART, something beyond craft. Photography finally pushed over that edge of being a fine art in my lifetime.
It all comes down to this: It doesn’t matter what the medium is. The creative urge and inquisitive mindset can see possibilities in any medium. I find incredible landscapes in wood, and the pure joy of creating a form that draws others’ attention to them, is what fulfills me.
I fully believe in the philosophy that there is no such thing as a piece of scrap, especially when working with exotic hardwoods. I got back into woodworking by producing wooden jewelry with cut offs from a photographic project — Japanese byobu (folding screens). Today I’m more likely to use them for TINY kitchen utensils. I’m not a hoarder, except for exotic woods.
Behind these current expressions are a BA and MA in Art from the University of Northern Iowa, 10 years of producing silver and gold jewelry, 30+ years of creating photoserigraphs, and 25 years creating digigraphs, and 50+ years of woodworking.
