Member Spotlight August 2021: Maureen Seltzer

Maureen Seltzer is a mixed media artist based in Wake Forest who specializes in hand-printed paper collage art. Maureen grew up in Garner. After graduating from high school, she went to school in Boston for Industrial Photographic Science and later went to work for Polaroid in research and development. Before the digital world took over, making traditional photography obsolete, Maureen worked as a darkroom tech at SAS and The Wake Weekly. Maureen has always enjoyed creating art and focused on watercolor for 20 years.  A few years ago she was looking for a way to add more texture and meaning to her work, and it all started by accident. While researching mono printing techniques to teach to middle school students she learned that unflavored gelatin could be used as a base for holding paint. She was convinced it would never work but soon found herself with a trash bag full of printed, abstract papers.  These papers lead to her collage work.    Maureen’s collage pieces start with a fast under-painting to mark out the colors onto a canvas. She then mono prints onto old papers using paint, a gel plate, and found objects to create texture and dimension.  She then tears these very textured, abstract mono prints and glues them onto the canvas much like an artist lays a brush stroke.  From far away it is hard to tell that the artwork is made of tiny pieces of history of everyday life, but on closer observation you may see bits and pieces of a music sheet, a crossword puzzle done by a friend, or a map.  By using old papers, Maureen feels that her pieces have a history and somehow the people that once owned them are now a part of her art.

Maureen is a much sought-after teacher of children’s art classes in the Triangle.  She also teaches adult workshops in mono printing at her studio, a dream she held in her heart for quite some time.  She has been a contributing artist for Gel Press® and served as a guest artist on a live broadcast with Jerry’s Artarama of Raleigh. Maureen has received many accolades as her pieces have been chosen for shows across North Carolina. Her piece, If Mother Nature Could Dance, was chosen for the Spotlight on Wake Forest Artists event. The piece was digitally reproduced as a large mural in brick vinyl and applied to the façade of the Wake Forest Renaissance Centre in downtown Wake Forest.   

          

Maureen has been a member of CMMAG for four years.  She recently served as Board Member at Large.  When Maureen is not working in her studio she enjoys watching a good movie on TV or playing with her dog, Charlie.  She is on Facebook at Maureen Seltzer's Art Studio and on Instagram at maureenseltzersart.  Her latest works and classes are also detailed on her website at www.seltzersart.com.   A few examples of her pieces are included in this story, but you can see Maureen's art in person at Extraordinaire at Triangle Town Center and at Wake Forest Coffee in downtown Wake Forest.