Two women artists exhibit woodcuts, watercolors at MiraCosta

By: PAM KRAGEN - Staff Writer | Wednesday, November 5, 2003 1:46 PM PST ∞

A two-part exhibit of watercolors and woodcuts opening Nov. 11 at MiraCosta College's Kruglak Gallery is a testament to the powerful pull of art.

The show's two featured artists ---- Leucadia printmaker Kirsten Francis and Solana Beach watercolorist Sue Hopkins ----- are women who were first trained in other disciplines (Francis holds a degree in classical humanities and Hopkins is a doctor), but they've both found a new calling as artists.

Hopkins holds a bachelor's degree in medical science and Doctor of Medicine degree from the Memorial University of Newfoundland, as well as a master's in physical education and a doctorate in exercise physiology from the University of British Columbia. As a teenager, she wavered between medical school and art school, ultimately deciding on medical school.

Today, she's an associate medical professor at UC San Diego, conducting research and teaching medical students. And by night, she paints watercolors inspired by color photographs she has taken of subjects ranging from fish in bowls to flowers to portraits and rock-climbing gear.

"I got hooked on the light that you can get and the accidents that happen," says Hopkins of watercolor. "You don't have perfect control over the medium, which is interesting because I'm a control person, a scientist."

Although she has been painting since childhood, Hopkins didn't discover watercolor until 11 years ago. She taught herself, then honed her skills in classes taught by MiraCosta art instructor Diane Adams. Her work has been on display in juried shows, including the San Diego Watercolor Society's Award Show and International Show, and at the Del Mar Fair, where she has won awards for her work.

The pieces she will show in the upcoming exhibit are both conventional watercolors and watercolor monoprints, in which she uses drawings as guides, paints on plexiglass using watercolors, and transfers the images onto watercolor paper with a rolling pin.

Francis earned her degree in classical humanities from Tufts University in Medford, Mass., and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in printmaking from the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Ore.

She has focused on art full time since 1997, concentrating on woodcuts.

"Once I got a hold of it and started carving, that was it," says Francis. "It's a challenge; it keeps me going."

Francis lived for several years in Mexico City, where she was influenced by Aztec mythology and the works of Diego Rivera. Her imagery also draws upon the fairy tales and illustrated storybooks she read as a child, and memories of the dunes and woodlands in Denmark where she spent many summers. Her works have been on display in an array of solo exhibitions and art festivals in California and Oregon, and she has won a number of honors for her art.

Francis' works in the MiraCosta exhibit will include mostly autobiographical pieces featuring a woman as the central image and depicting the stresses and joys of everyday life.