Kara Wille is a Hamilton-based printmaker with a healthy dose of imposter syndrome. She fell in love with analog printmaking early (as a toddler, if potato prints count), rediscovering the magic of making multiples during an intaglio unit in high school taught by Robert Creighton. Kara attempted to pursue this noble medium further at the University of Guelph, but art school turned out to be a bad decision. She abandoned her tools for decades before returning to printmaking in her 40s at Centre3.

These days, Kara is happiest carving lino, mixing ink, or etching zinc. Her work ranges from botanical studies and wildlife to landscapes and more fanciful subjects. Life does have a habit of getting in the way of studio time, however, so production remains sporadic.

“Printmaking is process-driven yet magical. You never quite know what you are going to get until you lift the paper, and the rush of pulling a good print is pure magic.”