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Woodcut Wonders: The whimsical artwork of Noosh
By Isadora Pennington
Hunched over an angled surface in his
home studio, local artist Chris “Noosh”
Neuenschwander is hard at work. The
rhythmic sound of metal scraping against
wood is enough to lull me into a trance as I
watch Neuenschwander’s hands transform a
block of wood into a work of art. Slowly, an
image emerges. On the day that I visited he
was working on a series of cats. Next to him,
a completed woodcut of a tabby cat smiles
while looking up at a balloon, the letter M
emblazoned on its forehead.
It is here, in the tranquility of a basement
transformed into a multifaceted workspace,
that Neuenschwander produces his works.
His woodcut art almost exclusively depicts
animals, although a pirate or Viking
might occasionally appear. They are often
humorous, sometimes interactive, and
infused with a sense of playfulness. The
creatures have exaggerated features, and
some include references to pop culture.
Hanging on the walls, select works are
painted in bright, vibrant colors.
Neuenschwander is a woodcut artist.
He transfers designs from his mind to a
sketch and then later onto a piece of wood
which he meticulously carves until a finished
design emerges. In a corner is a shelf stacked
high with rolled up t-shirts that climb all
the way to the ceiling. A sewing machine,
embroidery machine, and three presses
are within arm’s reach. A towering shelf is
laden with finished woodcut designs, an
impressive tribute to his long career as a
working artist.
His pursuit of woodcut art began
when he was a student at Kennesaw State
University. “I took a printmaking class
and the technique really just worked
with the way my brain works,” explained
Neuenschwander. “My brain sees a lot of
lines, it doesn’t really see changes in value,
it sees lines and weird shapes and texture.
The way the technique works is it becomes
instantly graphic once you print it.”
You see, woodcut artwork is a subtractive
technique. Or, rather, it’s additive, then
subtractive, and then additive again. First
Neuenschwander begins with an idea. For a
long while he started by drawing on paper in
a sketchbook, but eventually that gave way
to creating digital sketches on his tablet.
Neuenschwander digitally refines the
design, figures out how big he wants it to
be, and uses a projector to aid in transferring
the design into a hand-drawn rendering
on wood. From there, he cuts the wood
to fit the image dimensions using a jigsaw
or a scroll saw and paints the edges before
moving onto the tedious part: the hand
carving.
While some of his pieces are tiny and
others are huge, he says the average piece is
around 14 inches tall and pieces that size
typically take between three to five hours to
carve by hand. After this process the designs
are ready to be either painted as a finished
wood art piece or used in a press to create
prints on paper, shirts, and other materials.
“I use birch, that is my most popular
question,” says Neuenschwander with a
laugh. When he first began working in this
medium, he primarily used fib reboard.
While this was an easy medium for carving,
he eventually decided he wanted to upgrade
the materials for a better final product.
And while there are plenty of nice woods
that he enjoys, like maple, but they tend to
be expensive and difficult to source. Birch
is affordable and accessible, something
that is important for a working artist like
Neuenschwander.
“It’s very relaxing,” he says, referring to
the hand cutting portion of his work. “I
almost don’t even think when I’m carving
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anymore.” The repetitive motions, working
within a predetermined design, and his deep
understanding of technique forged by nearly
14 years of commitment to the craft all
allow him to reach a sort of flow state.
He often watches TV, either Disney
movies or TV shows, while he works.
Neuenschwander’s wife is a librarian who
works at an elementary school, so during the
workday he keeps to himself in his studio,
his daily companions are his cat and dog
who periodically check in on him.
In the before times, Neuenschwander
was a regular fixture at art festivals like
the Indie Craft Market, Kibbee Gallery
in Poncey-Highland before they closed in
2019, and a regular participant at ABV’s
Drink and Doodle event for the past seven
years.
When Neuenschwander was in high
school he started working as a caricature
artist at Sea World, later taking those skills
to Six Flags and the Georgia Aquarium. In
total, he worked in this role for more than a
decade while he pursued his schooling and
established himself as an independent artist.
“Because I drew only people at my job, I got
kind of tired of drawing people, and at that
point I transitioned to things like animals.”
Today, Noosh Studios predominantly
produces works for sale online through
BigCartel, an independent online store
designed to help artists and makers sell
their works. He also takes commissions
and has been branching out into
additional mediums. He recently acquired
an embroidery machine and has been
experimenting with adding his imagery to
hats, backpacks, fanny packs, and tote bags.
“My first job was making art, and from
there it was clear this was the only thing I
was ever going to do.” QD
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