Jo毛lle Diane Zellman is often wearing white gloves in her Akron studio and weaving fine art paper through an oversized printer.
On a recent visit, she was making prints of her digital watercolor paintings using gicl茅e printing, a higher-quality kind of reproduction.
Many printers have four ink cartridges, but gicl茅e printing utilizes 12 pigment-based inks that spray. The colors are more vibrant, and the reproductions look more like the originals.
She used to print her art that she creates as Jo毛lle Diane (her artist name) through a company in Florida, but the turnaround took a while.
鈥淚 was like, 鈥楳an, I really need to find a local printer who does this.鈥� And I started kind of looking around all over and couldn鈥檛 find anyone who was doing gicl茅e printing in the area,鈥� she said.
That鈥檚 when Jo毛lle Diane decided to step in to fill that void and offer gicl茅e printing services not just for herself but for other Akron artists too.
鈥淣ot only could I do this and it鈥檚 useful for my artwork,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 can use this as an opportunity to connect with the creative community here in Akron.鈥�
She quickly connected with artist and community builder Althea Jones, who was seeking a printmaker when she moved to the area from Cleveland.
鈥淚 was really having a hard time finding someone,鈥� Jones said.
She finally found Jo毛lle Diane through a Google search.
鈥淚 was able to choose from cold press, hot press, canvas, lots of different papers, lots of different choices so that each piece of work is appropriate to the original,鈥� Jones said.
It鈥檚 been nearly 10 years now since Jo毛lle Diane has been connecting with artists through her business, Monochrome Canvas.
Her shop has evolved over time from the dining room of her house to a studio near Downtown. She prints exhibition work for Akron artists and collaborates on projects around the city.
Connecting with her community started during her school years.
Her training and journey
Jo毛lle Diane grew up in Akron. She attended the Miller South School for the Visual and Performing Arts. In 2008, she graduated from Firestone High School, where she was part of the visual art program. She went on to study painting and sculpture at the Columbus College of Art and Design.
鈥淚鈥檝e had this really wonderful network of creatives and artists in the area just from baked in, kind of just from going to school at Miller South and then Firestone too,鈥� she said.
Throughout college and well into motherhood, Jo毛lle Diane used a lot of traditional materials such as acrylic paints and large canvases.
鈥淚t was hard to translate a lot of the work that I was doing because it involved a lot of materials, a lot of mess and my kids would get into it,鈥� she said, noting she then transitioned to graphic design and digital work.
After college, Jo毛lle Diane worked a bunch of odd jobs before moving back to Akron. Then she landed a job at a commercial wallcovering company. When she was given the choice to move with the company to Louisville, Kentucky, she decided to stay in Akron and start a graphic design business.
She eventually lost her zest for logo design and brochure work.
Jo毛lle Diane began making art to express how she sees the world using Procreate on her iPad. Through her digital watercolors, she draws thin lines and leaves white space for the viewer to form an opinion. Her art focuses on femininity and personal health struggles.
鈥淚 have a piece that I had done of an older woman dancing in a tutu,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 feel like I'm kind of that older woman at times. I feel like I鈥檓 in my 80s trying to get through my day and perform in this way, being a mom and running errands and lifting babies all the time.鈥�
From printmaking to partnerships
Her community connection was just the start for her creative business. Jo毛lle Diane formed a partnership with Sabertooth Public Art while trying to launch her business.
鈥淭hey worked as kind of an advocate for me for a little bit as I was trying to more establish myself as a creative, as an artist in the area,鈥� Jo毛lle Diane said.
Out of that came the Akron T-shirt Club, which highlighted 10 Akron artists by publishing their work on limited-edition T-shirts. Members of the club received a T-shirt, a Risograph print and monthly emails.
Jo毛lle Diane and Marissa McClellan from Sabertooth Public Art asked Akron artist Micah Kraus to join them.
Kraus, who was also one of the featured artists, helped other artists prepare their art. Then he screen-printed the designs onto the T-shirts.
His design included a dog and cat riding bicycles that reads 鈥淧EDAL together.
It鈥檚 centered around the idea that if people work together as a community in meaningful ways it makes them better.
"There鈥檚 a temptation as artists to do it yourself,鈥� Kraus said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a DIY mentality, and that鈥檚 what makes you thrive as an artist. But when you can do it together and find those opportunities to link up and maximize each other鈥檚 expertise, that鈥檚 where true collaboration happens.鈥�
During this collaboration, Jo毛lle Diane began working on other collaborative projects throughout Akron. Her solar eclipse design work for Rubber City Clothing caught the attention of the city of Akron. She got hired to create the Akron bicentennial design. Then she worked with Frank Miller of Righteous Cloth streetwear on screen printing projects.
鈥淲e鈥檝e worked together with the Sojourner Truth fund in Akron and got to be a part of their unveiling event, and we鈥檝e even since been selling stuff to help raise funds for their organization,鈥� Jo毛lle Diane said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just been a lot of really neat projects, and all this stuff has just stemmed from creating this little business out of my dining room.鈥�
