Featured artist leaves his ‘print’ on Community Center

By: Eric Czarnik | Sterling Heights Sentry | Published October 26, 2022

 The exhibit includes a book of David Moroski’s illustrations.

The exhibit includes a book of David Moroski’s illustrations.

Photo by Patricia O’Blenes

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STERLING HEIGHTS — For artist David Moroski, the beauty of crafting linoleum cut prints comes from its simple, straightforward process.

“It is one of the oldest forms of printing,” he said. “We deal with computer screens and our cellphones all the time. It’s nice to do something purely hands on, nothing to do with electronics at all.”

Moroski is the Sterling Heights featured artist for October and November. Featured artists get to have their work showcased on the second floor of the Sterling Heights Community Center.

Moroski, 59, from Harrison Township, said he originally expressed interest in becoming a featured artist just prior to the 2020 arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to him, while he initially heard back from the city around two to three months later, the pandemic delayed things until recently, when the city asked if he was still interested. He said he was “really happy” to take part.

“Everyone was really nice. Everyone has been very cordial,” he said. “It’s been a very good experience.”

Moroski said he has more than 35 years of serious fine arts experience. Much of his background involves making linoleum or silkscreen prints, but he has also done some sculpture and fiber work too.

Moroski said his featured artist showcase’s work had to be family-friendly, so he chose pieces that involved animals or spirituality. He said some of his biggest artistic influences came from his growing up during the 1970s, with its TV shows, movies, rock concerts, posters, album covers and music lyrics.

“I was very influenced by the Dada and the surrealist movements,” he added. “My dad brought home a book from the library, a huge 30-pound book (about those movements). That was a huge influence on me.”

Moroski said he went through a period mainly in the 1990s when he did some commercial artwork, such as logo designs, product designs for Sweet Lorraine’s restaurant, and illustrations for Ford Motor Co.

Moroski’s wife, BeaAnn Reid, is also an artist, and she specializes in fiber art. The couple have collaborated on sculptures, clothing and art quilts.

Reid said she met her husband at a Halloween party and added that they had many things in common, including art.

“He liked that I knew how to put pieces of fabric together,” she said. “He would screen-print and stamp and hand-paint fabrics, and we would collaborate on how they go together. We built enormous quilts together.”

Reid said the two still collaborate on some projects.

“When we do a collaboration, he will work out the idea,” she said. “He’s incredibly prolific. … He will take a complex idea and reduce it to a kind of a primitive element thing that still tells the same (story), so they’re graphically beautiful and striking.”

She said she was really excited about Moroski getting the chance to be a Sterling Heights featured artist.

“That was a wonderful thing for him because most people in the area don’t even know he is an artist,” she said.

Learn more about the Sterling Heights Featured Artist program by visiting www.sterling-heights.net or by calling (586) 446-2489.

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