The sketches are part of her residency project with The Grand Center for Arts and Culture. Her project is to create eight original block-prints of historic buildings in New Ulm. Her plan is to create four prints from each of the eight print blocks for a total 32 pieces.

As of Wednesday she has six print-blocks carved and ready for printing. The list of historic locations include the Wanda Gag House, John Lind House, downtown corner block with the Chamber, a grain bin near the rail road, The Grand and the former bowling alley at 21 S. Minnesota. Gentile is still vetting her final two buildings, for the project but thinks Schell’s Brewery will likely make the cut.

“This is the most I’ve done so quickly,” Gentile said as she finished running a print of the Chamber of Commerce building on Center and Minnesota. “I am averaging a print block every two and a half days.”

Gentiles’ process for creating the prints starts with a sketch of the building. She likes to make the sketch in-person next to the building.

Willow Gentile holds up one of her new prints of the Lind House. The lino-block print is one of eight unique prints she is creating for her artist-in-residency project at The Grand.

“I really enjoy sketching and when you do it on location you can get the character of the building,” Gentile said.

While sketching outside, it is not uncommon for people to approach her with questions. Some people ask if they can watch her sketch. Gentile said she likes to hear from the community and welcomes them to ask questions.

“Everyone has been awesome,” she said. “They are so vocal with me and intrigued by the work. I really like the community engagement.”

She also appreciated that New Ulm has a lot of public benches and seating areas to make the sketching process easy.

Once her sketch is complete, she transfers the image to a linoleum block (lino-block). She carves out the outline to create a printing block. The lino-blocks she uses are custom assembled. Instead of using a single piece of linoleum to carve the print, Gentile uses smaller scraps from other linoleum blocks. The pieces are assembled and glued to a wood block. The final print block resembled a jigsaw puzzle.

Willow Gentile uses The Grand’s Cellar Press equipment to create a new print. Gentile is on the second week of her residency at The Grand. She is working to create eight unique prints of historic buildings in New Ulm.

Gentile started using this method for lino-block cuts four years ago. She was working on an art exhibit in Red Wing. She wanted to make a block-print that was a specific size, but the linoleum used for carving the blocks did not come in the size she wanted. She decided to create her own block using scraps from other projects.

“It gives the print an organic edge,” Gentile said. “I like not having a perfect square edge.”

Before creating a print, she will paint the paper with watercolors. This gives the final print extra background colors, but it also keeps ink from the printing block from sticking to the paper.

“It kind of glues down the black key lines,” she said. By having a colorful background, it gives a greater depth to the print and makes it look less like the buildings are floating in a white void.

One of the challenges of mixing watercolor backgrounds with a print is making sure the colors match up with the lines. The background color may seem random, but Gentile has a system for distributing color.

A fresh print of The Lind House created by artist Willow Genti

The Lind House print was a struggle. Initially she wanted the background to be darker, to give the print a night time feel. Unfortunately, the colors were too dark and she switched to a lighter approach.

Gentile dabbles in several types of arts, but images of old buildings is something of a specialty. In the spring and summer months she is typically an open-air painter. Her specialty is creating oil paintings of historic buildings and places. She has tackled many famous cites in Rochester, Minnesota.

Gentile runs has a gallery and vintage décor store in Lake City, Minnesota called Willow Gentile Studio & Gallery. She was able to apply before the program’s application deadline. She said the residency has been a great benefit.

“It is nice to have the time to work solely on this project and to have support,” she said. “I’ve created a new body of work in only three weeks and that is huge.”

The last day of Gentile’s residency is Tuesday. She will remain in the community until then, getting in some additional sketches.

Freshly run prints of The Lind House, Wanda Gag House and New Ulm Chamber building dry in The Grand’s Cellar Press. These prints were created by Willow Gentile as part of her artist-in-residency.

For those who wish to see more of her work, Gentile posts daily photos of her work on instagram. Her handles are: @willow.gentile.art and @gallery.w.g.