By Karen Law

As a farm boy growing up in the small town of Litchfield, Minn., one of Nate Stottrup's favorite ways to relax after chores and school was to reach for a comic book or graphic novel.

Little did he know one day he'd be teaching and crafting equally creative images of his own at Sev Shoon Arts Center in Ballard or that he would think up an idea which would be turned into a strategy game for Dilbert, one of the comic world's most recognized characters.

“The comic books were the spark,” Stottrup said about his artistic beginnings. “Something about the form of the images and their movement and exaggeration appealed to me. I started to draw from them.”

Farm chores may have kept him busy, but he was fortunate enough to have parents who appreciated and encouraged his creativity and an art teacher in high school who mentored his abilities.

Deciding to pursue art in college, Stottrup first took up graphic design then switched to photography. But, he discovered that while he loved the process of photography, he missed the hands-on creating and drawing of images.

It was literally an accident that led him to find his true passion.

“Art is process for me,” said Stottrup. “One day, I stumbled on an art building where I saw people doing all this carving and using these rollers, and I wondered, 'What the heck is that?' I found out it was printmaking. From then on, everywhere I went, I always googled it for printmaking studios.”

When Stottrup graduated in 2004 with a degree in printmaking, sculpture and design from Moorehead State University (now Minnesota State University at Moorehead), he headed to Seattle, where his brother was going to school and found the Sev Schoon Arts Center, a community art studio located at 2862 N.W. Market St.

Sev Shoon was started in 1991 by Swiss artist Dionne Haroutunian and means “Black Dog” in Armenian, the native language of her father.

Stottrup had only intended to become a monthly member, but when Haroutunian saw his work, she had other plans.

“By the time he left, we had looked at many of his prints, discussed a variety of art-related issues and techniques, and I even had given him my class, meaning that I offered him the opportunity to teach my signature class, 'Bootcamp for Printmaking,' at the center,” Haroutunian said about her first meeting with Stottrup.

“I was nervous when I met her,” said Stottrup. “I showed her my stuff, and she happened to be looking for instructors, so it was good timing.”

Since then, he has often taught how to make prints from linoleum, wood and plastic plates for Sev Shoon and is currently one of the artists at Ballard Works, the hive of private studios on the second and third floors of Sev Shoon.

“What most people don't realize when they look at an actual print is that it isn't a reproduction,” Stottrup said. “Someone has to conceive and then hand-carve the design onto a surface, which becomes the matrix or plate, and then ink is worked into the plate.”

Stottrup's current project, a piece called “It Looks Like Rain,” involves a technique known as intaglio.

“In intaglio, what you carve becomes the valleys where the ink collects when you wipe it over the entire plate," Stottrup said. "The ink is transferred from the valleys of the plate to the damp paper when it is run through the press. With making prints with multiple colors, it's common to use a reductive process, and that's what I really enjoy, that process of creating."

Stottrup has had his work displayed at Annie's Art and Frame and Kiss Cafe, both on Market Street, as well as at Sev Shoon and at PrintZero Studios in Georgetown. His studio is also always open for the monthly Ballard Art Walk.

To support his passion and to help make ends meet, he started working in 2005 at a game company called Screenlife in Pioneer Square in the print and design department.

The company is best known for creating the popular trivia game Scene It?, the number-one selling DVD game in the world.

“The job fell into my lap because of a friend working there, and I was just thrown into it” he said. “I started out doing mockups and that evolved over time into becoming the print traffic manager. Sometimes, though, they'd ask me to help with the prototyping and I enjoyed that.”

Perhaps that draw upon his creativity provided Stottrup with another spark, the one which led to his thinking up the idea that Screenlife turned into Dilbert: Escape from Cubeville.

“It's a maze game that involves manipulating the maze so you can get out faster while trying to screw up everyone else who's trying to do the same thing,” said Stottrup, who ironically is not a fan of the comic.

Though he doesn't collect any royalties, he does have his name listed as the game's concept originator.

He was recently laid off due to the economic downturn but remains philosophical about finding himself back on the job market.

He patiently continues to practice his craft while researching openings and sending out resumes.

“I'm really fortunate that I've got this that excites me in life,” he said. “Once people find that, it's great.”

Stottrup's work is currently on display at Richard Goettling's private art studio on the corner of Northwest 64th Street and 32nd Avenue Northwest. Kiss Cafe, located at 2817 N.W. Market St., will display his work in May. Monster Art and Clothing, located at 5000 20th Ave. N.W., will feature it in June. Annie's Art and Frame, located at 2212 N.W. Market St., in October.