One mark.
Repeated until it becomes a world.

William Tiemann

William Tiemann is an Illinois-based printmaker whose digital abstractions begin with images captured through a camera or scanner. He isolates a fragment, treats it as an independent mark, and builds compositions through repetition and transformation. His work brings the material discipline of printmaking to an intuitive exploration of rhythm, structure, and visual chaos.

Tiemann earned an MFA in Printmaking from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2004 and a BFA in Printmaking with honors from Webster University in 2002. His exhibition history includes Cactus Bra Art Space, the Southwest School of Art and Craft, Artmongerz Gallery, and Art Saint Louis. His recognition includes Best in Category for Digital Fine Art Printing at the 2011 SGIA Golden Image Competition and the 2003 Texas Emerging Artist Best of Show award in Kerrville.

Through DigiDitions, founded in 2002, Tiemann connects his studio practice with professional experience in fine-art printing, color management, image capture, and teaching. He developed Blick Art Materials' large-format printing program across 15 Design Centers and has managed fine-art production studios. That experience informs his attention to the relationship between a digital image and its printed form.

Artist statement

My work begins with a captured image and the decision to let one part of it stand on its own. I use a scanner or camera to collect visual material, then isolate a fragment that interests me as a mark. Removed from its original setting, that fragment becomes the starting point for an abstract composition.

Through repetition and transformation, the mark generates relationships across the image. A small visual decision can create an unexpected structure; repeated forms can become dense, rhythmic, or unsettled. I work intuitively, following those changes while keeping the original mark as a connection throughout the composition.

I am interested in chaos, time, and the patterns that emerge from seemingly unpredictable relationships. Chaos theory offers a visual association for this work, but the compositions develop through my decisions rather than a fixed mathematical formula. The computer gives me a way to capture, repeat, and transform an image while leaving room for discovery.

Printmaking is the foundation of this practice. My experience with traditional processes and digital output shapes how I think about the mark, the surface, and the finished print. Each image is an exploration of what can happen when a fragment becomes a visual language of its own.

Download biography and statements

Teaching philosophy

My purpose as a teacher is to help artists develop the skills and confidence to find their own visual voice. I want students to understand both how a process works and why they choose it. Technical knowledge gives them a reliable starting point from which to experiment, make decisions, and take responsibility for their work.

I begin with a strong foundation in materials, tools, and safe studio practice. Printmaking requires attention to preparation, sequence, and the effect of each decision on the final image. I value clear demonstrations and opportunities to practice, followed by projects that allow students to move beyond a prescribed result. I am particularly interested in connecting traditional printmaking, including less-toxic approaches, with digital imaging and printing.

Experimentation matters most when students can reflect on what they discover. I encourage sketchbooks, process notes, and self-examination as ways to develop ideas and recognize recurring interests. In critiques, I ask students to consider the relationship between their intentions, their choices, and what a viewer encounters. Art history and contemporary practice provide context for those conversations and help students locate their work within a broader field.

Students arrive with different experiences and technical abilities. I pay attention to those differences and adjust my explanations and demonstrations where possible. My aim is to make a demanding process understandable while respecting each student's direction. The measure of success is not whether students reproduce my approach, but whether they can make increasingly informed choices in their own work.

My teaching experience spans university printmaking and nationwide employee training in digital imaging. Developing a print technician manual for Blick and instructional videos for MSSC has reinforced the value of clear language, repeatable procedures, and explanations that connect a task to its purpose. I bring that same care to studio instruction: show the process, explain the decisions, and give learners a way to continue independently.

I also want students to understand the practical conditions of sustaining a creative practice. File preparation, color management, equipment care, documentation, and respect for copyright are part of that education. These skills can support employment and collaboration while giving artists greater control over how their work is produced. My goal is to leave students with a solid technical foundation and the freedom to keep asking their own questions.

Professional imaging and education

My professional work connects fine-art production with practical instruction. I developed Blick Art Materials' printing program across 15 Design Centers and wrote a 70-page technician manual. My experience also includes large-format printer service, color profiling, and managing fine-art print studios.

As an Inkjet Product Specialist at MSSC, I create technical resources and training, including three Smart-Jet video series covering setup, software, barcodes, and maintenance.

View my technical training work for MSSC