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Arkansas artist's African-style linoleum prints are made the old-fashioned way

Perrion Hurd did not attend art school. But a doctor saw his work. It just took off from there.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Perrion Hurd carves African-style designs into linoleum to create cards and other prints with his own business called Hurdwired Studios.

“There's a spiritual feeling when I'm producing something I can touch with my fingers. And I think it's like that with all of my art,” said Perrion Hurd, artist and owner of Hurdwired Studios

Hurd did not attend art school and used to work in the medical field. A doctor saw his work.

“They paid me money and it began from there,” said Hurd

He carves his work on battleship gray linoleum and used those to create prints. After that, he will turn them into cards or shirt designs or anything else that can be printed on. 

“I always go with simple shapes first,” said Hurd.

Hurd prints inside Yella Dog Press in Little Rock. There are no computers in the studio. After the design is created, it gets mounted on a wooden block that is placed on a Vandercook press machine. 

“I noticed that there was not a lot of African American imagery that I'd like to see in the art scene, so I decided to make the art,” Hurd

Hurd’s goal is to learn more and to grow. 

“For the past 25 years I've been doing that and here it is. It's paid off,” said Hurd.

His work can be found at in the gift shops at Mosaic Templars Cultural Center in Little Rock, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the Arkansas Art Center, and his Facebook page Hurdwired Studios.

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